YMMV / Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Mary attracted to Natasha? It's damn hard to say. Her limited stagetime has her disliking Natasha the second she sees her, but later she admits she was wrong to be so harsh, and desires Natasha's companionship more than anything. Whether this is attraction or deep loneliness is up to the viewer.
  • There are some lines that imply Anatole did care about Natasha, at least a little.
  • Did Natasha ever really love Andrey, or is she simply In Love with Love?
• Audience-Alienating Premise: A musical adaptation of an old classic Russian novel that only covers a small excerpt of the story that is entirely sung through with a very non-hummable music style that would make Sondheim proud. It was very well received by critics but failed to gain much financial traction, particularly after Josh Groban's departure from the show meant that the show lacked any truly big names to promote with.
• Award Snub:
  • The Broadway production was nominated for twelve Tonys, more than any other show that year. It won two (Scenic Design and Lighting Design). Granted, it was a very strong year, with Dear Evan Hansen, Hello, Dolly!, and Come from Away’s wins being very respected. At the same time though, it was deemed a shame that one of Broadway's most acclaimed shows that year was largely ignored in terms of major wins, especially since this is the kind of show that needs that kind of attention in order to succeed in terms of box office, which it unfortunately didn't.
  • While most of the Tony awards Comet was nominated for and lost were up to debate, the loss of Best Orchestrations to Dear Evan Hansen did baffle some fans due to the latter's far more simplistic style.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Letters" and "Balaga."
  • "The Abduction", particularly the four minute dance break.
  • "Dust and Ashes", Pierre's solo written specifically for Josh Groban for the Broadway production.
• Cult Classic: The musical was and is far from mainstream, and the controversy that led to it closing will always be a black mark, but it still had many fans who absolutely adore it.
• Critical Dissonance: Had excellent reviews, but audiences were a bit more divided, with some absolutely loving it, but others finding it inaccessible.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Balaga's just for fun! He doesn't do much, but he's incredibly memorable, and his song is one of the best.
  • A lot of people really like Mary. The fact that she's massively sympathetic and surprisingly complex for not being onstage that long helps.
  • Despite being listed in the Prologue as "not too important", Dolokhov (and his actor, Nick Choksi) has garnered a fairly large fan following.
• Fandom Rivalry: Many fans of this show do not like Dear Evan Hansen, which at first seems weird because the shows have nothing in common and nothing to do with each other... except Great Comet lost the Best Musical Tony to Dear Evan Hansen in 2017, which many Great Comet fans regarded as the voting committee going with the "safe" choice. The fact that losing the Tony probably contributed to Great Comet closing only made things more acrimonious. (Of course, there are so many factors at play when the show closed that it wasn't solely that, but it certainly didn't help). The rivalry is almost entirely one sided, as you'll rarely see DEH fans going after Great Comet, with the worst that they'll say being "stop hating on our show". And of course, there are those who consider themselves fans of both shows, and are embarrassed by the rivalry, especially since it was due to something beyond the control of either show's people.
• Fan Nickname: The show is often called "Great Comet," due to the full title being a bit of a mouthful. If you're in a hurry, even "Comet" on its own will suffice.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • A weird little friendship exists between the fans of Great Comet and Come from Away, due to both shows being Award Snubbed in favor of Dear Evan Hansen, with fans on both sides feeling the other show was a Worthy Opponent.
  • There's a massive overlap between fans of this show and fans of Hadestown, thanks to the presence of Amber Gray in both. Also, they were both directed by Rachel Chavkin. Both shows are both also retellings of famous stories using a musical style that isn't "standard" for Broadway (nor are they pop musicals, which became increasingly popular in The New '10s). There are so many audience members who are fans of both, that when Hadestown won Best Musical in 2019, many Great Comet fans jokingly declared it payback for their loss in 2017.
• Ho Yay: There’s definitely some between Anatole and Dolokhov. They would even kiss each other during “Balaga” in the Broadway run.
  • Les Yay: The percentage of characters whom Natasha doesn't have some kind of romantic or sexual chemistry with is alarmingly low. Naturally, she has quite a bit of subtext with other female characters.
    • Hélène spends a lot of time talking about how pretty Natasha is. A lot of time. For bonus points, "Charming" is staged in Natasha's room while she's in her underwear. It seems the attraction is mutual, as Helene's voice alone makes Natasha blush. The way their meeting is staged suggests they spot each other across the crowd and are struck by one another at once.
      Natasha: Oh, that neck... oh, those pearls...
      Hélène: So beautiful, what a charming young girl! So enchanting.
      Natasha: I blush scarlet.
    • "Sonya Alone", according to Dave Malloy, is based of "On My Own", a love song from Les Misérables, and is sung about Natasha. The song itself is about Sonya's unwillingness to let her friend's name be ruined by her affair. The subtext is almost squicky, considering that Sonya is Natasha's cousin and engaged to her brother. Especially with Sonya's repeated requests for affection.
      Sonya: Natasha, come here! Kiss me! Press your wet face to mine!
    • Mary, as in the novel, has some notes of this for Natasha, which has further notes of Odd Couple as they do not like each other at first. Worth noting that this is actually downplayed◊ compared to the novel.
      Mary: I beg you to believe that I cannot help loving you. [...] I am so alone here.
    • In the Tony Awards performance and reportedly, most of the original Broadway run, Marya Dmitrievna and Hélène can be seen making out during The Abduction.
• Incest Yay Shipping:
  • Sonya and Natasha are cousins, but still have a fair number of shippers. Their interactions onstage don't help, and their relation is not especially emphasized in the libretto, making it possible for casual listeners to miss.
  • A certain portion of the fandom doesn't seem to care that Helene and Anatole are siblings. (Of course, the Incest Subtext is already present in the original novel.)
• Gotta Ship 'Em All: The fandom seems determined to ship the characters in every possible combination, regardless of plausibility.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Natasha is shipped with every character besides Marya D. and Prince Bolkonsky. (And even that probably exists, somewhere.)
• Mis-blamed: In reaction to the announcement of the show's closure, some have directed blame at Rafael Casal, Okierete Onaodowan, rabid Hamilton fans, and/or "Tumblr SJWs." While this is understandable, the blame is more appropriately leveled at two things: the producers and the realities of show business. The casting controversy ended up shining a light on the fact that the producers clearly didn't have a permanent replacement lined up and that they seriously misread the optics of cutting a black actor's well-received run short in order to bring in a more established white actor. They also made some serious PR missteps when handling the blowback. The unfortunate reality of show business is that the market doesn't always reward artistry (see: the Tony Awards). Similarly "weird" but boundary-pushing productions such as Spring Awakening (which won Best Musical) have also had short runs. Great Comet, like the current production of Hello, Dolly! experienced significant revenue loss when their big name lead was out of the production because it needed that star power in order to survive on Broadway. Without it, the production was considered "unsustainable."
• Narm Charm: As noted in his introduction, Anatole strides the line between between looking and acting totally absurd and stylishly sexy. In the hands of a talented and handsome actor like Lucas Steele, the audience will be cracking up at his larger than life antics while completely buying why Natasha falls head over heels for him.
• One-Scene Wonder: The "minor characters" expectedly don't get too much spotlight, but they make their moments shine. Additionally, thanks to the theatre in the round type execution, they get to appear many other times, even as other small parts.
  • Our peek into the lives of Mary and Old Prince Bolkonsky gives us a tragic view of a frighteningly senile and abusive father and a daughter struggling to serve him while grappling with her own depression, not to mention one incredibly awkward meeting between in-laws. Mary then gets another scene when she desperately tries to reach out and apologize to Natasha.
  • Andrey's meeting with Pierre is rife with unspoken history between the two - that is if you hadn't read their full story beforehand - while also showcasing the negative side of a heroic character that often isn't thought about.
  • Balaga shows to lead a number talking about how he's frigging nuts and loves to engage in mayhem, right before engaging in some.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: The decision to cut Okieriete Onaodowan's run as Pierre short and replace him with Broadway legend Mandy Patinkin. Patinkin's involvement was intended to boost ticket sales, after the significantly less famous Onaodowan taking over for star attraction Josh Groban caused a major decline in business, with the plan being to search for a more long term big name to come in after Patinkin's brief run. Unfortunately, the abrupt announcement (which did not make the show's financial struggles clear) of a white actor taking the job of a black actor raised more than a few eyebrows. Not helping matters was Onaodowan's work was being well received, and he just so happened to be part of the biggest musical of the century, which has a huge, very passionate, and politically minded fanbase. The show was then hit with a massive backlash, with many accusations of racism (despite the show having a diverse cast, led by a black actress) and calls to let Oak finish out his scheduled run. Within two days of the announcement, Patinkin then bowed out, claiming he didn't know he would be screwing another actor out of a job. With the show losing its upcoming star and its reputation taking a major hit, it was decided to let Oak finish his remaining weeks on the production and shortly after close the show, with its creator and Pierre's original actor Dave Malloy playing the leading man for these final performances.
• Questionable Casting: Okieriete Onaodowan being cast as Pierre isn't seen as a bad choice in terms of pure casting, but in terms of business, it was regarded as very questionable. Josh Groban was one of the biggest draws of the original cast, and replacing him with one of the lesser known principals of Hamilton inevitably led to ticket sales going way down. Attempts were then made to fix this problem by bringing in a much bigger name with Broadway legend and successful film/tv actor Mandy Patinkin... who is himself an example, being nearly thrice the character's age, and touched off a large debate over whether Onaodowan's firing was racially motivated.
• Retroactive Recognition: Phillipa Soo, who originated the role of Natasha during the Off-Broadway run, is now extremely well-known as the OBC Eliza Hamilton.
• Ships That Pass in the Night: Sonya and Mary never meet onstage, but that doesn't stop anyone. This is partially a product of neither of them having a (visible) male love interest in the show proper, and the fact that they both have Les Yay with Natasha. Also the fact that they're both very lonely — the general sentiment seems to be, "Sonya and Mary should meet up; they'd both feel a lot better."
• Signature Song: Between "Prologue" and "The Abduction". The former being a jaunty opening number which is noticeably more accessible to audiences than the rest of the the show. The latter being a chaotic ensemble number that pretty much stops the show, literally doing so several times within the number.
• Tough Act to Follow: One of the reasons for the Broadway production's premature closure. Josh Groban was the one of the main draw to audiences; when he left ticket sales dropped and the producers attempt to find a viable replacement didn't work out. See above.
• Values Dissonance: An example of lyrics taken directly from the book: the dresses at the opera are super sexy and revealing...they don't have sleeves!
• Wangst: Pierre can occasionally veer into this territory.
• The Woobie: Sonya, Princess Mary, and Pierre. Natasha is a bit of a Jerkass Woobie; she cheats on her fiance and treats Sonya and Marya D. with little more than derision, but you still want to give her a major hug after the massive Break the Cutie she goes through in the second act.

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