Dave Malloy and Rachel Chavkin: The Great Comet

Playwright/composer/actor Dave Malloy and director Rachel Chavkin discuss their work on this fall's hit: Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, starring Josh Groban. Moderating this event is Adam Feldman, TIME OUT NEW YORK theater writer and critic.
The New York Times calls THE GREAT COMET “the most innovative and the best new musical since Hamilton.” Inspired by a 70-page slice of War and Peace, this “boundlessly inventive production” (The Hollywood Reporter) that brings us just inches from Tolstoy’s brash young lovers has “redefined the boundaries of musical theater” (The Star-Ledger).
Rachel Chavkin is an award-winning stage director and the Artistic Director of Brooklyn-based The TEAM. She has directed and created many works for The TEAM, including award-winning and internationally touring plays.
Dave Malloy is a composer, having written for the shows Beowulf - A Thousand Years of Baggage, a Banana Bag & Bodice Song, Three Pianos, Beardo, and more. For Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 he was the composer, lyricist, orchestrator, music director and performer (playing Pierre).
The Great Comet was commissioned by Ars Nova and in May 2012 the show transferred Off-Broadway then a pre-Broadway run at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA. The show has won an Obie Award, the 2013 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater, the Off-Broadway Alliance's Best New Musical Award, 3 Elliot Norton Awards, 8 IRNE Awards, 11 Lucille Lortel Awards nominations (winning 3), 5 Drama Desk nominations, 2 Drama League Award nominations, and opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre in October 2016, with Josh Groban in Malloy's place as Pierre.
Recorded March 23, 2017

[@matildah2646]

What a great interview, flowing naturally, with interesting questions clearly coming from a place of lots of knowledge of/love for the show, and of course Dave and Rachel giving insightful and funny answers (and being allowed to speak out fully). Plus, even some Les Miserables trivia I didn't know which made me very excited as a massive fan of the 1980 version as well as the 1985 one! So thank you so much for doing this interview and uploading it :)

[@angyuhxin2895]

Matilda H A deep place of love indeed! Thank you for articulating this.

[@curseofthepirates]

this is the best interview with them i've seen so far! lots of interesting questions that aren't the usual few that get asked all the time.

[@adoredpromises]

this is a truly awesome interview

[@adoredpromises]

The interviewer looks like a mixture of Pedro Pascal and Joaquin Phoenix