History Theatre / NatashaPierreAndTheGreatCometOf1812

* NumberOfTheBeast: "It is Napoleon! Six hundred, three-score and six!" says Pierre, after studying the cabal.

''Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812'' is a 2012 "[[RockOpera electro-pop opera]]" by Creator/DaveMalloy, based on Volume 2, Book 5[[note]]Or Book 8 depending on your translation.[[/note]] of Tolstoy's ''Literature/WarAndPeace''. It is something of a {{coming of age story}} for the titular [[TheIngenue Natasha]], who finds herself in an unexpected affair with the dashing Anatole Kuragin while waiting for her fiancé Andrey Bolkonsky to return from war. Anatole's sister Hélène finds the whole situation very amusing and helps facilitate Natasha's loss of innocence, while her own husband Pierre realizes he is DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife. Despite adapting only a very narrow slice of the {{doorstopper}} it's based on, it manages to stand on its own as a story.

* TheBusCameBack: Andrey, whose significance in the play lies in being absent, comes back from the war in "Pierre & Andrey," the third-to-final song. He meets his friend Pierre to confirm that Natasha rejected his proposal and what her whereabouts are now.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: All over the place, beginning as early as the prologue:
-->'''All:''' This is all in your program / You are at the opera / Gonna have to study up a little bit / If you wanna keep with the plot / 'Cause it's a complicated Russian novel / Everyone's got nine different names...

* GratuitousRussian: For the most part, averted, even though all of the characters are Russian. There are a few BilingualBonus moments, such as in Hélène's number, or Pierre's toast during the abduction.
** This is also some TruthInTelevision, considering that the Russian aristocracy mostly spoke French during the nineteenth century and probably wouldn't have spoken Russian very often anyway.

* IAmSong: "Prologue" for every featured character except Pierre.
** "Pierre" for, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierre]].

* AnachronismStew: The club Anatole, Dolokhov, Pierre, and Hélène attend is staged as a modern rave, with strobe lights, glowbands, the works. [[TheGhost Andrey]] even makes a cameo in the pit as "DJ Andrey 3000," brandishing a laptop. Not to mention Anatole's AnimeHair.

* RefrainFromAssuming: Most of the songs in the show are named after the principal characters that sing them, rather than after any lyric.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gc_offbroadway.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:L-R: [[HandsomeLech Anatole]] (hot), Hélène (slut), [[TheIngenue Natasha]] (young), Andrey (who ''is'' here, for once), dear, bewildered and awkward [[NiceGuy Pierre]].]]

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: Natasha thinks this of herself before she meets her future in-laws.
-->'''Natasha''': I know they'll like me, everyone has always liked me!

** This is also some TruthinTelevision, considering that the Russian aristocracy mostly spoke French during the nineteenth century and probably wouldn't have spoken Russian very often anyway.

* VirginInAWhiteDress: Natasha ("young") and her best friend, Sonya ("good") both have white dresses for costumes. On the other hand, Helene ("slut") Anatole ("hot"), and Dolokhov ("fierce") wear dark colors.
** Slightly subverted in the second act of the NYC productions, where Natasha's dress takes on some licks of black paisley.

* RunningGag: "Lend me fifty rubles?"

* VirginInAWhiteDress: Natasha ("Natasha is young") and her best friend, Sonya ("Sonya is good") both have white dresses for costumes. On the other hand, Helene ("Helene is a slut") Anatole, ("Anatole is hot") and Dolokhov ("Dolokhov is fierce") wear dark colors.

''Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812'' is a 2012 "[[RockOpera electro-pop opera]]" by Dave Malloy, based on Volume 2, Book 5[[note]]Or Book 8 depending on your translation.[[/note]] of Tolstoy's ''Literature/WarAndPeace''. It is something of a {{coming of age story}} for the titular [[TheIngenue Natasha]], who finds herself in an unexpected affair with the dashing Anatole Kuragin while waiting for her fiancé Andrey Bolkonsky to return from war. Anatole's sister Hélène finds the whole situation very amusing and helps facilitate Natasha's loss of innocence, while her own husband Pierre realizes he is DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife. Despite adapting only a very narrow slice of the {{doorstopper}} it's based on, it manages to stand on its own as a story.

* NeverTrustATitle: You'd expect from the title that Pierre would take as active a role in the story as Natasha, but aside from the visit to the club and the duel with Dolokhov he's mostly lounging around in the orchestra pit until the plot ''really'' picks up in Act II. (Though he still gets some pretty good songs.) The Great Comet also doesn't become important until literally the last few minutes of the show, as Pierre sees it as a symbol of his new realisation of the joy in life.

* ArcWords: "Andrey Isn't Here." Repeated constantly throughout the prologue, this statement hangs over the whole musical, as events escalate and mistakes are made due to his absence.

* AudienceParticipation: Audience members seated on the stage are given shot glasses (filled with water) during "The Duel" and "The Abduction", and egg shakers are given out to the entire audience during "Balaga".

* BigSisterInstinct: Orphaned as a baby and raised since by the Rostovs, Sonya and Natasha's relationship is more akin to sisters than cousins. Sonya especially is shown to go out of her way to comfort Natasha when the latter is upset, and vows in "Sonya Alone" to keep Natasha from going through with a disastrous elopement to Anatole even though Natasha treated her harshly in the previous song "Sonya & Natasha".
* BigWhat: In "A Call to Pierre", Marya lists everything that's happened and Pierre responds with an increasingly louder "what?" each time, until:
-->'''Marya''': Natasha and ''Anatole Kuragin''!
-->'''Pierre''': ''WHAT?''

-->''"This is all in your program/You are at the opera/Gonna have to study up a little bit/If you wanna keep with the plot/'Cause it's a complicated Russian novel/Everyone's got nine different names..."''
** During the song "Letters", cast members sometimes give audience members notes of their own.

* BSODSong: "Dust and Ashes" Having just dueled Dolokhov, Pierre questions what his life has become, if there is even anything left for him, and whether he'll ever find the love in his life he so desperately desires.

* CometOfDoom: Discussed but otherwise averted. Pierre notes in the finale that the comet, which usual portends the end of the world, instead helps bring him to a new sense of life. Also, a bit of historical inaccuracy, as the "Great Comet" of the title was mostly prevalent in 1811, not 1812.

* DecoyProtagonist: Pierre actually a {{Subversion}} of this. He opens the show with the first sung lines and then he has [[IAmSong the first solo number which goes into great detail about his character]], unlike the other principle roles who only get brief summarizations in "Prologue". After that, while he continues to appear throughout, he spends a good chunk of the show not really factoring into the plot, with it being focused on Natasha instead. But during the second act, Pierre finally gets involved in the main drama, where he cements himself as the true hero of the show, which ends focused on him rather than Natasha.

-->"Balaga is fun / Bolkonsky is crazy / Mary is plain / Dolokhov is fierce / Hélène is a slut / Anatole is hot / Marya is old-school / Sonya is good / Natasha is young / And Andrey isn’t here!"

--->'''Natasha''': But still I'm tormented/By the wrongs I've done him/Tell him that I beg him to forgive/Forgive/Forgive me for everything

* TheBusCameBack: In the third-to-final song "Pierre & Andrey" Andrey, whose significance in the play lies in being absent, comes back from the war and meets his friend Pierre to confirm that Natasha rejected his proposal and what her whereabouts are now.

* DecoyProtagonist: Pierre actually {{Subverts}} this. He opens the show with the first sung lines and then he has [[IAmSong the first solo number which goes into great detail about his character]], unlike the other principle roles who only get brief summarizations in "Prologue". After that, while he continues to appear throughout, he spends a good chunk of the show not really factoring into the plot, with it being focused on Natasha instead. But during the second act, Pierre finally gets involved in the main drama, where he cements himself as the true hero of the show, which ends focused on him rather than Natasha.

* VoiceTypes:
** Soprano: Natasha and Mary
** Mezzo-Soprano: Sonya
** Alto: Marya and Helene
** Tenor: Anatole
** Baritone: Pierre and Dolokhov
** Bass-Baritone: Andrey/Old Prince Bolkonsky and Balaga