Interview: Jarrett Winters Morley Brings THE HISTORY OF NATASHA, PIERRE... to 54 Below

Next Friday on January 23 at 7 pm, Jarrett Winters Morley will bring their celebration of the Tony winning® Dave Malloy musical The History of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 to 54 Below. (It's almost sold out, so if you want to snag one of the few remaining tickets, head over to 54's website now.) We talked with Morley about the upcoming concert.

What made you decide to put together this show about Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812?

This is our fourth year of putting together a ‘The History of ______’ show at 54 Below. Four years ago, I was giving Musical Theatre History Lectures (and still am), and had recently worked with Michael Feinstein, Elliott Forrest, and John Fricke on ‘Get Happy! Judy Garland’s 100th Birthday' at 54. I wanted to produce a show of my own at 54, and also wanted to make sure it had a ‘why’, instead of just throwing more material into the ether.

As I was walking out of the first JWM ‘On The River/In The Park’ concert in 2022 (which is our big, free, accessible outdoor Golden Age musical in concert we produce in NYC with a 32-piece orchestra and 20+ ensemble members), I had the realization that the lectures I had been giving for the past year at that point would be the perfect ‘why’. In our lectures, we don’t just talk about the book, music, and lyrics. We talk about the things you don’t typically think about when you go to see a show: the concept behind it, the impact it has had on the industry, the backstage stories, and everything in between. These lectures are given to folx from the ages of 8 all the way to 103, and to audiences of all backgrounds, as I spoke about in my May 2023 interview with BroadwayWorld’s Stephen Mosher. So why not also bring this into concert form? We began our first two years with Godspell and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (full voting included), and I had the opportunity to interview or speak with folx such as Carol De Giere, Peggy Gordon, and Rupert Holmes. 

As we prepared for our third history concert, I had the idea of turning over the decision of what show we do to the public, but in a fun voting format. Think of March Madness. I’m not a basketball fan, but I thought the bracket style of how teams were pitted against each other would make for an exciting month-long journey to find out what show audiences would want to learn about next. So our third history show was Into The Woods (where I conducted interviews with James Lapine, Bob Westenberg, Joanna Gleason, and was provided resources by Freddie Gershon and Mark E. Horowitz), and that led to this year, where after 32 shows went against each other, the winning musical was Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.

What’s your personal history with that musical?

I listened to the Cast Recording when it first came out, and have always loved Josh Groban’s voice. Dave Malloy is also an inspiration to me because he’s a multi-faceted artist: composer, lyricist, performer, musician, etc. I had hoped to see the show at the Imperial, but unfortunately, the production closed before I could. And while I never got to see the production, the show did have a very important impact on my life personally. First off, Or Matias (the Music Director and Conductor for Natasha, Pierre…) was an undergraduate college professor of mine at Manhattan School of Music and my advisor for my Master’s thesis at Berklee College of Music. And in terms of the repertoire of the show itself, I am a singer who vocally gravitates towards the Golden Age, or more contemporary shows if they call for a more legit sound. During my Senior Showcase, we were asked to bring in songs we might like to sing for it. Originally, I had brought in ‘Being Alive’ from Company. I sang it, they thought it was fine, and I started to leave. But in the back of my binder, I had ‘Dust & Ashes’ because I had been listening to it non-stop recently, and kept wondering if it was a song that would work in my voice. Steps from the door, I turned around and said, “actually, I have this one other song if you guys want to hear it?” I went back to the piano, sang a snippet of ‘Dust & Ashes’. When I was done, the Director of the showcase said, “That one. You have to sing that one”. And “Dust & Ashes” was the song that secured me my first agent in New York. Ever since then, Natasha has always been a guilty pleasure show to listen to (and I’ve always loved experimental theatre), so you can believe how happy I was when that was the show chosen.

How has your research process been going?

Amazingly. At first, I was afraid no one associated with the show would want to talk to me because of how the Broadway production ended, and that talking about the show as a whole would be treacherous territory. But with every inquiry email I sent out to cast, creatives, and technicians (must have been just over 20 emails), I made sure to emphasize that with this show specifically, the purpose of this evening would not be to talk about how the show ended. I could imagine it was a mixture of ranged emotions, conversations, and complexity I could not even begin to fathom. With this history show, the purpose would be to speak about the inventiveness behind the show as a whole, and the positive, fun, and heartfelt stories associated with the original production. Since then, I’ve conducted interviews with Jason Eagan (Founding Artistic Director of Ars Nova), Vlad Von Shats (from the Russian Samovar, who provided all the food and drinks), Grace McLean (Marya), Manik Choksi (Dolokhov), Nicholas Belton (Andrey), and Mimi Lien (Set Designer).

The hardest part was, honestly, reading War & Peace. When I told people I was reading it, they were like “Are you serious?”, and I was like “Yes, why?” For me, if I’m going to be producing a concert based on a famous work of literature, I should know what the literature itself is. Even though Natasha is only based on a 70-page snippet, I read the entire novel twice. I wanted to be aware of what came before the snippet and after. And reading this book…was daunting. Through all its translations, it can be anywhere from 1,200 to 1,600 pages. The first time I read it was just to get through it, and the second time was to really be able to digest it and understand how the novel itself both functions and scans. And, of course, I dug into the life of Leo Tolstoy himself to understand what was going on in his world as he was writing War & Peace.

All of these deep dives and discoveries not only influenced how I approached Natasha, but how I want it to be conveyed and perceived within this concert context. And just like Leo, I did a deep dive into Dave’s life, how he discovered ‘War & Peace’, the pitch to Ars Nova, and beyond. Same thing for Rachel Chavkin, Sam Pinkleton, Josh Groban, and so many others who were involved with this project.

What aspect of the show are you most looking forward to?

The immersive aspect 100%. Not only are we “taking over” the entire venue (while still looking out for serving trays and audience legs), but we are utilizing the actor-musician component that the show so desperately calls for (and I say that with so much love and excitement). We have, I think, 11 musicians between the cast and the pit, and that was really because of the notes Dave provides in the license from Concord Theatricals. There’s a line that stuck with me, which more or less reads as “no acoustic instruments should be replicated on a synthesizer. The electronic elements [QLab] have been carefully chosen. Either come up with a creative solution, or choose a different show entirely”. So that’s exactly what we did, and we even have the QLab files on top of that, so no musical aspects are missing. We’ll have performers on the main floor (the dining area), as well as up on the stage, with spotlights focusing on whoever is singing before bouncing to the next person. And the interviews I’ve conducted will be used to tie all of the music together to make for a memorable evening and a deep dive into the show itself.

Personally, I’ve been growing out my beard since September for the role of Balaga, and I’m excited to shave the day after…

Do you have any other projects coming up you’d like to tell us about?

Yes! ‘Relaxation’ is a phrase and practice that both my friends and my partner try to drill into me, but I don’t do well. So as soon as Natasha ends, I will be diving right into preparation for our Fifth Annual Fall show (and, unfortunately, I cannot disclose the title as we always do our reveal in May). That’ll include getting the creative team for those concerts back together, starting some pre-production, and more. For the past four years, we have partnered with the non-profit Sutton Place Parks Conservancy to produce these shows, and are excited to work with them again (and some new organizations for our other venues).

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Yes. I made the following statement prior to each of our 2025 Fall concerts, will be stating it at some point during The History of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, and would like to reiterate it again.

“Since January 20th, 2025, grants and awards supporting smaller arts organizations have been cut, and moving forward, there are plans to eliminate funding for larger groups such as the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Every person you see up on this stage today has spent years, if not decades, working on their craft. The arts are not only a loving and safe space, but an inspiration to and for many. The arts belong to us all, and they’re not going anywhere, as we will prove to you today. To those in the audience today, thank you for caring about the arts.”

Learn more about Jarrett Winters Morley on his website at  www.jarrettwintersmorley.com.