The skies over Broadway will be darker come Sunday, Sept. 3, when one of the brightest shows to blaze there in many seasons, Dave Malloy’s “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” ends its exuberant run. This musical reimagining of a section of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” directed with boundless inventiveness by Rachel Chavkin, began life in a small Off Broadway space under the auspices of Ars Nova five years ago. Its admirers were surprised and delighted when it transferred to the big time last November — at the Imperial Theater — without shedding a spark of its extravagant individuality, and it picked up 12 Tony nominations, the most of any show that season. The reasons for its premature demise are complicated and unpleasant. Instead of revisiting them, make a point of seeing — or-re-seeing — a one-of-a-kind triumph of the imagination. For the show’s last days, Mr. Malloy himself will be playing that great klutz of a hero, Pierre. (249 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200; greatcometbroadway.com.)
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