Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 at Writers Theatre
Andrew Mueller is an actor, who recently received the Jeff Award for "Performer In A Supporting Role – Musical" for his portrayal of 'Gerry Goffin' in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at the Marriott Theatre.
He can currently be seen as 'Dolokhov' in the Writers Theatre production of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 in Glencoe, Ill.
To listen to the interview with Andrew Mueller, click the play button below (or click here to open the audio player in a new tab/window).
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 runs through November 3, 2024.
More information, including the performance schedule and tickets, can be found on the Writers Theatre website.
Mike Reflects
I think I've been fairly open about the writing process in working on these reflections, especially when I make a revision that I think serves as a good point in itself.
My first draft was talking about how I'd seen Andrew in the Beautiful performance that earned him the Jeff Award. (Was that a pun? You decide.)
I scrapped it for 2 reasons.
First, it felt like it spent too much time talking about him in the context of a closed show that, as much as I'd love to see again, is over (even if the Jeff Awards gave us an excuse to rehash it a bit).
Second, it felt like it spent too much time talking about him as his sisters' brother, rather than as the award-winning performer you can currently see in the Writers Theatre production of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.
So, while I'm glad I got the chance to see him in Beautiful last year, and I'm certainly glad we got the opportunity to discuss it a bit on the heels of his receipt of the Jeff Award for it, I'd rather focus this section on something else.
As a non-performer, it's always fascinating to learn what goes into a performance. As a collaboration, it's impacted by everything: the other people onstage, people off stage, even the stage itself.
With this being Andrew's first performance of this show and his first performance on this particular stage was a great opening to discuss how those factors, and others, helped shape his performance.
I think Andrew especially not only did a great job of highlighting what the different elements brought to his performances, but also discussing what's introduced by changing those factors.
While, at one point, he described his answers as being a bit “meandering”, but, personally, I didn't feel that way at all.
I thought, and still think, it was an extremely enlightening look at what he puts into a character and show that truly explored the premises of each question.