Update: 'The Great Comet' on the Verge of Closing, Mandy Patinkin Drops Out

As some of us feared in the last post, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 is in dire financial straits. The show's twitter account posted an apology for the abrupt recasting of Broadway vet Mandy Patinkin as Pierre during Okieriete "Oak" Onaodowan's originally scheduled run:

Our deepest apologies. http://pic.twitter.com/Mks7XLGxbq

— The Great Comet (@GreatCometBway) July 28, 2017

And creator Dave Malloy posted a more detailed explanation:

hey all. bit of a devastating last 24 hours. so sorry for how everything went down. nothing but love and artistic awe for @OakSmash 1/

— dave malloy (@dave_malloy) July 28, 2017

the show was in desperate shape; sales after ingrid leaving Aug 13 were catastrophically low. show would have closed 2/

— dave malloy (@dave_malloy) July 28, 2017

it’s apparently a weird show. turns out it needs a name to sell it. 3/

— dave malloy (@dave_malloy) July 28, 2017

mandy is a beautiful legend. had no idea. he didn’t ask to out oak, the show asked him to come asap because we were on brink of closing 4/

— dave malloy (@dave_malloy) July 28, 2017

so sorry to have missed the racial optics of it. we had to do same thing with dear beloved brittain so in my head it was no different. 5/

— dave malloy (@dave_malloy) July 28, 2017

please don’t give mandy grief, he’s devastated.
i am not sure that the show has a future now. 6/

— dave malloy (@dave_malloy) July 28, 2017

signing off now. going for ice cream or whiskey or likely both. so sorry. thank you for the love. 7/

— dave malloy (@dave_malloy) July 28, 2017

Basically, the show's grosses were so low that they were going to have to close after singer Ingrid Michaelson left in August, which is why they cast Mandy Patinkin. Dave Malloy compares Mandy's stunt casting to the current stunt casting of Michaelson, who took over the role of Sonya for original cast member Brittain Ashford in July for a monthlong run without incident, but acknowledges they did not think about the racial optics of the Pierre recasting.

UPDATE: Now Mandy Patinkin has dropped out of the show altogether.

Mandy Patinkin will no longer be joining the cast of #GreatComet https://t.co/s1dOh6XRCr

— Vulture (@vulture) July 28, 2017

Source 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Although they clearly could have handled this announcement better, I am really bummed about this. It's such a unique show with a diverse ensemble.

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