This article may contain slight spoilers for Moby Dick. If you do not wish to be spoiled, feel free to exit!
In the summer of 2017, I saw a show on Broadway that changed my life. I walked into the Imperial Theatre in New York to see the musical Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 as a final hurrah before beginning my junior year of high school. The show, written by Dave Malloy and directed by Rachel Chavkin, was weird and complex, but I just fell in love. I connected with it in a way that I hadn’t before with other shows, and it’s still my favorite show to this day.
Flashforward to 2019. A Moby Dick musical adaption was announced to run in Cambridge by the same creative team as The Great Comet. Had I ever read Moby Dick? No. Was I really interested in the story? Not really. Did I want to see it because it’s a Dave and Rachel project? Absolutely. I bought my ticket immediately.
Minus a preview concert and a few songs on Youtube, Moby Dick had never been performed before an audience. There was a certain air of mystery surrounding the show: there were few pictures of the set on social media, the run time was over three hours, and certain seats were designated as the “wet deck” because they may get sprayed at some point during the show. So, going in, I truly didn’t know what to expect.
With that being said, I stepped into the theatre the evening of first preview, and I couldn’t believe what was in front of me. The theatre was entirely revamped to reveal what looked like the inside of a ship. Wood panels lined the theatre, even along the ceiling. This was not just some show— this was going to be a whole experience. The lights dimmed, and our journey on the pequod (the ship) began.
The show is broken into four parts: part one, a five minute pause, part two, a fifteen minute intermission, part three, and then part four. Between part one and two, Manik Choski (the actor who plays Ishmael) announced that audience participation was needed for this next section. Naturally, I eagerly raised my hand and was somehow selected to be one of about 20 to be on stage. We were handed red panchos and thus began 30 minutes of spinning in boats, squeezing fake whale sperm, and being sprayed by whale guts. And honestly? It was probably the best 30 minutes of my life.
I spent the entirety of intermission just in awe of what I was experiencing. One of the reasons why I adore Dave Malloy’s musicals is because of how unique they are, and Moby Dick was no exception. Normally, I treasure 15 minute intermissions to use the bathroom and fall back into reality for a second, but I didn’t for Moby Dick! I was so engrossed in the story, the movement, the music that I wanted to hop back in immediately. It didn’t even feel like a three and a half hour show.
With all this praise being said, this show still needs some work. The run time is over 3 hours, and most theatre goers start squirming in their seats before Act II of a normal show. The show is messy and raw, but I think that’s even more of a reason to see it. It’s such a unique experience to be able to see brand new theatre being produced and edited, especially since it’s telling a story once thought of as long and boring. Moby Dick is alive and as relevant as ever. And perhaps, maybe this little theatre in Boston’s backyard is the perfect place to tell this tale.