Arvada Center theatre transforms into a Russian cabaret for new musical based on ‘War and Peace’

From CPR | Eden Lane | February 16, 2024

Whether you read Tolstoy's novel “War and Peace” in school, abandoned the dense story, or binged it like a salacious mini-series, it might be hard to imagine that the sprawling 1869 work could inspire a contemporary musical theater piece.

Courtesy of Leslie Simon at the Arvada Center

For "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812," the Arvada Center's production team transformed its black box theater into a 19th-century Russian cabaret.

But that’s exactly what the Arvada Center’s latest show, "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812" is. 

Arvada Center artistic director Lynne Collins says she was struck by the ‘newness’ and originality of composer Dave Malloy’s work when she saw it on Broadway.  

“I'm always excited by any theater artist that is doing something I haven't seen before and telling a story in a way that surprises me. So that sort of started my thinking about it,” Collins said. “I really spent some time thinking about, could we do it? Could we do it justice but do our own version of it, in ways that we can really shine in this?”

The story — set in 19th-century Russia, and based on a 70-page passage of “War and Peace” — follows the lives of Natasha, a lovely ingénue in Moscow waiting for her beloved fiancé to return from the war, and Pierre, a lonely outsider searching for direction in his meaningless life.

Read the full article from CPR.