‘Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812’ Moving to Midtown

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Phillipa Soo and Lucas Steele onstage in May.

The big red pop-up tent in the meatpacking district - home to the unusual nightclub-meets-musical production of “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” - is moving uptown to the theater district, though not to a Broadway house. At least not yet.

“The Great Comet,” based on a section of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” and one of the best-reviewed shows of the 2012-13 theater season, will mount its tent in the empty lot on West 45th Street near 8th Avenue, at the same location where the Spiegelworld tent show “Empire” ran last year. A 14-week run of “The Great Comet” will begin on Sept. 24, its producers announced on Tuesday; the show’s downtown run concluded on Monday night.

Mindful that the Spiegelworld tent drew a picket line for its lack of union employees, the “Comet” producers - who used non-union musicians and waiters in the meatpacking district - are altering the audience experience in ways that may raise production costs but avoid a labor protest.

The major change involves food: The tent is styled like a Russian supper club, but the plentiful dinner of seafood and chicken - which had been included in the ticket prices, ranging from $125 to $237.50 - will be dropped in the theater district to save money. Ticket prices will remain the same; nibbles like pierogis will still be provided, as will the show’s lucrative vodka, champagne and other alcohol sales.

“Our audience surveys and phone surveys showed that people didn’t really value the meals, and at each ticket price level, people said they would’ve still bought tickets without the meals,” Howard Kagan, one of the lead producers of the show, said in an interview on Tuesday. “So we’ll save some money on that, while probably spending elsewhere.”

Costs are likely to go up for the musicians and perhaps crew members for the show, Mr. Kagan said, as a result of negotiations that he said he is having with theatrical unions. While Broadway theaters have fixed labor costs, Mr. Kagan’s 200-seat pop-up tent is not required to have the same union contracts. But union leaders say they want them regardless, to protect their members in “The Great Comet.”

“I haven’t heard from these producers yet about the new run, which is frustrating because we never got an agreement with them downtown,” said Tino Gagliardi, the president of Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians. “There have been musicians in that show who weren’t getting benefits. We’re flexible, but we expect better coverage for our musicians.”

James J. Claffey Jr., the president of Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, did not immediately return a phone message on Tuesday.

Mr. Kagan said that “The Great Comet” steadily made money downtown but has not recouped its original $2.5 million capitalization. He said the transfer to the theater district would cost in the low six figures.

He has also begun to look into a future run of the show at a Broadway theater or another space in the city. Before settling on the 45th Street lot, Mr. Kagan spoke to Broadway theater owners about possible vacancies, including at prime theaters like the St. James, but none were offering ideal timing or open-ended availability. But Mr. Kagan said he was still looking into Broadway, even though it would be an expensive proposition: The “Great Comet” producers want the show to remain an immersive, club-like experience, where audiences sit at cocktail tables and banquettes and the musical is performed around them, thereby necessitating the removal of rows of seats and a reconfiguration of the theater space.

“We want the show to continue as it is, and to continue after the new performances end on Dec. 31, and we’re looking at all possible options, including Broadway,” Mr. Kagan said. When asked about the Circle in the Square Theater, an in-the-round space where the critically drubbed “Soul Doctor” is now running, he added, “We love Circle in the Square, and it’s safe to say we would look closely at any space made available to us.” A Broadway theater is appealing to producers because shows in those houses are eligible for Tony Awards, and because the “Broadway musical” imprimatur is meaningful to some tourists and others.

Mr. Kagan said he hoped that the show’s current cast would continue with the show; casting will be announced shortly. The musical, which began at Ars Nova last fall, is written by Dave Malloy and directed by Rachel Chavkin.