#great comet toronto

[lizzypuppet1711]

things about toronto’s production of the great comet at crow’s theatre/musical stage co that i need everyone to know about because i am obsessed with this show.

as of writing i have seen this show five times.

very long under the cut:

full cast listed here. at time of writing, donna garner replaces louise pitre as marya, tyler pearse replaces lawrence libor as dolokhov, and ben carlson replaces marcus nance as andrey/bolkonsky. currently i’ve seen the og cast four times and the replacements once.

the stage is set up with seats on three out of four sides, with front rows at tables, back of house left and right sides at barstools, and a small balcony with some seats on house right. there are balconies on either side, with a revolving platform in the middle of the stage (revolving by being pushed by cast members or stagehands). seats around 200 people or so.

the actors are EVERYWHERE. it is so incredibly immersive

the music is very punchy

during prologue, everyone is taking shots as they’re introduced, except dolokhov, who drinks straight from the bottle and sprays it into the air

i’m a dolokhov girlie through and through and once he nodded hello at me during the prologue and i legit swooned

mary is walking around holding a program showing off the family tree, actors will point to them on tables etc

once anatole pointed at his face on it, pointed to himself, all in a very flirty manner

he winked at me during prologue once and i’m still thinking about it

evan buliung is acting his ass off as pierre

he is definitely is more gruff and acting focused (think dave malloy over josh groban)

at “hours at my screen”, pierre takes an audience member’s phone (from one of the tables… or once out of someone’s hands LMAO) and mimes tapping, scrolling through it etc

two stagehands move things on and offstage (such as the sofa, church props etc) and they are also in little costumes. it’s very adorable

dolokhov’s little soldier walk thing??? during moscow????? i’m sure there’s a reason for it bc both of them do it but i have no clue why it’s there???? love it tho

heeyun park as mary is also acting her damn heart out

private and intimate life has a faster tempo and is SUCH a banger as a result

an audience member gets briefly pulled up on the platform to be the cheap french thing, he typically kisses up their arm, hugs them, and sometimes sits on their lap a bit

pierre is playing the tambourine in the background during natasha and bolkonskys and it is honestly kind of funny

hailey gillis plays natasha very emotional and headstrong. her no one else has a sense of urgency, desperation, and deep longing

the platform is spinning and people are walking around and she is singing like an angel…

basically i want to be hailey gillis when i grow up

actors are rotating the platform during no one else and it ends with andrey standing behind her and pierre standing in front of her. no one talk to me i’m losing it

as the run has continued, dolokhov’s adlibs during his intro in the opera have increased drastically

lawrence libor as dolokhov had such an air and presence (rizz?) about himself i cannot DESCRIBE. the comphet he gave me… i miss him v much. he was also very much giving toronto mans. and he made SO MUCH eye contact. he loves to look at you. i miss him. i need him. who said that

tumblr theatre girlies you would go insane over lawrence libor. if this show had ANY b roll footage i know i would be seeing edits all over the place

i am president of the lawrence libor fan club and everyone should join me

tyler pearse as dolokhov has heavy frat boy energy. he is also gayer, and somehow, sluttier. gives short king energy despite only being an inch shorter than lawrence (apparently)??? don’t ask bc i don’t know either he just does. anyway thank u tyler pearse for making dolokhov bisexual for real

either way dolokhov is doing SO MUCH in this production. he is wild he is a whirling dervish he is arrogant he is a bastard he is everything to me

“YEAH BABEY LETS GOOOOOOO” -lawrence libor as dolokhov, upon his entrance

in one performance he would go YEAH BABEY three separate times in act 1. yeahh

flirting with a girl in the balcony, dabbing up a guy in the balcony, generally being hilarious

and tyler pearse leaning over the balcony, rose in his mouth, wolf howling… i can’t.

basically i can’t with this production’s dolokhov. i’m obsessed

anatole’s entrance… he’s a whore. all i can say

rita dottor (ensemble) does the high soprano bravooooooo and she always sounds so fantastic. live laugh love rita dottor

george krissa, who plays anatole, is probably the most attractive man in ontario. like if you googled hot guy he would be the first result.

“where did they find this anatole. was he made in a lab or something. he was perfect” — my friend after seeing it

tumblr theatre girlies you would also be obsessed with george krissa. like jeremy jordan andrew rannells level obsessed. please love these toronto actors with me

i’d let him ruin my life ANY DAY. it is a fact that lesbians love george krissa. i hope he knows

the way he plays it… my friend described it like “lucas steele is like an alien david bowie, and george krissa is a bridgerton man. just a very charismatic, but normal, guy”

while i would say that lucas steele’s anatole believes he is truly in love with natasha, i would not say the same for george krissa’s. some of the manipulation happening here during the opera is. quite clear

when he is entering the box natasha struggles to open her fan, fans herself frantically, under the arms etc. then when he enters immediately shifts to fanning in a cool and collected manner. hailey gillis master of comedy

“we are speaking of most ordinary things” is especially like. this is a male manipulator if i’ve ever seen one

natasha lost was added back in!! fantastic obviously

anatole checking his hair in the mirror before waking pierre up. fucker

“look dolokhov’s coming around… and we’re off to the CLEURB”

brendan wall (ensemble) walking around during the club scene with a glowstick necklace on is peak comedy to me

i’ve said it but tyler’s dolokhov is an absolute slut at this scene. and for what AND FOR WHAT!!!!

also fun tidbit but all the glasses (other than shots) and any clear bottles have real liquid in them. i am very concerned something will spill one day

when dolokhov gets right up in the audience’s face during “known only to his intimates” i LOVE it idk

during the duel, marya and rita steal off to house left directly beside the barstools and chatter about how bad of an idea this is, they’re so drunk, etc

special shout out to divine’s “he will kill you STOOPID HUSBAND” so good

dolokhov’s adlibs during the duel… i need him. sorry

dolokhov gets shot in the side rather than his shoulder, and unceremoniously rolls off the platform as it’s moving. looks painful

hélène screams when dolokhov is shot but not pierre. so much to think about here

a life changing dust and ashes from evan. i can’t describe anything more just that he’s incredible. i’ve learned so much about acting just by watching him a few times

natasha’s face at “am i guilty…” breaks my heart she is so tormented

we are canadians we are going to pronounce our french correctly! no more charmantay

hélène has started adding some very fun runs into charming as the run has gone on. divine brown marry me

anatole is shirtless during charming. btw.

again i know he’s gay and i’m gay but.

the entirety of this rendition of the ball has been stuck in my head since december

his “don’t lower your eyes i love you” that whole section is delicious i want to eat his voice

plus “BEWITCHING AND I LOVE YOUUU” UGHHH such an ear worm but only when it’s their voices

the choreo going on here is very nice btw

i love the way he says natalie at this part idk. it’s not overly enunciated and the vowel is just right <— vocal nerd

the kiss feels like it lasts forever

music gets very very loud at the end and you can feel it in your skin

also fun fact the house music before and after the show is orchestral but during intermission it’s electronic. bc. anatole. gah details

when marcus was still in the cast you could really hear his voice during letters and it sounded sooooo.

dolokhov’s stupid little thumbs up to indicate he will be ok. pleaseee. i laughed i did

generally lawrence would grab at the place he was shot at a lot; while pushing the revolve etc. loved that detail. (tyler does too but less so)

sonya and natasha just sounds so great. like they just always sound fantastic i love that song

sonya alone. yes i am weeping. yes camille eanga-selenge is everything i want to be and more. she’s phenomenal

dolokhov sitting in a big fuckin chair at the beginning of preparations just absolutely clearly regretting every decision he’s made to facilitate this. is great.

i know i keep talking abt lawrence libor but the image of him at this part is just. really great. to me. sorry

very campy and exaggerated scowling and grimacing from anatole

dolokhov is so sick of anatole’s shit

“here feel how it beats” is NOT entertained he pushes him back immediately

lawrence dolokhov’s “dawdling” business was him tuning his guitar i miss musician dolokhov sooooo much gah

balaga truly does not sing any of his lines. he is basically yelling the entire time. i don’t know how he does it. it’s chaotic and hilarious and so fun

sonya and mary hand out the egg shakers on house right and left respectfully

near the end of balaga, four audience members are brought up to dance with the cast! (i got to dance with mary once!)

dolokhov writhing on the floor during anatole’s long held note thank u

during the goodbye section, anatole comes around to said audience members and interacts with them; dancing with them, booping them on the nose etc, and at “kiss me one last time”, invites a lucky audience member to kiss his cheek. (this once, was me. yup. still processing it.)

once he accidentally knocked someone’s egg shaker from their hand, dolokhov picked it up, laughed, gave it a shake, and handed it back, and yes i’m still thinking about it

when they sit down, balaga and dolokhov will sit on the house right stairs, though once there was an empty seat nearby so dolokhov wedged his way in between two people, guitar and all. so fucking good

anatole will squeeze himself between two audience members on house left, put an arm around each, and look around at everyone sitting in that area, out into the audience, etc. if one is going to make eye contact with him, it is now

once he threw his head back to look at the people behind him, and someone, at the speed of light, took their phone out and snapped a picture of his upside down head. i scream laughed

lawrence’s BETRAYED BETRAYEDDDD was sooooo good. so so so good

hailey gillis is an absolute powerhouse during in my house

usually when “natasha’s whole body shook” she falls to the ground silently but last time i went she YELLED and i gasped so loud

at “i have refused him” louise would go NO in shock and i FREAK OUT ABOUT IT.

and i loved her “what then? would that be alright???”

“NATASHA CRIED OUT! GO AWAY! GO AWAY YOU ALL HATE AND DESPISE ME” sounds SO FUCKING GOOD!!! I LOVE YOU HAILEY GILLIS

when the call to pierre music starts i always get goosebumps

the fight choreo when pierre grabs anatole by the collar is very good

if we’re comparing to broadway, it feels less like anatole’s life is in danger here but like i’m not upset about it

at this point anatole does not seem sad or upset to me more just. pissed off that it didn’t go his way. like annoyed

as anatole leaves during pierre and anatole the staging has him stepping around/over natasha as she is choking from the arsenic and it is such a. show of his shallowness

his petersburg note is fantastic obviously. live laugh love george krissa

marcus nance (andrey) has such a deep and beautiful legit singing voice. it’s sooo gorgeous. any word that raises against marcus nance will fall.

I MISS HIMMMM ok sorry.

i am more sympathetic to ben carlson’s andrey, however. marcus was Incredibly stoic ben has a bit more emotion to him i think

i could swear sometimes hailey is actually crying during pierre and natasha

her “pytor kirillovich” sounds so tiny and fragile ugh my heart breaks

and his “…pierre” is so assuring AUGHH

it’s such a beautiful scene obviously. i love the two of them so damn much i hope only good things happen to them forever

“it was clear and cold” also. chills EVERY TIME

“having traced its parabola” and “like an arrow piercing the earth” hit me so hard i cannot explain

genuinely evan buliung gives the most effective inspiring fantastic mind blowing performance i maybe have ever seen on stage. he is such an incredible actor and he inspires me beyond belief

the end when the lights get really really bright and then fade out. god. so simple and so fucking beautiful

now this post is very long. thank u for reading it all if you did! (will update after seeing it more times if there’s things to say!!)

if you’re anywhere near toronto i BEG of you to go see it!! it’s closing march 24th :(( so if you get the chance i deeply implore you. beg borrow or steal a ticket just get there! best comet production ever in my biased opinion :)

[kinglindwyrm]

now goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

(designs based on the toronto cast)

[frontmezzjunkies]

Crow's Theatre Toronto Announces Their 2023.24 Season

#frontmezzjunkies reports @CrowsTheatre's 2023.24 Season "Next season will take our audience on a journey across the globe and into stories that create a snapshot of our common humanity." -C.Abraham #TheaTO #TorontoTheatre #CrowsTheatre #CanadianTheatre

Crow’s Theatre in Toronto is thrilled to announce its huge 40th anniversary season for 2023.24. The 12-play season includes the Canadian premiere of Broadway hits NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 by Dave Malloy, DANA H. by Lucas Hnath, and HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING by Will Arbery; which frontmezzjunkies is utterly thrilled to see produced by this wonderfully gifted company. Crow’s…

[katspacenine]

Great Comet in Toronto, Canada♥️

All photos taken by Dahlia Katz at Crow's Theatre

[medievalthymes]

GREAT COMET PRODUCTION IN TORONTO AT MIRVISH TORONTO MUTUALS WAKE UP

[meerawrites]

Happy Trails Great Comet (Toronto), we shall miss your blazing light, please be caught in our parabola again… ☄️

[badsalmonella]

FINALLYYY there's footage of The Great Comet production in Toronto!! 😭😭

[wingedwheel]

might delete this later for oversharing reasons but looking back i can admit that december was fully so bad for me likeee. starting off strong i got black out drunk and woke up having realized i was trans like the alcohol opened some crazy pandora's box in my mind. promptly had the freak out of the century about this and closeted myself like? further everywhere including online in places where no one irl sees like here. like i used to just not put my pronouns in my bio and i changed them all to she/her????? crazy move in retrospect. cried for a week + about basically everything and anything. completely fucked my grades. convinced my life was over was actively trying to come up with ways to re-repress this knowledge. right. awesome. anyways then it looked like my grandpa was gonna die (he's better now but it was scary) and meanwhile i was driving to toronto with my friend who knew none of this to go see great comet and fuck around for 2 days. during reading week btw because we just believed in ourselves like that when we booked our tickets for some reason. and then i came back and had my first panic attack in years during my calc final and failed it and cried for 5 hour sstraight bc it fucked my grade in the class completely. and then i did 3 more finals. and by this point i wanted to go home so bad it was unreal. and also i was making doomer posts abt my transness every single day in my tumblr drafts but remaining closeted on here for no real reason. anyways then i went home and nothing got better but there was no great comet there. and then we went to see my grandparents for christmas and we still thought my grandpa was maybe dying at this point even though it was less likely than a couple weeks before and everyone in my family was so stressed and mad at each other. and meanwhile the only thing i could think about even amidst much more important things was that if i ever came out at the very least most of the people there would never believe me or understand or even try. or love me the same again. and because i am not brave or strong of heart that shit scares me so bad. and everything sucked btw. EDIT oh i forgot that when i got back home from my grandparnets after christmas my two best friends, who are dating, one of whom i had an extremely lifedestroying crush on before they got together and who was also at this time the only person i was out to, decided to engage in the most diabolical third wheeling they could possibly dream up for no reason. which i just let them do of course

[bug-buzzz]

I have a LOT of questions about the newest ep of Fionna and Cake. Mainly the farm world ep and farm world in general.

OK so, assuming this is the farm world from Adventure Time, there are a TON of things that don't add up. Here are my questions.

First off, there are a bunch of characters that exist in farm world that don't seem to exist in the land of Ooo. Mainly the Destiny Gang and family. But also the majority of bg characters, they don't seem to have Ooo counterparts.

Expanding on that, why do only SOME characters exist in farmworld and Ooo? Just off the top of my head I know we see Choose Goose (Bruce now), Jake, and Wildberry Princess in the newest fionna and cake ep. But in the original Adventure Time episode we also see Simon (deceased) and Marcy. Those are the only characters I know of that we see. This could be explained by saying that magic doesn't exist in farm world but it still should. Finn only wished The Lich out of existence, there should still be elemental magic but we don't see any of our elemental characters. And why not have non magic counterparts like in normal Fionna world? Why is it only some characters? It can't be just the non magic ones bc we see normal versions of magic characters.

Why does this farm world seem post-apocalyptic? Finn wished Ice Finn to go back to normal and the crown was removed from farm world. I think there are at least 2 farm worlds, one where Farm Finn became evil from the crown and another where it never existed. When the crown was removed this could've also removed the ice keeping the mushroom bomb from exploding which would explain why this farm world seems post apocalyptic. But even if Farm Finn did keep the crown, we know that the Mushroom Bomb already went off. Either way, the great mushroom bomb SHOULD have gone off but we see the same characters still alive. So the mushroom bomb must have been removed from the equation for them to all still be alive, we see a crater where the bomb was but if it did go off, that area should be radioactive and all of the farmworld ogs should be dead. Why is this world so messy and post-apocalyptic? It doesn't add up

We see a farm world version of Marceline in the farm world shown in Adventure Time, but for some reason, she's old. This makes no sense. Marceline doesn't age in Ooo because she's part demon part vamp, so do these not exist in farmworld? The only difference farm world SHOULD have with Ooo is that The Lich never (even ever) existed, but this shouldn't apply to other magic as well. The comets, elements, GOLB and the other primordials, and relics (like the crown) should all still exist. Hunson Abadeer should still exist as he is either a demon or a primordial monster (seen in The Lichs flashback along with Coconteppi and Orgalorg while scaring King of Ooo and Toronto) But the point is, why is ALL magic gone except for the crown in farmworld when only The Lich should be missing. Could the Lich control all magic? He is the oldest scholar of GOLB, maybe even older and above the primordial monsters and elements? Its also weird that Jake isnt magic in farmworld, we know Ooo Jake gets his powers from being a spawn of Warren Ampersand who is either a primordial monster or the same species as one of these monsters (seen in The Licks flashback) But that makes Prismo stronger than The Lich (since he was able to wish him out of existence) and in turn all the primordial monsters, but weaker than GOLB as he was not able to bring Betty back (or maybe he just can't bring people back from the dead? Since he couldn't bring Margles back either) it's weird.

Why does Finn still name his daughter Bonnibel in farmworld if PB doesn't exist in farmworld? Is she still there but not shown? Are all Finns destined to have children named after Bonnie and Jake? (Pillow Finn did) Did the name just come to him as a weird cosmic communication coincidence?

Why do we see a scarecrow of Ice Finn if the crown doesn't exist in farmworld? Do people just remember when Finn was briefly Ice Finn? And why isn't Finn insane from the crown? It affected him long enough for him to start changing so shouldn't it have made him insane?

Farm world is really weird and I have lots of questions. Lmk what you guys think.

[melancholiaenthroned]

can the great comet come back to toronto. i know it was just there but i didnt know ok...

[lizzypuppet1711]

a promotional video for the great comet mirvish transfer!!!

[lesbiancassius]

toronto great comet charming music video be upon ye

[eastoncowan]

Thank you for tagging me (cujoforever) 💙 to be honest, just based on the rush goal song post you made a while ago, in which the work ethic impressed me, I just know every playlist in this list is heavily curated with care and I could hear about any of them but PLEASE tell me about your maladaptive daydream playlist (because I am one) and bad playlist (because bad how? I must know. bad like guilty pleasure music or like bad ass music like walk on songs or, like bad covers or like just ‘bad’ by Michael Jackson covers or ). And then just tell me about your current favourite playlist. 😊

hi thank you for the ask!! unfortunately i’m gonna have to be the bearer of bad news and say that my only good playlists are the ones centered around Rush :(

that said, i will still get into my playlists!!

my maladaptive daydream playlist is songs i like to listen to when i’m doing chores and my brain wants me to pretend i’m a medieval wench clearing away dishes and laundry at the inn i’m tending to, or whatever other scenarios my little pea brain can come up with, and includes such songs as:

Soldier, Poet, King - The Oh Hellos

Excursion Around The Bay - Derina Harvey Band

Bottom of the River - Delta Rae

Song of the Bandit - Marty Robbins

Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford

High Barbary - Storm Weather Shanty Choir

True Love - Tobias Jesso Jr.

and uh. bad playlist.

it’s a bad playlist.

it includes EXCLUSIVELY epic rap battles of history.

objectively bad playlist, and it is named accordingly. as to how often i listen to it, well. an unfortunate amount more than i will admit to.

as for my favourite playlist, that would have to be ‘anything can be about the toronto maple leafs if you believe hard enough’ simply due to how much effort i have put into it. it’s my only truly coherent playlist and it currently sits at 89 songs, 24 of which are by Rush, but all of which make me Feel Things about our leafies. here is the link to it on spotify, if anyone is inclined to follow—and also i am always open to suggestions for songs y’all think i should add!! ask box is always open for that very reason :)

for those that would prefer just a little sampling or don’t have spotify, this is for you:

Force Ten - Rush

The Weapon - Rush

Vienna - Billy Joel (thank u cody)

Peace and Quiet - Ron Hawkins and the Do Good Assassins (i love u cody)

All I Need Is One - Watsky

It’s All Been Done - Barenaked Ladies

Joyriding - Frank Iero

In Too Deep - Sum 41

The Phoenix - Fall Out Boy

Dust and Ashes - Josh Groban (Great Comet Soundtrack)

[jakegardiner]

I had a dream michael bunting played dolokhov in toronto great comet and I have never been so feral for this man in my life

[medievalthymes]

Hi Sarah! All I know is that you are the only beautiful, aesthetic, classic literature, sometimes musical theatre girly that I follow so you're the first person I thought of to ask this question (which is not time sensitive and is zero pressure lol). It's really just curiosity, but have you ever read War and Peace and do you know if Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 is a good adaptation? I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on literally anything honestly. I've been obsessively listening to musical soundtracks at work which is really dumb because that means I'm near tears every 5 minutes. Someone might notice soon, my face is expressive lmao. But Josh Groban is sick and twisted for Dust and Ashes so I can't help it 😭😭🖤

I have not read war and peace (yet) BUT I LOVE THE GREAT COMET DJSJSHHSBS

my uni doesn’t do grad caps for graduation but if they did I would have 100% put “All of my life I spent searching the words of poets and saints and prophets and kings/Now at the end all I know that I've learned is that all that I know is I don't know a thing" on it because it’s so in synch with a history degree lmao. I need a tgc revival IMMEDIATELY or at least a proshot release. The fact that it ended so soon is my Roman Empire, knowing it never got big enough to make its way to Toronto so I could see it 😭😭😭dust and ashes is so good josh groban did not need to go that hard

[emeraldskulblaka]

You have 5 theater tickets. Each one can be used to attend any showing of any production anywhere, at any point in history. What do you go see?

Oooo a very interesting question, and one I've answered before; now I'm curious to go back and see if my answers have changed. But for now:

The Lord of the Rings, Toronto: the longest version ever performed. I want all the content. So February/March 2006.

The Lord of the Rings, West End: with Laura Michelle Kelly as Galadriel, preferably

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Broadway 2016/17

Candide, Menier Chocolate Factory 2013/14

City of Angels, West End 2020: I had a ticket for this, but never got to see it - something is missing, and I want it back

I don't really want to add anything I could *technically* still see. Once the productions close, they might appear on my list, but for now, miracles are still possible :D