You're asking what was the drama behind the Great Comet?
I found this summary of it which is pretty much how I remember it going down.
-The Great Comet opens with Josh Groban in the lead. Ticket sales are great, and it picks up a several Tony nominations.
-The Great Comet gets no Tony Awards, which is bad news for an original musical that isn't based on a recognizable property (think Aladdin, or Beautiful, or Billy Elliott, or most shows on Broadway). With Josh Groban in the lead, ticket sales remain strong, however.
-Josh Groban announces his departure. Okieriete "Oak" Onaodowan is announced as his replacement, and singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson is announced as stepping into the role of Sonya for a few weeks. Brittain Ashford, the original Sonya, is said to be taking the time off to tour or something, but it's fairly obvious to anyone who knows the business that they're replacing her with another music star (albeit someone with a lot less profile than Groban) to boost sales, and Ashford probably didn't have a say in the matter.
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Oak says on Twitter that the production needs a another week to get ready for him, so his start date is pushed back and creator Dave Malloy steps into the role.
Later we learned that it was in fact Oak who wasn't ready, as he couldn't learn the instruments that Pierre is supposed to play. Even with the delayed start dates, Oak can't get ready in time and they decide to scrap that part of the character.
Depending on who you believe, Oak is getting into fights with the director during the rehearsal period.
-Ticket sales drop to around 80% IIRC for the Oak-Michaelson cast. For a production as expensive as Great Comet, they're basically treading water. Worse - for the dates after Ingrid Michaelson leaves,
ticket sales tank. Oak (as the tenth-billed actor in Hamilton) evidently isn't famous enough to bring in the tourist dollar.
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The producers start looking for a way to save the show, and find Mandy Patinkin, who, because of his shooting schedule for Homeland, is only available the last three weeks of Oak's scheduled run (already shortened because of his delay to get onstage). Producer Howard Kagan says that Oak will
"make room" for Patinkin. (Patinkin probably couldn't have revitalized the entire show with a single three-week appearance, but was giving the producers time to find another star who could join for longer,
and were apparently zeroing in on someone).
-With lots of people in the industry and on the internet freshly (and rightly) sensitive to issues of diversity onstage, backlash begins to brew about a white actor replacing a black one -- never you mind that the role isn't written for a black actor, and that the entire casting process is race-blind, and that The Great Comet was one of the most diverse casts on Broadway with a black leading actress across from Pierre. Where the backlash started is up for debate, but it probably started in earnest with
Rafael Casal, who encouraged people to
direct their ire at The Great Comet. Curiously,
Oak reportedly met with Casal in his dressing room, and decided to go back on his plans to do press with Patinkin even though he'd previously agreed to.
-The backlash is amplified by several figures you may have seen onstage, Ariana DuBose, for example, but by far the person with the biggest platform was
Cynthia Erivo. She's mentioned in most of the articles and probably contributed the most out of any one person to making it a "newsworthy" event.
-Patinkin drops out because of the toxic atmosphere. Obviously they can't get another star attached now. Ticket sales tank. Show closes. Oak, Erivo, Casal all disavow any responsibility or admit that they maybe twisted a story into something it wasn't. The
incredibly diverse
cast and
crew of The Great Comet isn't thrilled they all lost their jobs because of a fake controversy.
So no, Cynthia Erivo didn't single-handedly take down Great Comet, but her brigading along with Casal, Oak, and others ruined the opportunity The Great Comet had of coming out of its post-Groban slump.
When all is said and done, Great Comet was a very unique show that ended way too soon.
