{"id":136323,"date":"2024-10-14T20:28:44","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T00:28:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=136323"},"modified":"2024-10-14T20:28:44","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T00:28:44","slug":"great-comet-at-muhlenberg-theatre-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=136323","title":{"rendered":"‘Great Comet’ at Muhlenberg Theatre & Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018War and Peace\u2019 in the Nightclub<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tony-nominated musical \u2018Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812\u2019 comes to Muhlenberg stage, Oct. 31 \u2013 Nov. 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Allentown, Pa. (Oct. 14, 2024) \u2014 \u201cWar and Peace,\u201d Leo Tolstoy\u2019s 1,000-page 19th century Russian novel might conjure up memories of high school English class \u2014 but \u201cNatasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812,\u201d Dave Malloy\u2019s musical adaptation of the novel, is more likely to transport you to a Russian nightclub on Tolstoy theme night. At least, that\u2019s how director James Peck envisions the musical \u2014 coming Oct. 31 \u2013 Nov. 3 to Muhlenberg College.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis show offers the chance to watch a musical do something you didn\u2019t necessarily know a musical could do,\u201d Peck says. \u201cIt incorporates an incredible range of stylistic influences, from Russian folk music to electronica, contemporary pop to opera recitative. The way he juxtaposes those influences, at some level it shouldn\u2019t work. And yet it 100 percent works.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd who would have thought of \u2018War and Peace\u2019 as the subject matter of a musical?\u201d<\/p>\n

Malloy\u2019s \u201cGreat Comet\u201d focuses on just a 70-page sliver of events from the original novel. While its source material may be intimidating, dramaturg Rowan Joyce says not to worry. \u201cMalloy intentionally crafts the prologue to give you everything you need to know,\u201d she says. \u201cI think good theatre is meant to be approachable, and \u2018Great Comet\u2019 really leans into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat Comet\u201d centers the two title characters: miserable, philosophizing Pierre, and young Natasha, who has arrived in Moscow to await the return of her fianc\u00e9 Andrey from the Napoleonic wars. Bewitched by the glitz and glamor of high society, Natasha falls hard for Pierre\u2019s friend Anatole, and the ensuing scandal changes both of their lives forever.<\/p>\n

Scenic designer You-Shin Chen incorporates circular platforms and orbital shapes to pay homage to the great comet itself \u2014 visible in the night sky for more than eight months in 1811 and 1812 \u2014 as well as the musical\u2019s two title characters. \u201cI was intrigued by the idea of Pierre and Natasha as a dual star system,\u201d Chen says, \u201ctheir lives and how they intertwine, their certain degree of separation, and how things bring them together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat Comet\u201d boasts complex character relationships, family trees, and connections \u2014 but the duo that centers the show is Natasha and Pierre. In each of the characters\u2019 respective isolations from their broader Russian society, they find solace in each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the idea that somebody is always going to be there for you,\u201d says Maddie Ciliento, who plays Natasha, \u201ceven when it seems like every single ounce of hope is completely lost.\u201d Samuel Roter, who plays Pierre, offers a similar sentiment on Pierre\u2019s reliance on Natasha. \u201cEven at your lowest of lows, you can still find your way out,\u201d Roter says. \u201cThere are people out there who will support you.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Peck, the primary antagonist of \u201cGreat Comet\u201d is the ensemble and their mob mentality toward the main characters. \u201cThe ensemble is pretty malevolent towards Natasha, and to a lesser extent, Pierre,\u201d Peck says. \u201cAnatole acts as a malevolent force of the play, but he is the point of the spear of the ensemble as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anatole lures Natasha away from her fianc\u00e9, Andrey, for nefarious purposes. \u201cAnatole has no morals,\u201d Ciliento says. \u201cAs soon as Natasha meets Anatole, a little bit of that rubs off on her.\u201d Luke McIntyre, who plays Anatole, expands upon the character\u2019s villainy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnatole represents the high society character who has been told all of his life how great he is,\u201d McIntyre says. \u201cHe represents the idea that men can get away with anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

But beyond the societal stakes, seduction, and schemes, \u201cGreat Comet\u201d is also deeply invested in what lies beyond this small Russian society. Or, as Adri\u00e1n Padr\u00f3n-Curet, co-dramaturg, says, \u201cThere\u2019s a whole universe out there.\u201d At the end of the musical, the cosmos comes into focus, providing a broader scope of the world beyond Moscow. Peck sees the comet streaking across the sky as a moment of clarity for the characters. \u201cRedemption is possible,\u201d he says, \u201ceven for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNatasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812\u201d runs Oct. 31 through Nov. 3 in the Empie Theatre, in the Baker Center for the Arts at Muhlenberg College. Showtimes are Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Public tickets are $20. Youth tickets and tickets for LVAIC students, faculty and staff are $8. Tickets and information are available at\u00a0<\/strong>muhlenberg.edu\/seeashow<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0or 484-664-3333.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Content Advisory:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cGreat Comet”\u00a0features content that may not be suitable for all patrons, and viewer discretion is advised. In particular, the play includes references to mental illness and attempted suicide, depictions of excessive alcohol consumption, predatory masculinity, gun violence, and use of ethnic slurs in reference to Romani people.<\/p>\n

\u201430\u2014<\/p>\n

Muhlenberg offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theatre and dance. The Princeton Review ranked Muhlenberg\u2019s theatre program in the top twelve in the nation for eight years in a row, including a No. 6 ranking in 2024, and Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theatre and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States. Muhlenberg is one of only eight colleges to be listed in Fiske for both theatre and dance.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nScott Snyder<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018War and Peace\u2019 in the Nightclub Tony-nominated musical \u2018Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812\u2019 comes to Muhlenberg stage, Oct. 31 \u2013 Nov. 3 Allentown, Pa. (Oct. 14, 2024) … Continue reading ‘Great Comet’ at Muhlenberg Theatre & Dance<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/great-comit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=136323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/136324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=136323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=136323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=136323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}