Act I

The musical starts in 1812, Moscow, Russia, by introducing the characters ("Prologue"). The audience is then introduced to Pierre Bezukhov, a depressed, unhappily married man who feels he is wasting his life ("Pierre"). He is a good friend of Andrey Bolkonsky, who is away fighting in the war. Andrey has recently become engaged to Natasha Rostova. Natasha and her cousin, Sonya Rostova, arrive in Moscow to visit Natasha’s godmother, Marya Dmitrievna, and wait for Andrey to come home ("Moscow"). Natasha is to meet her future in-laws, Andrey’s sister, the lonely Mary Bolkonskaya, and his father, the old Prince Bolkonsky who are trapped in a hateful co-existence ("The Private and Intimate Life of the House"). However, their meeting ends in disaster, as Natasha finds Mary cold and Mary finds Natasha vain, with Bolkonsky behaving bizarrely and dismissing Natasha ("Natasha & Bolkonskys"). Natasha leaves, missing Andrey more than ever and recalls the time they first met ("No One Else").

The next night, Natasha watches an opera with Sonya and Marya. Natasha catches the eye of Pierre's brother-in-law Anatole Kuragin, a notorious rogue and womaniser ("The Opera"). Anatole visits Natasha in her box to flirt and leaves her with feelings she has never experienced before ("Natasha & Anatole").

Anatole arrives home after the opera and goes out drinking with his friend, Fedya Dolokhov, and Pierre. They are met by Hélène Bezukhova, the unfaithfully promiscuous wife of Pierre and shamelessly suggestive sister of Anatole. Anatole lusts for Natasha, although it is revealed he is already married. Hélène flirts with Dolokhov, who taunts Pierre by raising a toast to "married women and their lovers". A drunk Pierre finds Dolokhov's behaviour insulting and challenges him to a duel. Pierre accidentally wounds Dolokhov and Dolokhov, despite being a renowned crack shot, miraculously misses him. Before they all leave, Anatole asks Hélène to invite Natasha to a ball that evening and she agrees ("The Duel"). They leave Pierre, who reflects on his near-death experience and realizes that despite wasting his life, he wishes to live and find love ("Dust and Ashes").

The next morning, as Natasha is preparing for church, she is confused about her feelings for Anatole at the opera and questions whether they mean she has betrayed Andrey, fearing that something may stop them from being together ("Sunday Morning"). Later that day, Hélène visits Natasha and invites her to the ball, praising her beauty, and Natasha agrees to attend. Hélène privately revels in the scandalous idea of her brother and Natasha getting together ("Charming").

That night at the ball, Natasha is met by Anatole, and they dance. Anatole professes his love to Natasha, who tries to tell him that she is already engaged. Ignoring this, Anatole kisses Natasha, leading her to fall in love with him in return ("The Ball").

Act II

After his duel with Dolokhov, Pierre begins studying to search for enlightenment. Natasha is further torn between her feelings for both Andrey and Anatole ("Letters"). Sonya discovers letters between Natasha and Anatole and learns of their relationship. She confronts Natasha and desperately explains her distrust of Anatole, but Natasha bursts out in anger at her and leaves. Natasha writes to Mary and breaks off her engagement with Andrey ("Sonya & Natasha"). Alone, Sonya reflects on her love for her cousin and her determination to save her, even if she will lose her closest friend ("Sonya Alone").

That evening, Anatole and Dolokhov prepare for an elopement between Anatole and Natasha. Dolokhov attempts to change Anatole's mind, but is unsuccessful ("Preparations"). Balaga, their troika driver, arrives to take them to Natasha's house where they will retrieve her before departing ("Balaga"). When they arrive at Natasha's house, citizens of Moscow are there to bid their goodbyes to Anatole and Natasha, but are thwarted at the last moment by Marya ("The Abduction").

Marya scolds Natasha, who then reveals to Marya and Sonya that she broke off her engagement with Andrey and reaffirms her love for Anatole, whom she still believes is unmarried. Natasha screams at Marya and Sonya and bursts into tears as she waits all night for Anatole ("In My House"). Marya calls on Pierre in the middle of the night and explains the situation to him, begging him to handle the crisis. Pierre tells Marya that Anatole is already married ("A Call to Pierre"). Pierre, outraged, searches Moscow for Anatole while Marya and Sonya tell a grief-stricken Natasha that Anatole is already married, although she does not believe them. Pierre eventually finds Anatole at Hélène’s house ("Find Anatole"). Pierre, close to violence, orders Anatole to leave Moscow and burn all his correspondence with Natasha. A terrified Anatole agrees, but manages to squeeze travelling money out of Pierre in the process ("Pierre & Anatole"). Natasha attempts to take her own life by poisoning herself with arsenic, but lives ("Natasha Very Ill").

The next day, Andrey returns home from the war and is disoriented about the refusal of marriage he received from Natasha, which he asks Pierre about. Pierre explains the scandal to him and pleads with him to be compassionate, but Andrey is unable to forgive Natasha and cold-heartedly tells Pierre that he will not ask for her hand in marriage again ("Pierre and Andrey"). Pierre visits a shattered Natasha, meeting her for the first time, and comforts her. During their conversation he expresses admiration for her and tells her he would gladly marry her if he could, giving her hope ("Pierre & Natasha"). After their meeting, Pierre experiences a moment of enlightenment as he watches the Great Comet of 1812 soar across the night sky ("The Great Comet of 1812").

Musical numbers

Note: An aria for Natasha, "Natasha Lost", was cut during the Broadway production but is included on the original cast recording between number 8 ("Natasha & Anatole") and number 9 ("The Duel"). "Dust and Ashes" was added for the A.R.T. production. In 2020, Malloy released a song titled "Epilogue", a solo for Pierre after the finale that wasn't a part of the original musical.^[5][6]

Off-Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.)

The team behind the original production remounted the show at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with performances beginning December 1, 2015 to January 2016. Now expanded to a proscenium stage, the set put some of the audience onstage. Scott Stangland took over the role of Pierre, Denée Benton starred as Natasha, Lilli Cooper as Hélène, Nicholas Belton played Andrey/Old Prince Bolkonsky and the rest of the cast reprised their roles.

Broadway

The Broadway production at the Imperial Theatre began previews on October 18, 2016 and opened on November 14, 2016, starring Josh Groban as Pierre and Denée Benton as Natasha, both making their Broadway debuts. The remainder of the cast featured Lucas Steele as Anatole, Brittain Ashford as Sonya, Amber Gray as Hélène, Grace McLean as Marya, Manik Choksi as Dolokhov, Nicholas Belton as Andrey/Old Prince Bolkonsky, Gelsey Bell as Princess Mary and Paul Pinto as Balaga. The production had choreography by Sam Pinkleton, sets by Mimi Lien, costumes by Paloma Young, lights by Bradley King, sound by Nicholas Pope and music direction by Or Matias.^[9][10] With sets similar to the A.R.T. remounting, the production took the proscenium stage, but removed almost 200 seats from the audience to accommodate the design. Again, the options of stage seats, in banquettes or dining tables, were available. The Broadway production cost about $14 million to stage, most of which was not recouped.^[11] In July 2017, Hamilton alum Okieriete Onaodowan took over the role of Pierre and singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson took over the role of Sonya for a temporary engagement, after which Ashford returned.^[12] On August 22, Malloy took over the role of Pierre for the remainder of the Broadway run.

The Broadway production played its final performance on September 3, 2017, having played 32 previews and 336 performances.^[13]

United States Regional

The Capital City Theatre of Madison, Wisconsin staged the musical from June 3-12, 2022.^[14] The West Coast premiere occurred in the fall of 2022 with the Shotgun Players in Berkeley, California.^[15]

The Great Comet returned to the Loeb Drama Center, home of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, under the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club in April 2023.

The Idaho Shakespeare Festival staged ‘The Great Comet’ in August of 2023.

The Great Lakes Theater, Cleveland, Ohio, staged The Great Comet in September and October 2023.^[16]

The Horizon Theatre Company, Atlanta, Georgia, staged The Great Comet in October and November 2023. ^[17]

The Zach Theatre in Austin, Texas, staged The Great Comet in January-March 2024.^[18]

The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities in Arvada, Colorado staged The Great Comet in February-March 2024.^[19]

Seacoast Repertory Theatre, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, will stage The Great Comet in March and April 2024. ^[20]

Cygnet Theatre, San Diego, California, will stage The Great Comet in April and May 2024. ^[21]

Pioneer Theatre Company, Salt Lake City, Utah, will stage The Great Comet in May 2024. ^[22]

International

The show had its international premiere in Quito, Ecuador in September 2014, in a Spanish-language production produced by Teatro Parapluie.

A Brazilian production opened in August 2018, in Portuguese, with Bruna Guerin as Natasha, André Frateschi as Pierre and Gabriel Leone as Anatole. The production won the Prêmio Reverência popular vote Award for "Best Musical."

A Japanese production, helmed by the entertainment company Toho, opened at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre on January 5, 2019 and ran through January 27, 2019. It starred Nogizaka46's Erika Ikuta as Natasha and Yoshio Inoue as Pierre.^[23]

The Korean production was held starting from March 2021 until May 2021.^[24]

Variety also reported that productions in London and Korea were under discussion, with additional interest in China and the Philippines.^[25]

The Canadian premiere produced by Musical Stage Co. and Crow's Theatre was set to run from January 26 to February 14, 2021 at the Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto,^[26] but was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent shutdown of theaters.^[27] It was rescheduled for December 5, 2023 to March 24, 2024 at the Crow's Theatre. ^[28] In summer 2025, it will transfer to the Royal Alexandra Theatre.^[29]

The European premiere was in February 2023 at the Landestheater in Linz, Austria. ^[30]

The Australian premiere was mounted by the Darlinghurst Theatre Company, running at the Eternity Playhouse from 7 July to 20 August 2023.^[31] Reviews were positive, citing the staging and diverse casting.^[32]

The Chinese premiere ran from December 2023 to March 2024 at the Nine Trees Future Art Center and the Bank of Communications Qiantan 31 Performing Arts Center with Cooper Grodin starring as Pierre.^[33]

Replacements

Original Off-Broadway production

Sources: TheaterMania^[52] Internet Off-Broadway Database^[53]Village Voice^[54]

Original Cambridge production

Original Broadway production