When Dave Malloy’s 2012 “electro-pop opera” Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 moved to Broadway in 2016, some compared it to Hamilton for its innovation and the way it viewed history through a contemporary lens.

Zoy Frangos as Pierre with other cast members of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Darlinghurst Theatre Company. Photo © Robert Catto

However, they are very different musicals. While Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 is an exuberant piece with a driving, eclectic score, Hamilton offers a more complex plot, more dazzling, profound lyrics, as well as deeper characterisation, and is ultimately much more moving.

Adapted from a section of Tolstoy’s 1869 War and Peace, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 is set in Moscow in the early 19th century. Natasha is betrothed to Prince Andrey, and awaiting his return from war. Then, one night at the opera, she falls for Anatole, a charming (married) playboy, and agrees to elope with him.

Meanwhile, Pierre – who is unhappily married to Anatole’s sister Hélène and a close friend of Prince Andrey’s –...