The full cast and opening night date has been announced for the new musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. AKA The Great Comet, the production, featuring the Broadway debuts of 18 cast and creative team members including Josh Groban as Pierre and Denée Benton as Natasha, will blaze into the Imperial Theatre in the first week of October. Opening night is set for November 14.
The cast will also include Brittain Ashford as Sonya, Gelsey Bell as Princess Mary, Nicholas Belton as Bolkonsky / Andrey, Nick Choksi as Dolokhov, Amber Gray as Helene, Grace McLean as Marya D, Paul Pinto as Balaga, Scott Stangland as standby Pierre and Lucas Steele as Anatole.
Directed by Rachel Chavkin and featuring a book and electropop score by Dave Malloy, the show draws inspiration from a 70-page portion of Leo Tolstoy’s Russian masterpiece War and Peace. It follows Natasha, a young girl who forms a relationship with the attractive rebel Anatole while her betrothed Andrey is off fighting. Andrey's best friend Pierre remains on high alert as the new romance blossoms.
The production will feature choreography by Sam Pinkleton, set design by Mimi Lien, costume design by Paloma Young, lighting design by Bradley King, sound design by Nicholas Pope, music supervision by Sonny Paladino and musical direction by Or Matias.
Rounding out the company will be Sumayya Ali, Courtney Bassett, Josh Canfield, Ken Clark, Erica Dorfler, Lulu Fall, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Nick Gaswirth, Azudi Onyejekwe, Pearl Rhein, Heath Saunders, Katrina Yaukey and Lauren Zakrin.
The Imperial Theatre is currently home to Les Miserables, which is scheduled to close on September 4.