As Natasha’s cousin Sonya in “War and Peace” riff “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” Broadway newcomer Brittain Ashford has been part of the buzzy production since day one. She chats about seeing it through to the Great White Way.
On ‘The Great Comet.’
“A lot of people hear ‘War and Peace’ and they kind of wonder how that is going to be good fodder for a Broadway show, but it is masterfully pieced together.... The show is not a mirrored reflection of this stoic, dark, Russian society. There’s definitely some of that, but you’re not coming to see a period piece.”
On being asked to do the show.
“[Composer] Dave [Malloy] approached me with the idea of the show, I wanna say five years ago, over drinks. I knew him as a friend. So when he approached me with this idea of a show based on ‘War and Peace,’ I was like, ‘Ha ha ha, no, thanks.’ I initially said no because I’d never done theater outside of high school and there I was.... I just continued doing it because I really believed in the show. I really believed in what Dave and [director] Rachel Chavkin were putting together, and fortunately for everyone, the show just kept going—there was always a next step.”
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On changes to the production.
“In certain ways, [it’s] wildly different. But in most ways, I think it still retains a lot of the magic of the original production and the subsequent productions.... Now we have so much space to work with and so many more people to make these larger things develop.”
On working with director Rachel Chavkin.
“I personally love working with Rachel. I think what makes her such an amazing director is that she really does work to the individual strengths of the players. It’s been my observation that she’ll give you a suggestion and let the actor sort of run with it a little bit, find their space. Even if she’s planting the seed, she makes people think they’re still in the driver’s seat.”
On capital-A acting.
“When I was first doing the show, I was really concerned about acting—capital-A acting. I don’t have training in that, but both Rachel and Dave made me feel very welcome and as comfortable as I ever was going to feel doing it. I still don’t know that I’m entirely over that fear of not doing it right. It’s funny, I can talk to someone in the cast, and a lot of the cast has done theater, I think almost everyone is already a member of Actors’ Equity. I’ll mention to a cast mate, ‘I still feel like I’m a faker,’ and they’ll say, ‘Well, you need to get over that, because here you are.’ Even though I know that I’m here and, yes, I can read the reviews and they say nice things about me, there’s part of me that will never really—I mean, who knows? If I’m still doing this 10 years from now, 20 years from now, maybe that will feel different. But right now, it’s just doing it—doing it hundreds of times, it feels more comfortable. I think it’s good to hold onto that little bit of fear. It keeps you honest.”
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