In previous years, the UMD Theater Department has put on productions of “Pippin” and “Singin’ in the Rain” for its Spring musicals. These are popular musicals that I have heard of before, however, this year’s Spring musical had me wondering if it was gonna be about the final frontier of outer space set in the 1800s. 

The musical that I am referring to is Dave Malloy’s twelve-time 2017 Tony nominee “Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812.” Malloy’s musical is an electropop opera based on a scandalous slice of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” 

Natasha, a beautiful and betrothed, ingénue visiting Moscow, is seduced by the dashing, and married, Anatole. Her only hope lies with Pierre, the lonely outsider who may be the key to everyone’s redemption. 

Despite the title of the musical making it seems like it’s only about two people, the musical consists of many characters, both main and side characters, that are all related or connected to each other in some way. 

The musical is mostly based around Natasha’s growing affair with the married Anatole as she visits her Godmother Marya D. and cousin Sonya in Moscow, along with Pierre’s qualms about his own life and his suffering marriage with his wife, Helene. 

My favorite aspect of the play was the combination of modern electropop with elements of opera, creating a lively clash of present-day music and operatic performance elements of the past. One aspect of the musical that stood out to me was members of the cast actually playing instruments in addition to a live orchestra being present. 

These instruments included violins, an accordion and even Pierre sitting down to play the piano a couple of times throughout the musical. I also enjoyed the members of the cast directly interacting with members of the audience, creating a fourth wall break to make it seem like we’re a part of the musical. 

The great comedy timing and physical humor of the actors, along with funny details, such as using actual powder in powdered wigs, made this musical fun to watch and created many laugh-out-loud moments. 

If you’re like me and didn’t know much about this musical prior to seeing it though, you might be confused as to why they don’t mention anything about a comet until the very last song at the end of the play. 

Despite the small confusion, the musical was overall really good as it featured amazing performances from the actors and featured multiple outstanding songs. I also have to recognize the ensemble's amazing ability at not only singing and remembering dialogue but also their excellent choreography and dancing skills — it was overall very entertaining. 

I highly recommend that others take the chance to attend this show, but do it soon as production only runs through Saturday, April 20. For more information about show times and dates, visit 2023-24 Theatre - Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (umn.edu).