Interview with The Great Comet’s Musical Director Claire Healy
“Most musicals will have scenes in between the songs where the music stops, but not our show! We have all music, all of the time.”
Claire Healy during Comet Music Week (photo by Dream Syndicate)
We recently sat down with Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812’s Musical Director Claire Healy to learn more about how she built the wonderful musical world of Comet, and what audiences can expect from this visceral “modern opera”.
Claire is a musical director, composer actor and performer (keys/vocals) who has worked in theatre across the globe. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Music Theatre from the Ballarat Arts Academy, and a Master of Music in Interactive Composition from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA). Her recent credits include Musical Director/Keyboards for the Australian and New Zealand tour of Six the Musical and Musical Director/Piano for the Australian premiere of Well Behaved Women by Carmel Dean at the Hayes Theatre in early 2021.
Darlo: Hi Claire, you're the Musical Director for Darlinghurst Theatre Company's production of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 - can you tell us a bit about what a musical director does?
Claire: As 'Comet' is a sung through-all music-actor/musician musical, this was quite a big job for a musical director! After casting our fabulous cast, I had to re-orchestrate a lot of the score for the instruments that we had. I was there for all of the rehearsals, adjusting instrumental and vocal parts as the production developed, and then on stage during performance, playing keyboard as well as conducting to keep us all together.
Because 'Comet' has such a huge electronic element to the score, I also made changes to our tracks, (some of the songs have additional tracked elements) as well as keyboard sounds. You'll notice there's a lot going on from the keyboard that's not a piano sound! We were so lucky to be able to make this production of 'Comet' our own, so I had the freedom to change many elements of the music to suit our production and the specific humans in our cast, while still keeping the soul of Dave Malloy's fabulous score in-tact.
Kala Gare (Sonya) during Music Week (photo by Dream Syndicate)
Darlo: Speaking of cast, what was the casting process like for such a musically-diverse show like Comet?
Claire: The casting process was like putting together a very complicated jigsaw puzzle. We had to put together an ensemble of humans who embodied each of the characters, as well as sing the score AND worked as a functional band (the show wouldn't work with 12 pianos)! The performers who auditioned were asked to send in self-tapes of themselves singing and playing their instrument.
We needed a few specific instruments - at least one clarinet, drum kit and double bass, as well as some string players. We also wanted Pierre and Sonya to play piano quite well for their specific songs. But we were quite open to including instruments not in the Broadway score for any of the other characters.
Once I knew what instruments we were working with, each song was another puzzle to make sure people were able to sing their characters, and also have people free for movement. It was equal parts musical admin and music arrangement, with a lot of spreadsheets to know who was doing what when!
Darlo: Dave Malloy's score includes an eclectic mix of musical styles - from indie rock to folk to techno - how did you approach a score like this?
Claire: It was a little overwhelming at first - I'd never worked on a score that had such a huge range of musical styles. But once I wrapped my head around how these individual songs take us on the 'Comet' journey, it really was a lot of fun. These stylistic contrasts are so playful, and I think the whole cast has a lot of fun at every show being able to really dig into an emotional power ballad, then rock out to some techno, and then have a kletzmer dance party.
Lillian Hearne (Mary) plays the Bass Clarinet.
Darlo: This show is described as "an electro-pop modern opera". Is there a difference between an opera and a musical?
Claire: 'Comet' can be described as a modern opera because it is entirely sung-through. Every scene, every conversation between characters as well as their individual moments of clarity and discovery and big group chorus moments are told through music. Most musicals will have scenes in between the songs where the music stops, but not our show! We have all music, all of the time.
Darlo: Rumour has it that the Australian production of The Great Comet has even more musical instruments than the Broadway show! Is this true? And can you tell us how many instruments are in the show and how you went about choosing what instruments would be used?
Claire: We definitely have more instruments ON stage than the Broadway version. On Broadway there was a dedicated pit band in addition to some of the cast playing instruments, but in this version we have everyone playing everything on stage all of the time! All of the cast play instruments, and some of them play more than one. We have two cellos, two clarinets, a bass clarinet, three accordions, two keyboards, three guitars, a drum kit, cajon, double bass, triangles, tambourine and a glockenspiel. Natasha even uses the set as percussion in some numbers.
How many instruments can you spot? (Photo by Dream Syndicate)
Darlo: What is your favourite musical moment from the show?
Claire: This is a hard one! There are so many great moments. I really love the musical journey that Dust and Ashes goes on, with beautiful cello lines, an a capella choral moment and a huge orchestral finish. It gets me every time. But I also love the wild chaotic energy of the Abduction that gets everyone out of their seats dancing (and Lillian absolutely killing it on the clarinet!)
Darlo: The Great Comet is such a unique and exciting show - there isn't anything else quite like it. What is it about this musical that sets it apart from other musicals currently playing?
Claire: 'Comet' is such a unique work. The range of musical styles and the playfulness of the score really set it apart. It really is a visceral experience having the cast playing the score right in front of you and right at you with no fourth wall. We want the audience to become part of the world of the play. You'll be invited to dance, clap, and sometimes even become a character in the show. Because of the intimate space of the Eternity Playhouse, it's hard to sit back and be apart from the action - every audience member can feel totally immersed in the magical 'Comet' experience.
Zoy Frangos (Pierre) learning the accordion during Music Week. (Photo by Dream Syndicate)