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November 14, 2016

The Imperial Theater, where the rapturous musical “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” blazed opened on Monday night, has never looked more imperial — or felt more intimate. Who would have guessed that Dave Malloy’s gorgeous pop opera, adapted from a slice of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” would land on Broadway with all its signal virtues intact, and in some ways heightened?

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November 14, 2016

Dave Malloy’s mercifully transporting musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 is both a celebration and a cause for it. Mimi Lien’s stunning set design transforms the stately Imperial Theatre into an ornate red-and-gold Russian nightclub, with stairs that wind up to the mezzanine, a sinuous catwalk that cuts through the orchestra and musicians planted strategically throughout the space. Members of the cast scatter into the audience and sit next to spectators at cabaret-style tables onstage. Director Rachel Chavkin’s approach to the show—spectacular yet intimate, theatrical yet personal—is an ideal complement to Malloy’s brilliantly unconventional musical, which breathes modern life into a section of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

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Mark
Kennedy

November 14, 2016

You may not just passively consume “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.” You must participate. As soon as you enter the Imperial Theatre on Broadway, you are urged to clear paths for the hectic performers, be prepared to catch boxes of pierogis — not enough for all, mind you — and learn some Russian history from the Playbill’s helpful background briefer.

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November 14, 2016

“Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812,” Dave Malloy’s immersive, festive and introspective electro-pop opera dramatizing a small portion of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” has undergone a most unusual journey over the past four years, moving from a small off-Broadway venue to a large tent to, finally, Broadway.

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November 14, 2016

What a world MacArthur “genius” Mimi Lien has created at the Imperial Theatre for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812. The auditorium is voluptuously draped in scarlet velvet, with gold and brass accents. Brilliant knockoffs of the crystal-and-gold chandeliers at the Metropolitan Opera House rise and fall like Fourth of July fireworks as stairways curve gracefully into the orchestra, where some seats have been replaced by candle-lit bistro tables suitable for nestling overpriced cocktails. Portraits of Important People, including the Emperor Napoleon, are stacked on the walls like art at the Louvre (or Sardi’s, take your pick).

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