#the great comet broadway

[gods-favorite-trickster]

so like. i just have one question for cynthia erivo.

when The Great Comet was running on broadway, Cynthia heavily contributed to a media fiasco that ultimately ended the show's run on broadway because a poc actor was replaced with a white one. the role (Pierre) was race-ambiguous. i promise this is relevant.

so. why is it perfectly fine for Wicked to take the character Fiyero - who, in the book, is explicitly written as a person of color - and make him a white man? where are your morals Cynthia? your integrity? because honestly, in the book, the fact that Fiyero is a poc is brought up several times, and it is almost always in the context of showing the oppression he faces for not being white. Glinda states very explicitly that the reason she doesn't date Fiyero in the book is because he is not white.

so why, pray tell, is it not okay to change the race of a gender-ambiguous role in TGC, but it's perfectly fine to completely whitewash another role whose unique poc experiences are integral to his relationships with other main characters in Wicked? might it be because you garnered fake outrage back in 2017 and now that you're the one getting paid, you're fine with the studio's questionable decisions? is that it, Cynthia?

(more info about the situation that ultimately ended TGC's broadway run below)

[trashpidgeon48]

Musicals are time loops. Every night, the same thing happens except for a few minor differences. It always ends the same. If you want the characters to do something different or to make better choices, too bad. The actors are bound by the script and the score. The only way for the time loop to end is for the show to close. But you (the audience) don't want the show to close, nor do the actors who would like to be employed. It's a lose/lose situation. For the actors, audience, technicians, and for the characters, who are forever stuck in the same stretch of time.

[cowpokezuko]

A helpful chart

EDIT: Stop pointing out I made a typo. I know.

[cascadeoceanwave]

musical theatre challenge: 1/1 seasons | 2016-2017 (insp)

[ironicandpunny]

in honour of pride month, here’s some musicals that feature/star LBTQIA+ characters that have not aged like milk:

Falsettos

Fun Home

A Strange Loop

Company

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

Ghost Quartet

Come From Away

Cabaret

35MM

A New Brain

Spies Are Forever

Firebringer

[swingingthehatchetnow]

Okay so here’s my Broadway nerd coming out, but if a Starkid show (especially hatchetfield) ever made it to Broadway, I think they should have the stage be something other than a standard proscenium stage.

What else could they do, you may ask. Well let me introduce my good friend: Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812.

Check this shit out:

And if it’s not clear, here (marked in blue) is where some of the audience seats are:

One of my favorite things is the Starkid actors interacting with the audience. If they did something like Great Comet did, this would allow for that, because with Broadway theatres, it’s so much harder to go from the stage to the audience and back.

In fact, part of me really really wants to make my own blocking for NPMD using the layout of the Great Comet stage.

This specific design worked well for Great Comet because they had a lot of spectacle and many more actors, and I believe this stage was built specifically inspired by Russian designs for the time, so it wouldn’t be the best option if, for example, NPMD went to Broadway with the cast size it had with Starkid. But, I really think this would be a really cool way to watch a Starkid show, if they got a funky stage like this.

Just imagine watching Hatchet Town, and when the blame is going around, not only is it going around in front of you, but the blame going around AROUND you. Max chasing Richie all around. Think about Ruth singing Just For Once, moving all around that big empty space meant for like,, two dozen or so people dancing, but she’s the only one. Ugh. I love theater.

[disastergenius]

rip Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812 you would have bodied an NPR Tiny Desk concert

[queerquaintrelle]

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Canadian premiere)

[wrenofwvnds]

great comet of 1812 studies! 💫 thought id check out the musical rachel chavkin directed before hadestown and now i havent been able to listwn to anything but the great comet in like 2 weeks, i haven't gotten into a new musical in SO long and i'm obsessed w it - definitely in my top 3! anyways im proud of these :)

[trashpidgeon48]

I think art is important because it makes me do a little sequel while I'm watching an acting choice on a poor quality bootleg.

[awhitewomansinstagram]

Me a few years ago: oh Russian literature musical!

Me every day since then: DID I SQUANDER MY DIVINITY? WAS HAPPINESS WITHIN ME THIS WHOLE TIME?

[ariaovon]

would you lend him 50 rubles?

DRINK DRINK 🍻

[skiddoozle]

Great comet fans are u out there. can u hear me??? Here is natasha as a little lamb :) I'm planning to draw as many great comet characters as creechurs as possible as a little design project hopefully i follow through <3 pierre will be a bear obviously

Bonus dramatic lighting edition >:)

[pixies992]

PHOTOS OF ‘THREE HOUSES’ BY DAVE MALLOY

[roseg96]

I’m in my Josh Groban era and I will not apologise 🕺

On a serious note though the great comet of 1812 has touched my soul like no other musical has done before. And the staging is so interactive and alive especially with the audience sitting with the actors and the orchestra pit being centre stage and having the actors be part of the pit and stage. Ugh I’m obsessed. It’s honestly such a masterpiece of theatre.

“It seems to me/ That this comet/ Feels me/ Feels my softened and uplifted soul/ And my newly melted heart/ Now blossoming/ Into a new life” - Pierre, The Great Comet of 1812