<P> The show opened for a 14 - week limited engagement in September 2013 at the Kazino and moved to the Theater District, with the final cast of the previous production . On December 10, 2013, the two - disc cast recording was released . The show was extended and ran until March 2, 2014 . </P> <P> The team behind the original production remounted the show at the American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with performances beginning December 1, 2015 to January 2016 . Now expanded to a proscenium stage, the set put audience onstage, with unique seating options, with banquette and dining tables added . Scott Stangland took over the role of Pierre, Denée Benton starred as Natasha, Lilli Cooper as Hélène, Nicholas Belton as Andrey / Prince Bolkonsky and the rest of the cast reprised their roles . </P> <P> The Broadway production at the Imperial Theatre began previews on October 18, 2016 and opened on November 14, 2016, starring Josh Groban as Pierre and Denée Benton as Natasha, both making their Broadway debuts, with choreography by Sam Pinkleton, sets by Mimi Lien, costumes by Paloma Young, lights by Bradley King, sound by Nicholas Pope and music direction by Or Matias . With sets similar to the A.R.T. remounting, the production took the proscenium stage, but removed almost 200 seats from the audience to accommodate the design . Again, the options of stage seats, in banquettes or dining tables is available . The Broadway production cost about $14 million to stage . </P> <P> Following Groban's departure on July 2, 2017, Dave Malloy assumed the role of Pierre from July 3 to 9, 2017 . Okieriete Onaodowan and Ingrid Michaelson assumed the roles of Pierre and Sonya on July 11 through August 13; Onaodowan was originally supposed to begin performances on July 3 . Mandy Patinkin was set to replace Onaodowan as Pierre on August 15 through September 3, 2017, yet has since withdrawn after casting backlash . </P>

Who did josh groban play in the great comet