Anastasia coming to Broadway

[BroadMagTech]

Posted: 4/15/16 at 11:30pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Once-Upon-a-December-Ahrens-Flahertys-New-ANASTASIA-Musical-Will-Journey-to-Broadway-This-Season-20160415

Any guesses on which Shubert Theatre? The Shubert? Broadway.com said the next show will be big. So it either has to be Anastasia, Miss Saigon, or Charlie

Updated On: 4/15/16 at 11:30 PM

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 4/15/16 at 11:33pm

I'm confused. Is this a thread about which theatre Anastasia will go in, or about which show will take the Shubert Theatre? 

And who is "they?"

Updated On: 4/15/16 at 11:33 PM

[BroadMagTech]

Posted: 4/15/16 at 11:39pm

It's about which theatre Anastasia will go into. I'm just trying to see if the Shubert is off the table based on the other big musicals coming to Broadway next season.

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 4/15/16 at 11:48pm

Well, in that case...

I'd love to see this take the Lyceum. A classic tale in a classic space. It probably won't happen though. Maybe the Longacre? 

I, personally, am more interested in if this will fall under the classics rule and be considered a revival or will it be a new musical? I could see it going both ways. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/16/16 at 1:13am

It'll be new. It's not that classic. 

And I'd imagine, given the theater for their out-of-town tryout, that it'll be a smaller type show? So I don't think it will need a huge house. I don't know. I see this being a big ol' bore.

[littlemouse921]

Posted: 4/16/16 at 1:14am

I think it's doubtful that this would be classified as a revival. I think it was stated in an article that the score was mostly new and that's lot of the plot had been changed. And if Aladdin was a new musical, then this should be too.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/4/16 at 7:18pm

In case anyone is curious, I noticed Hartford Stage has some sketches of the set and costumes: 

https://www.hartfordstage.org/anastasia



Looks like this design could be quite beautiful, as long as they put enough money into it to make it look nice. 

I have tickets to see this at the end of May. I'm a big fan of the movie, but not so die-hard that I'll be upset by the changes they will make. Sounds like people are skeptical about this, but I'm excited to see it nonetheless. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/4/16 at 7:23pm

GreasedLightning said: "I, personally, am more interested in if this will fall under the classics rule and be considered a revival or will it be a new musical? I could see it going both ways. "

 

Sorry to bring this discussion up again even though it seems to have been resolved several weeks ago, but:

Why ask if this will be a revival? Isn't this just based on the movie? I didn't think it had ever been on stage before, except for workshops. I feel sure that this will be a new musical just like any other musical based on a movie -- unless I'm missing something and there actually was a stage-adaptation of this movie previously? You may not even re-open this thread and see this question, but I'm genuinely curious as to why you think it might fall under the classics rule. 

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 8:20am

The first photos are on Twitter! Looks great!

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 8:46am

JBroadway said: "GreasedLightning said: "I, personally, am more interested in if this will fall under the classics rule and be considered a revival or will it be a new musical? I could see it going both ways. "

 

Sorry to bring this discussion up again even though it seems to have been resolved several weeks ago, but:

Why ask if this will be a revival? Isn't this just based on the movie? I didn't think it had ever been on stage before, except for workshops. I feel sure that this will be a new musical just like any other musical based on a movie -- unless I'm missing something and there actually was a stage-adaptation of this movie previously? You may not even re-open this thread and see this question, but I'm genuinely curious as to why you think it might fall under the classics rule. 

 

"

It was just a question...

Their story is well-known and the music is somewhat being reused from the musical film. Cinderella never had a professional stage adaptation and was considered a revival despite being billed "A New Broadway Musical" so I was just wondering. 

I think my question wasn't anymore out of left field as Shuffle Along's producers petition to consider THAT a revival. 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 8:58am

Where are the pictures on Twitter?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 9:00am

Are they the same as in this article?

http://www.courant.com/entertainment/arts-theater/hc-preview-anastasia-hartford-stage-20160505-story.html

Also, protip: When you mention seeing something on social media and it's a public account, link to it to save us all the grief.

[Wick3]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 9:03am

I enjoyed the movie back in the 90s so I hope to see it on Broadway.

From a strategic point of view, do you think it's better to have a successful show in a small-medium sized broadway theater? It strikes up demand and buzz if they can sell out the house almost every day. 

[Kad]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 10:12am

GreasedLightning said: "
It was just a question...

Their story is well-known and the music is somewhat being reused from the musical film. Cinderella never had a professional stage adaptation and was considered a revival despite being billed "A New Broadway Musical" so I was just wondering. 

I think my question wasn't anymore out of left field as Shuffle Along's producers petition to consider THAT a revival. "

R & H's Cinderella actually did have several professional stage productions, just never on Broadway- most notably, an Asian tour with Lea Salonga, productions by the New York City Opera, and a US tour that stopped at Madison Square Garden. And I would have to assume some sort of adaptation was available for licensing, as well. That was why it was considered a revival under the classics rule.

Since Anastasia has never had a stage adaptation, I can't imagine why it would be considered a revival.

 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 10:23am

I have to say that article actually makes me even more excited to see the show in a few weeks. I love the movie, but it is flawed, and it sounds like they're really trying to tackle some of those flaws and make this a really fleshed out story. 

My knee-jerk reaction to hearing they're keeping 5 of the movie's songs was "oh no! Only 5!" but upon a moment's reflection, it occurred to me that there really aren't that many songs in the movie, and several of them are not even that memorable. 

This still may turn out to be bad, but as of right now I'm rather optimistic. I think they're making good choices. 

 

Updated On: 5/6/16 at 10:23 AM

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 10:25am

Looks very...amateur 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 10:26am

BroadwayNYC2 said: "Looks very...amateur "

 

You may very turn out to be right, but I'm curious to hear what makes you say that? 

 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 10:33am

It doesn't look amateur it just looks low budget. So far it appears to be a unit set that doesn't change very much from scene to scene similar to the Hunchback stage adaptation. In both cases I think people were expecting a more elaborate physical production, but with both Hunchback and Anastasia I can understand why Disney and Warner Bros. may be hesitant to risk that much money on the projects.

[Daddy Warbucks]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 11:05am

This is not a Disney production. i think it was Fox behind the original. 

[aimeric]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 11:13am

Very curious to see how this turns out.  Anybody going to see this next week?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 11:15am

Daddy Warbucks said: "This is not a Disney production. i think it was Fox behind the original. "

https://twitter.com/AnastasiaStage/status/715639301787164672

[lambchop2]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 11:31am

CATSNYrevival said: "It doesn't look amateur it just looks low budget. So far it appears to be a unit set that doesn't change very much from scene to scene similar to the Hunchback stage adaptation. In both cases I think people were expecting a more elaborate physical production, but with both Hunchback and Anastasia I can understand why Disney and Warner Bros. may be hesitant to risk that much money on the projects.

I'm curious, where are you getting 'so far it appears to be a unit set that doesn't change very much from scene to scene'? All we have so far are some promotional photos from one scene (and we don't know if that scene takes place on this set, or is just for these early promo photos) and one picture of a set design...

 

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 11:56am

Am I the only one who finds it super distracting that they used a TOY as a music box instead of creating their own prop? I mean I think it's great that the box is exactly from the movie, but something's lazy about the usage of the toy. Also surprised that Anastasia is blonde and not brunette like the movies.

[Tag]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 12:04pm

It looks like good community theatre.

Maybe the lighting and camera angles didn't help the cause though.

[lambchop2]

Posted: 5/6/16 at 12:49pm

disneybroadwayfan22 said: "Am I the only one who finds it super distracting that they used a TOY as a music box instead of creating their own prop? I mean I think it's great that the box is exactly from the movie, but something's lazy about the usage of the toy. Also surprised that Anastasia is blonde and not brunette like the movies.

To be fair, it's not the toy music box, it's the collectible music box from the San Francisco Music Box company. The toy version looks like this: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/58/fb/32/58fb32f92bd9699a7a5a24484dc550dc.jpg

I do wish they had created a prop a bit closer to the film version, but it's not like the details will be super visible from the audience anyway.