MJ Flood ’26 was at the Natick Mall when an Instagram notification announced that Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 would be Endicott’s spring musical. Flood clicked in excitement, overwhelmed by tears. The news felt surreal—this was the show they’d always dreamed of performing.
A fan of the musical since its 2016 Broadway debut, the English secondary education major was first introduced to it by their mom, a fellow theater lover.
“I remember one day she said, ‘Hey, have you heard of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812?’ I said, what is that? That’s a crazy name. She said, ‘Trust me, you’ll love it,’” Flood said with a smile.
From that moment, Flood was hooked. Their passion for the show grew, leading to an unforgettable experience seeing Josh Groban perform Pierre, a role for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
Flood vividly recalls feeling immersed in the story, with Groban’s powerful performance deepening their love for The Great Comet and inspiring a dream to help bring it to life. Little did they know that, years later, they would be preparing to do just that at the Nest.
A rock musical inspired by a section of War and Peace and set in 19th-century Russia, Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 follows Natasha Rostova’s ill-fated romance with Anatole Kuragin and Pierre Bezukhov’s search for meaning in life.
With its energetic score blending contemporary pop and rock music with an emotional story, The Great Comet explores themes of love, betrayal, and self-discovery.
For Flood, portraying Anatole is a deeply personal opportunity.
“I felt a gravitational pull to the character,” they explained. A non-binary performer, Flood rarely had the opportunity to explore their more masculine side on stage, making Anatole an ideal role to express this dimension of their identity.
“He’s a very complex character with negative intentions. In every story, there needs to be a character you aren’t fond of,” they said. “It’s been a really unique challenge I’ve gotten to face.”
With the production double-cast, Flood has found the experience both challenging and rewarding. Unlike traditional productions where the lead and understudy casts work separately, both casts will perform an equal number of nights. This setup allows them to see how their counterpart interprets the role differently.
“We go through and learn everything all together. Then we go back and forth, running it several times, switching casts. It gives me a great opportunity to watch my personal double do things and see how we’re making different choices,” they said.
While Flood has been in Mainstage productions for the last three years, some students will make their acting debuts, even in their senior year. One of those students is Ari Stillman ’25, who plays the role of Andrey.
Stillman, a music-focused performing arts major, never expected to land an acting role. An active member of Endicott’s musical groups, he has played saxophone, guitar, and trumpet in the pit band for three years and has contributed to the stage and tech crew.
But performing on stage himself never crossed his mind—until the final day of auditions. With encouragement from his peers, Stillman decided, on a whim, to audition. After that, he couldn’t see his future without acting in it.
“It’s a good cap to my college experience. All the music and the technical stuff I’ve been doing have given me the confidence to go on stage and perform,” said Stillman. “It’s nice because I can say that I’ve literally done almost everything in performing arts.”
With this newfound love, he’s preparing an audition and application to the New York Film Academy’s musical theater program, which he hopes to attend after graduation.
Stillman’s unexpected journey into acting reflects the creative spirit fostered at Endicott, where students are encouraged to explore new territories. This is exactly what Katie Clarke-Robertson, the show’s Director and Coordinator of Theater at Endicott, hoped to see.
“We try our best to give our students many experiences across their four years at Endicott—different genres, styles, and stories,” she said. “We loved this show because it gave our students an opportunity to work on an electropop opera, a completely sung-through piece, and really hone their musical skills.”
With this vision, Clarke-Robertson has ensured that The Great Comet will not only thrill audiences but leave them thinking long after the final note.
“We’re definitely doing something out of our comfort zone,” she said. “The more we can expose our students to new experiences, the braver we encourage them to be, the more confidence they gain, and the better prepared they’ll be for successful careers in the performing arts world.”
Want to see The Great Comet? Tickets are on sale now for April 2–6.