Broadway's Dave Malloy wrote ‘The Great Comet,’ but he’s not much of a painter

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Show Us Your Walls
By Laura Collins-Hughes

Dave Malloy, the composer and performer, in his Brooklyn studio. He painted the blue acrylic that hangs above the whiteboard: “I keep this thing here as a reminder that you can make bad art and that’s just part of the process.” Credit Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

NEW YORK---The composer and performer Dave Malloy isn’t the kind of New Yorker who can look at a room and instantly tell you its square footage. With an upright piano against one wall and a wooden thumb piano hanging from another, this unassuming space strung with festive mini-lights is where he writes. “The coolest thing about having a show on Broadway is that fans sometimes just make art for you,” said Mr. Malloy, a friendly bear of a man who this spring made his Broadway acting debut, filling in for Josh Groban in the role of Pierre, which Mr. Malloy originated Off Broadway. When I get stuck creatively as a composer, moving to a different art form is really good. Rather than go and listen to music, it’s better for me to go to an art museum or to go to a movie or to read a comic book or read a novel. [More]