“One of the things that I love about War and Peace, and that Great Comet also tries to do, is the celebration of all of life, which is both the really expansive, large, communal celebration of life, where everyone is dancing and drinking and shaking the eggs [we hand out],” says Malloy, “but also that it zeros in to these very intimate moments and what people deal with internally and psychologically, and these minute interactions between two human beings.”

“Natasha & Pierre,” at the end of Act 2, is one such moment played out by Tony-nominated stars Josh Groban and Denée Benton. “The ‘Pierre & Natasha’ duet, to me, is the heart of the whole show,” say Malloy. “It’s what everything is leading towards.”