"The Great Comet" Starts Something New

That symbolism of change resonated with the director and professor, who joined the Oberlin faculty this fall to launch the Music Theater program. “For all of us, this is a new life beginning,” she says, “and I really wanted to use that image in our inaugural production.”

No better show for that than Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, which was created by Dave Malloy and adapted from a small section of Tolstoy’s famously lengthy novel. The Tony Award-winning musical follows the separate stories of the romantically conflicted Natasha and the disillusioned Pierre, combining an eclectic blend of musical genres with an intimate staging. Oberlin’s upcoming production will run at the Wurtzel Theater December 3-7 and December 9-10. 

Bussert has seen almost all of Great Comet’s original incarnations, stretching from 2013’s tent-turned-Russian-nightclub in New York’s Meatpacking District all the way to 2016’s Broadway spectacle. “It’s been a piece that I have loved from the beginning,” she says. Once the producing rights became available, she directed a 2023 production at Great Lakes Theater—which won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Musical of the Year.

The show boasts another local connection in Malloy, who grew up in Lakewood and studied English literature and music composition at Ohio University. Malloy was actually playing piano on a cruise ship when he first stumbled upon the section of War and Peace that inspired him to pick up his pen and start writing. 

Great Comet “is such an incredibly smart, beautifully constructed piece,” Bussert says. Malloy took many of the lyrics from a translation of Tolstoy’s novel, adding musical influences like pop, indie rock, opera, electronic dance music, and Russian folk songs. Many of the show’s performers are expected to play instruments; in the Oberlin production, both of the actors playing Pierre learned to play the accordion for the opening scene.

Why two Pierres? That’s because the eight performances will be split between the Tycho Cast and the Halley Cast. “One of the things that I'm committed to in education is constantly reinforcing the fact that there is no right way to play a role,” Bussert says. By double-casting, the students can see how the same role can be approached with two different interpretations. “I think that's what it is to be an artist. It’s not about replicating somebody else's performance or somebody else's life experience.”

Inspired by the staging of the original 2012 production, Oberlin’s design will bring audience members up close to the action, with seats available on all sides of Wurtzel Theater and its balconies. “I love the immersive feel of the storytelling,” Bussert says. “It’s a lot easier to stage things in the proscenium than it is to stage things in the round, but it’s also a really great experience for the students.”

Joining Bussert on the creative team is music director Matthew Webb, who also worked on the Great Lakes production. Webb, who's also an assistant professor of music theater, will conduct a small orchestra of conservatory students and a few local professionals. Choreographer Alex Sanchez, another core member of the Music Theater faculty, brings extensive experience in the New York theater scene.

“ He has lifted the bar so high for a collegiate production,” Bussert says. “His whole aesthetic is very Broadway, so that has been an amazing experience for all of us.”

Also helping the show come together are Theater Department faculty like scenic designer Laura Carlson-Tarantowski and costume designer Tesia Benson. Bussert says that kind of collaborative spirit has been at the heart of her Oberlin experience so far.

“ I've heard for years that this is a magical place. I absolutely believe it now. To be around such brilliant minds and passionate students in every area—it’s just inspiring.  It’s like everybody’s artist brains are on full throttle at all times.”

TICKET INFORMATION
$15 reserved seating ($10 students)
Tickets are available online and by phone at 800-371-0178. Patrons may also purchase them in person between noon and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at Oberlin College's Central Ticket Service, located at 67 N. Main Street, in the lobby of the Eric Baker Nord Performing Arts Complex.

Online Box Office

PRODUCTION DETAILS
Wednesday, December 3 - Saturday, December 7, at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 6, at 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday, December 9, and Wednesday, December 10, at 7:30 p.m
Oberlin College Irene and Alan Wurtzel Theater
67 N. Main Street
Oberlin, Ohio

Stephanie Manning ’23 completed her bassoon performance degree while finding her way into journalism as a classical music critic. She recently returned to Cleveland after finishing a graduate diploma in journalism at Concordia University in Montreal. Her writing has appeared in The Montreal Gazette, Early Music America, and ClevelandClassical.com.