Theatre Arts Mashes Tolstoi and Electro-Pop with The Great Comet
08/27/2025|
Bill Doncaster
The University Hall Theatre will once again be filled with music, with an electro-pop operatic romp ripped from a scandalous slice of Tolstoi’s War and Peace. Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 will launch on November 13, with auditions – open to students of all majors – on September 9 and 10. The theatre space will once again transform with an immersive seating plan, putting the audience in the middle of the action of a Russian socialite ball.
Guest director A. Nora Long has been enamored with The Great Comet for years and is looking forward to auditions, especially those giving it a try for the first time.
“The music in this play is amazing, beautiful and fun,” Long says. “But it’s the theme I find resonant. It’s about offering kindness, forgiveness, how one finds purpose and connection to others and – most importantly – how do you move on after you’ve made a grave mistake?”
The Great Comet draws from just a 70-page segment of War and Peace, a famously long novel by Leo Tolstoi. Written by Dave Malloy, it focuses on a young and impulsive Natasha who arrives in Moscow to await her fiancé’s return from the war front. She falls under the spell of a rogue, shattering her reputation. Pierre, a family friend, finds purpose in helping her pick up the pieces.
The play premiered off-Broadway in 2012, followed by a 2015 run at The American Repertory in Cambridge and a Broadway run in 2016 where it was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, winning two.
The UMass Boston Production will run for eight performances beginning on November 13, including three weekend matinees.
Singers Wanted
Auditions for The Great Comet will be September 9 and 10, 6-9 p.m., and roles are open to students from all majors. Newbies to theater are especially encouraged. Auditioners should prepare 16 bars of a song of their choosing. Sign up for an audition time slot. All are invited to a special Audition Song Workshop with Long and Music Director J. Kathleen Castellanos on September 3, 6:30 p.m., in the University Hall Theatre. A Theatre Arts Town Hall, the same day and location at 4:30 p.m., is an opportunity to meet Long and Theatre Arts faculty and students and bring questions about auditions and the program.
Long has directed for numerous Boston-area theater companies, including the Greater Boston Stage Company, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, The Lyric Stage, and others. But, she says, she gets a particular joy from working with college students and people new to the theater.
“It’s a tremendous act of courage to try something new and, honestly, anyone thinking about it should give it a try,” Long says. “If you’re not super confident about singing, we will also be looking for members of an ensemble, where you’d sing as part of a group. There are a few roles that can be sort of speak-singing.”
“What I’m mostly looking for is good collaborators,” she says. “Theater requires multiple brains, and I’m looking forward to digging into the material with an engaged cast, people who ask good questions, and work together.”
Tickets for Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 go on sale September 10 at umb.universitytickets.com.