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"I'll Never Be this Happy Again" (Natasha, No One Else)

It is rare that any show at any theater is cast perfectly, and yet for Endicott’s production of The Great Comet, the casting panel hit the nail on the head twice in a row. The two casts were named “Dust” and “Ashes”, named for the song “Dust and Ashes” sung in the middle of the first act, and was an emotional turning point for the character Pierre. Each pair in a character duo were vastly different from each other in how they chose to deliver their character, and yet each choice each individual made brought their characters to life in a new and fresh way. As someone who got to perform on stage with both casts, there was never a dull or repetitive moment, and each show brought the opportunity to break from the mundanity of performing show after show after show. 

Despite both sets of performers bringing their own unique talents to their roles, each cast had a distinct feel that could bring audiences coming back more than once. The Dust cast had a cohesive sweetness to it, even in some of the more chaotic moments. Every performance was raw and emotional, and you could feel the love and care each set of scene partners had for each other. Affection and love were at the core of this cast, and you could feel it no matter if a lonely ballad or a 14 minute dance number was being performed. The Ashes cast had a stark energy to it that kept audiences on the edge of their seats. Each performance was vibrant and colorful, and you could feel the stakes of each individual song. Vigor and passion were at the core of this cast, bringing each song to new heights with each performance.

The playboy character of Anatole was portrayed by MJ Flood of the Dust Cast and Maria Groover of the Ashes cast, a tough role as one had to show a character that was annoying and pretentious, but also inherently loveable at the same time. Both of these performers embraced the challenges the role came with, and each night the audience and the characters that shared the stage with them both fell in love with Anatole and wanted him gone. Powerhouse vocals were required for characters like Marya Dimitrievna and actors Maddie Lucente and Samantha Huelle were able to deliver the belts and the vocal raspiness that gave the older woman her charm and intimidating power. No matter which cast was performing that night, the audience and the ensemble had a world of talent leading the stage, and it is a tribute to the individuals involved, as well as the people who put them there, that a brilliant and impressive performance was given by those on stage. 

“And my newly melted heart, now blossoming into a new life.” is how the genre-defying musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 ends, with the melancholy-yet-hopeful lyrics being sung by the titular Pierre. Endicott College’s production of the show had two casts, and both actors Eamon Arthur and Simeon Owens delivered not just the song, but the entire show, with strong emotionality and technical grace. Owens was on stage as Pierre on closing night. There was not a dry eye in the audience, nor on stage. The penultimate number, aptly named “Pierre & Natasha”, sung plainly and with a simple piano accompaniment brought the audience and the cast to tears due to the beautiful performances given by Owens and Lucy Boyden, who was portraying Natasha that night. The two main characters had not shared the stage for the entire show up until this point, and their union was a testament to the story and the characters that the audience had followed and loved for the past two and a half hours. As “Pierre & Natasha” bled into the final number, and the rest of the cast joined the stage to sing a song about stars and new beginnings, which is usually a hopeful theme, but for a show that was ending, no one wanted the new beginning to start. The chorus was shaky with genuine tears, and the actors held onto each other just a little tighter than they had the previous night. Even Owens himself, the sole main vocals of the song, could be heard getting choked up. That night, at that time, no one in that cast delivered a world-shattering performance. It was messy technically, and a sharp left turn from how the song was usually performed on a dry-eye night. But it was perfect, and a testament to the show and the love the people shared for it and for each other. Affection, vigor, love, and passion were all essential aspects of this show, and instrumental qualities of the performers to embody. No matter what, or who, you were seeing each night, it was apparent that everyone on stage had all of those qualities.

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"'Cause it's a Complicated Russian Novel" (All, Prologue)

Director Katie Clarke-Robertston and Stage Manager Cordelia King watching a run-through of NP&TGC1812. Credits to the Mainstage Theater Instagram page.

Call time for the actors is at 6pm sharp each day of tech week, but for the twenty-nine members of the student body that make up the tech team, their arrival time is even earlier. There is a lot to do to prepare for twenty-seven actors to be on stage all at once. Mic packs must be turned on, the lighting board must be set, the musical cues must be prepared, the props must be placed backstage. There is a lot to get done in a short amount of time, and no one can do it alone. Every team needs a leader though, and Olivia Darmanin, class of ‘26, spearheads the tech team as a Technical Student Coordinator. 

All of the mic packs used in the show, ready to be put on actors for Mic Check. Darmanin calls them her “babies”.

One of Olivia’s duties is to send out call sheets to the actors each day, letting them know where to be and when to be there. All of her emails open with a bright and positive message: “Gooood morning super stars!” begins the Daily Call email for opening night. “Super stars” is an apt descriptor for all of the members of the cast and crew for the show Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. Set in Napoleonic era Russia, the musical tells the story of a small portion of Leo Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace, and it is just as entertaining and scandalous as your favorite soap opera. It’s a complicated Russian novel, everyone’s got nine different names, so look it up in your program. We’d appreciate it– thanks a lot!

A behind-the-curtain shot of the on-stage pit band making the music happen for over two and a half hours. Credits to the Mainstage Theater Instagram page.

Stage management, set construction, hair and makeup, costuming, mics and sound, lighting, props organization. These are some of the detailed and highly involved departments of technical theater, and without even one of them any given production would not exist. As the Lead Stage Manager, and Tech Coordinator, Olivia has her hands in each of these departments.

Actors and Techies alike socializing after a long run.

Set design and construction is one of the tech elements that are more obvious to audiences, and they are visually necessary to tell the story, as well as provide striking visuals when actors use them. The set for Great Comet is nearly entirely built by student hands, and designing/building the set is even a class that is available to take each semester. The checkered floor on the Great Comet set is a unique feature of the show, as this is a rare opportunity to have a painted floor in the performance space. This black and white flooring, contrasting with the brilliant red stairs, and the compass rose platform features at the edge of the stage, brings to life the extravagance and maximalism of aristocratic nineteenth century Russia. Set builder and designer Kyla Schultz described her experience as “My blood sweat and tears went into the creator of [the floor] and it’s definitely what I’m most proud of.” on a takeover for the program's instagram page.

The set of Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812 with stylized lighting

It certainly wouldn’t be nineteenth century Russia if the people telling the story didn’t look like they jumped out of the pages of Tolstoy’s novel. A mix of Russian traditional and Western modern styles, the costume choices for the show are irreverent and zany, blending the styles of aristocratic style and the glitz and glam of show business. Nothing in The Great Comet is done in halves, everything is meticulously planned and created for maximum spectacle. Pictured below are a few actors who portray on-stage musicians, blending in with the background and the lives of the noble class. Yes, they are very hot to dance in, but it is all worth it.

Actors Macayla Hamilton (left) and Grace Quinby (right) in-costume 

Props are an often overlooked visual part of theater productions, but without them an important storytelling element would be completely absent. In Great Comet, the second act opens with a song called “Letters”, and with it features many sheets of paper thrown about the stage to convey not just the message the letters hold, but to visually impart the idea of chaos and uncertainty that our heroes are facing at this moment in the show. Of course having physical papers is not strictly necessary, as the lyrics of the song would be able to give the audience the same information, but having the emotionality of the song made manifest with the papers gives them a visual to latch onto. 

There are also opportunities for the props department to get creative with what they put on stage. In one song, “Pierre & Anatole”, one man threatens another by singing the lyric “And I don’t know what deprives me of the pleasure of smashing your head in with this.” It is never stated in the show materials what “this” is, leaving it completely up for the props people to decide what blunt object is being wielded at this moment. Our lovely props people chose a birdcage for this show.

The props of Backstage Right, taken care of by Props Assistant Lana Sweeney

The Great Comet is a show that is full of drama, whimsy, magic, spectacle. Showing from April 2nd through the 6th, a long week of operatic fun is ahead of the cast, but none of which would be possible without the tech team that makes it all come to life.

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"I Know You are Capable of Anything" (Sonya, Sonya Alone)

Endicott College alumna, Professor Katie Clarke-Robertson has shared her love for live theater with the school since her days as a student. Now serving as the college’s primary director for nearly every show produced, Clarke-Robertson is now tackling one of her more ambitious projects: the opera-style musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, which is based on the novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Being an opera style production, the entire team has their work cut out for them, as the show is entirely sung through with no dialogue. It is thanks to Clarke- Robertson’s infectious enthusiasm and genuine passion for the work that the cast and crew alike show up every single day and put the hard work in. 

I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to speak with Clarke-Robertson recently to talk about all things she holds dear to her in her profession. From auditions to closing night, from what’s on stage to the people making it all heard, there are many working parts to make this machine run, and as director Clarke-Robertson oversees every aspect down to the most minute detail. I was happy to speak with her about some of the more fun aspects of putting on a show, like what her favorite song in the whole show is, for example. It is clear from our conversation that a childhood love for the craft has lived with Clarke-Roberston all her life, and now she gets the opportunity to do what she loves every single day. 

GQ: A simple one to start off with: Why did you decide to become  a theater educator?

KC-R: Oh man great question. The story of theater starts with my parents. Like sort of. Maybe like me. Um but they were well drillers on Martha’s Vineyard and they needed to send me to a camp that was literally all day long. And really cheap. We did Annie Jr and I couldn’t read. I was in the ensemble. I got up on stage and my book was upside down. It wasn’t generated at all and really collaborative. So like, didn't, I don't know we were just doing like scenes or songs from it, but then shows were originally written, you get to do like counselor training. Then I got older and I went out into the world and I was likening and thinking I like these ideas from here. I wanted to create a place where that was happening, you know, so–

GQ: I feel like you've done a really good job with that here. 

KC-R: Thank you!

GQ: Why did you choose Natasha, Pierre as the show for this semester?

KC-R: We try our best to give our students a plethora of experiences across their four years at Endicott. Different genres, styles, and stories. We loved this show because it gave our students an opportunity to work on an electro-pop opera, a completely sung through piece, and really hone their musical skills. It’s also based off of a section of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace and is a different genre than we’re used to. We’re comedy lovers in the Visual and Performing Arts Department and while there are moments of levity in this production, it is more drama based. The show is described as a “scandalous slice” of the story and we’re excited to branch out and discover what that means. We also utilize surveys and committees to help us select our season. This year we leaned into "weird theater" starting with The 39 Steps in the fall and wanted to keep exploring new genres and styles.

GQ: Okay next question, we have a dual cast for Natasha Pierre, how did you come to that decision and what was the casting process for that like?

KC-R: We have a ton of talent in the department and we always utilize understudies. We decided this year we had two pretty clear casts and with a totally sung through show, we wanted to spread the opportunities and make sure we gave everyone the proper vocal rest to succeed. I also love that double cast model because, if done with curiosity and kindness, we have the ability to learn and grow so much for our doubles.

GQ: Our space is technically a recital hall, what is your process for blocking shows that happen in a non-traditional theater space?

KC-R: Most of the projects I've worked on are done in non-traditional settings. The other space I primarily work in is a ballroom so thinking outside the box is something I love to do!

We love immersive theater at Endicott. Our performance spaces are a beautiful recital hall and a blank slate black box. We don’t have fly systems or a lot of wing space so we have to get creative to bring musicals of any size to our space. In most of our productions there is action happening in the room from every entrance and lots of audience participation. For this show in particular, we have special VIP seating at cabaret tables and the actors sit with these audience members throughout the show. There are scenes that take place in the audience and you never know, an audience member might just end up on stage! We were aiming to create a nightclub vibe so the space is designed to blur the lines between the audience and the actors and immerse the audience in the world of the story.

We thrive on creating this immersive world with our technical team including Audio Arts Technician Owen Burkett, Tech Theater Professor Nick Raponi, Lighting Designer Michael Wonson, and Audio Professor Brian Doser. They lead our students in creating this immersive world. From incorporating the digital music score which plays alongside a 12-person pit of students and faculty, to building a set with 2 stories, circular platforms, and audience elements - we are looking forward to having the audience feel as though they are part of the production.

GQ: What has it been like to direct a show that is entirely sung through?

KC-R: There was definitely some imposter syndrome going on at the beginning (and maybe a bit even now!) because I don't think of myself as a dancer and there are so many great beats in this show that feel like choreography. My Assistant Directors, Kyle Gregory, and Olivia Darmanin, started to break down each song like a scene and it got easier to see what we were building together. The sound for each scene changes and is like an audible clue to the subtext and weight of each moment. It was definitely hard at first but we've been loving finding new moments at every rehearsal.

GQ: What is your favorite song in the show? It can be one from Act 1 and Act 2 if you can’t decide

KC-R: I think my favorite song is Sonya Alone and my favorite character is Sonya (and probably Pierre). I feel like they totally see what's going on around them. I think we can all relate to Sonya's feeling of losing a friend and not knowing what to do to help someone. She can see so clearly what's going on with Natasha but she can't help. I think Pierre reminds us that there's a lot we can't control in life but the things we can give us the power to make great change. As I get older and really start to see the stories we are telling on stage mirror my life and the lives of those around me, I find that I have to trust the universe. There are things I can’t control and choices I can make but I can’t foresee or control the outcomes. “We can only know that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.”  My mother always tells me “everything will be okay, and if it’s not okay, it’s not the end” and this story’s final moments really evoke this feeling for me. Be good, be kind, be as brave as you can be. Fall in love, make mistakes, don’t prepare, over prepare, lose your mind, find your peace, get a dog. There is always more to do and experience, there is always another corner, another unexpected plot twist. We cannot control that, but we can ask ourselves as Pierre does: “How did I live? Was I kind enough and good enough? Did I love enough? Did I ever look up and see the moon and the stars and the sky?...Was happiness within me the whole time?” And whatever the answer, that’s what we can start right now, this minute. Look at the stars, rescue the dog, hug your loved ones a little tighter. “Why are we sleeping?”

There is a quote we based our vision for the story on which makes me think of Pierre and Sonya who know there is more for their friend Natasha, more for their lives, and more for the world:  “When our lives are knocked off course we imagine everything in them as lost. But it is only the start of something new and good. As long as there is life there is happiness. There is a great deal. A great deal, still to come.”

GQ: So is Sonya your favorite character?

KC-R: It’s hard to choose, but if I had to, absolutely.

GQ: Final question, have you read the section of War and Peace the show is based on?

KC-R:  I haven't! I definitely want to try to get to that over Spring Break.

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"I Never Thought that I'd End Up Like This" (Pierre, Pierre)

It was a cold November evening when those involved in the theater department got the email that we would be performing Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 as the musical for the upcoming spring semester. I remember being elated, as Great Comet was one of my favorite musicals, second only to Hadestown. After a sub-par semester, I had almost considered dropping theater to focus on other things, but I took the show announcement as a sign to continue on with it. Auditions for the show were scheduled the week after we returned from Thanksgiving break, so I had little time to prepare an audition song. Singing was never really my forte, I had always considered myself an actor, dancer, then singer, but considering that Great Comet was a show that was entirely sung through, I knew I would have to put a little more effort into how I presented myself to the audition panel. Standing at 5’10 and already having a deep speaking voice for a woman, I knew that I would most likely be lined up for more masculine roles (A reasonable assumption, considering I have only played male roles in the past). I went into the audition room, sang my 16 bars, did my range check with the music director, and stared at my email in-box for two days awaiting callbacks. Surprisingly enough I did get a callback, unsurprisingly for a male character. Vocal callbacks were on the same day as the dance call, so not only did I get to sing a very fun song, I got to dance my legs sore learning the hardest part of the longest dance number. Two birds with one stone I suppose. 

If waiting for the callback email wasn’t bad enough, waiting for the actual casting email was brutal. The theater department takes on the professional approach when casting shows, and sends out role offer emails in waves over the course of a week. At the end of the week if you didn’t get an email, you knew you were cut. I’ll never forget turning off my notifications on my email app so I wouldn’t be tempted to look at it and do nothing else. After the sun had set on the final day I still hadn’t gotten an email. I knew the worst had happened: for the first time ever I had gotten cut from a show. I was gutted, I love the show so much and I knew that not being able to participate in it would crush me. Now I couldn’t make this up if I wanted to, but literally seconds after I started to cry about being cut, I received my casting email. “Roving Guitarist” was what my role was officially called. My sorrow turned to confusion. I had no idea how to play the guitar.

Apparently, during the audition process I had written “willing to learn” on the audition form in the section where they asked if we were able to play any instruments. So they took that as a sign to assign me the task of learning how to play the guitar well enough to mimic the abilities of professional musicians in just four months. I got off easy though, two of my dear friends had to learn how to play the accordion. 

There were six “roving musicians” in all. Six people separate from the traditional ensemble and dance groups, tasked with walking around the stage and playing their instruments while also singing the songs, and interacting with the characters, throughout all two and a half hours of the show. The only one of us who already knew how to play their instrument was my friend Jack, who was also a guitarist. In total there were four guitarists and two accordionists, and we had to divide 27 songs amongst ourselves. Thankfully not all 27 of those songs used those instruments, so we averaged out to three songs per guitarist, and just under half for the accordionists. They were the real stars of the show.

Seeing as though I had no idea I would be asked to play the guitar, I had to borrow my suitemate's guitar, which means I had to wait till the end of January to start rehearsing. Luckily I had a bit of an incentive (besides the immense pressure of course). One of the songs I had been assigned to play was my absolute favorite song in the show, so I knew I would be practicing that one the most. The song, concisely titled “Pierre”, was also one of the more complicated songs I had to play, so I knew that if I could learn “Pierre”, I could learn my other songs with ease. My other songs were titled “Balaga” and “Natasha Very Ill”, the composer of the show Dave Malloy had a certain motif about him when it came to titling songs. “Pierre” is the second song in the show, sung immediately after “Prologue”, in which the character Pierre sings about how he wants to be a better man than he is, and then it just doesn’t happen until much later in the show. Pierre is also my favorite character in the show.

Guitar turned out to be a lot simpler than I had originally feared it would be. As long as you could memorize chords, strumming patterns, and chord progressions, then you could learn to play any song. The thing I had the most trouble with was learning the B chord. It required the use of the index finger to press down on the entire first fret of strings, and I did not have the grip strength to do so. I was always told I had a pianist's hands, which was ironic because I was horrible at playing the piano. I bypassed this anatomical flaw by replacing my occasional B chords with a Bm7. Bm7 only required three strings to be pressed, and they were all on the same fret. I don’t think anyone noticed the change.

Time moved on, and rehearsals went under full swing. We learned the songs, we learned the dances, and the musicians learned how to play their instruments. It took just over two months, but by the end of tech week it was like most of us musicians had been playing our instruments our entire lives. Playing “Pierre” for the final time on closing night was such a bittersweet moment, my primary motivation for learning this new skill had passed. I would still have the ability to play the guitar, but never a good reason to play “Pierre” again. Sometimes I still strum out the chorus if I get frustrated while learning a new song. I bought a guitar strap specifically for the show. I will use it until it breaks, that way I will always carry a piece of this show with me, no matter where I go, what I do, or who’s guitar I am using. I learned a new skill, one I will keep forever, and it’s all thanks to an electro-pop opera set in Napoleonic era Russia.