Backstage Chats: Grace McLean

Grace McLean has recently made her Broadway debut as Marya in the critically acclaimed Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812.  Based off of an about seventy page section of War and Peace, the story follows young Natasha as she moves to Moscow, and eventually becomes seduced by Anatole, although engaged to another.  Grace plays Marya, Natasha's strict godmother whom her and her cousin, Sonya, move in with.

Grace has been with the show for quite sometime, and it's been wonderful to see the show finally on Broadway.  She also has a band, Grace McLean and Them Apples, which she works with on the side of this Broadway show. Sadly, Comet has recently announced that it will be closing on Broadway on September 3rd of this year.  In honor of the show closing, I   I got the chance to talk with Grace about The Great Comet, Marya, and her band.

1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a performer?

Well the story I like to tell is about when I was in A Christmas Carol at South Coast Repertory when I was 11, and my bloomers fell off while I was dancing with Fred at his party. My "underwear" was literally around my ankles and yet the show went on. And I thought, well this is a great place to face your fears and get a laugh while doing it!

2. What was the first Broadway show you ever saw?

I saw Kiss Me Kate with my mom when I came to New York for a summer high school program at NYU when I was 17.

3. How did you first come across The Great Comet?

I saw the original production at Ars Nova in the fall of 2012 - I had been reading about it everywhere and I love Russian literature so I knew it was going to be right up my alley. I went on the very last night, it had been sold out for weeks, and I just barely got in off the wait list line, and then had one of the most memorable and moving theatrical experiences of my life.

4. Have you ever actually read War and Peace?

I have, twice! Once when I was traveling abroad in college, I wanted some morning reading, so I read War and Peace before class at this little cafe in Amsterdam, and over the course of the 2 months I was there became one of the regulars there. I loved having a "white coffee" and a warm croissant while I read. And then I read it again while we were doing the show off-Broadway in 2013, and so much faster this time! I think because I already had such a strong relationship with many of the characters already, by spending all my time with them in the show.

5. Do you think that The Great Comet is harder to perform than other Broadway shows?

Well, I've never done another Broadway show, but...it's pretty strenuous. It's all stairs all the time, in a corset, in a carpet (my costume is quite heavy), all while singing! All the time!! But, I really do love it.

6. How would you describe your character, Marya?

In the book Marya is described as a dragon woman, and I like to take that and run with it.

7. You truly are one of the real power voices of the show, is the role challenging? 

I love my track because I get to experience a real range. I get to be silly and huge and serious and small and devastated and regal and full of rage and always always full of love.

8. What's your personal favorite number in the show?

Honestly I love In My House, because the momentum of the entire show changes course in that moment, and it's really fun to be steering the ship in that moment.

9. What do you think is the most unique part of the show?

There's so much! I could say that it's all sung through, or that it makes use of all the space in the theater, or that the many styles of the music reflect the many styles of writing in the book.

10. If you could play any other role in The Great Comet, who would you play?

Dolokhov would be fun - Preparations is such a funky jam!

11. How much do you think the show has evolved since it first opened off Broadway? 

It just keeps getting bigger even while it strives to maintain its intimacy.

12. Finally, will your band, Grace McLean and Them Apples, be making any new music in the near future?

Yes! We're still working on a full length album, I'm going to be releasing at least 1 new music video this year, and I'm working on a musical myself about the early life of 12th century mystic Hildegard von Bingen.

Huge thanks to Grace McLean for doing the interview!
Buy tickets to see her in The Great Comet on Broadway before it closes here.