Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
The Great Comet
MusicDave Malloy
LyricsDave Malloy
BookDave Malloy
BasisWar and Peace
by Leo Tolstoy
PremiereOctober 1, 2012 (2012-10-01): Ars Nova, New York City
Productions2013 Off-Broadway
2015 Massachusetts
2016 Broadway
2024 London
AwardsRichard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (or simply The Great Comet) is a sung-through musical adaptation of a 70-page segment from Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel War and Peace. The show was written by composer, lyricist, playwright, orchestrator Dave Malloy and originally directed by Rachel Chavkin. It is based on Volume II, Part V of Tolstoy's novel, focusing on Natasha's romance with Anatole and Pierre's search for meaning in his life.

The musical originally ran at the Ars Nova in 2012, followed by 2013 stagings in both the Meatpacking District and the Theater District of Manhattan, a 2014 Spanish-language staging in Quito, Ecuador, and a 2015 remounting at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Great Comet premiered on Broadway in November 2016 at the Imperial Theatre, and closed in September 2017.

The original Off-Broadway production of the show had Phillipa Soo and Dave Malloy playing the roles of Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov respectively. Once the show was taken to Broadway, Denée Benton and Josh Groban made their Broadway debuts in the roles of Natasha and Pierre.

The musical received positive reviews, particularly for Phillipa Soo, Denée Benton, and Josh Groban's leading performances, as well as for the production's score, direction, and scenic design. The show was nominated for 12 awards – the highest number of nominations in the season – for the 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Book of a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical for Benton, Best Actor in a Musical for Groban, Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Lucas Steele, and Best Direction of a Musical for Chavkin. It won two awards: Best Scenic Design for Mimi Lien and Best Lighting Design in a Musical for Bradley King.