Interview: Stephen Brower of ANASTASIA at Peace Center

Stephen Brower stars as Dmitry in the musical Anastasia, opening next week at the Peace Center in Greenville, SC.

We asked Stephen to tell us about himself and the show.

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First, please tell us a little about your background.

I'm from Tulsa, OK. I went to school at Texas State University, graduated in 2015 and moved to New York pretty shortly after. I did the first national tour of Pippin pretty early on and then the first national of An American in Paris. Then I returned to the city to do the Broadway version of Anastasia for a couple of months as a vacation cover, and now I'm doing this.

Wow! That's really great. You were able to jump right in after graduating!

I know. It seems like I've been in the right place at the right time.

Did you come through Greenville on one of those tours?

I came through with An American in Paris. I loved Greenville while I was there. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect and it was so cool and charming and they had cute little businesses, and that whole main street leading up to the Peace Center is great. I just loved my time there. One of my favorite things about cities is finding a nice little coffee shop, and you had a couple to choose from that I loved.

Tell us a little about this show.

What I love about Anastasia is I think it appeals to a really wide range of ages. Because it's based on - or sort of inspired by - the animated movie, it definitely plays well to younger audiences. It's a story about a young girl on a journey to find her past and it's full of danger and romance and epic plot twists that I think are relatable and exciting to many generations of theatergoers. I didn't know much about this story. I grew up o the movie, but when I went to see this show on Broadway, I had no idea what to expect and it blew me away. It's just fantastic, a really beautiful production and a fantastic story.

What are some of the big theatrical elements that stand out for you?

The scenic design by Alexander Dodge is just amazing. It's breathtaking. The background of the show is a huge LED projection screen and two years ago the technology didn't exist to make this screen available. And they really use this to set the scene and create movement on the stage. It's kind of the star of the show. I've never seen anything like it.

Tell us about some of the music. Is it new or are there some songs from the film?

The music and lyrics are by the same two artists as the movie, but I think there are five songs from the movie that are in the stage production of the total of, I think, 24. So there's a lot of new material, but it takes a lot of the same musical themes and just adds material to them. I remember that one of the most iconic songs in the Broadway show is "In My Dreams," and I forgot that wasn't a part of the movie because it fits in so well musically. Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens are some of my favorite writers of musical theatre and they really topped themselves with this score. It's lush and fun to sing and really fun to listen to every night. It's a dream come true.

Tell us a little about your character.

I play Dmitry who is a con man and he wants out of Russia. The backdrop of the show is a switch of regimes from the Romanoffs, imperialists, to a more socialist Russia, from the Russian revolution and the first world war. He's a con man and he's not politically driven but he wants out of Russia to create a new life for himself. So he has noble desires but he goes about them through conning people and manipulating this girl Anya into thinking she could be the princess Anastasia, and together they go on this epic journey to find her past. And in the end she really changes him and they both have a journey.

It's really cool because I don't feel any pressure to make the character likeable by any means, because he's not supposed to be likeable. He starts out as a bad guy but then you see his heart, and you see Anya bring out this softer, sentimental, beautiful man. It's really, really fun to play - to have such a strong objective and have that completely turned on its head. You get to start in one place and end in a completely different place. It's awesome.

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The Peace Center is pleased to announce that Anastasia will host a digital ticket lottery during the upcoming Greenville engagement from Oct. 23-28, offering fans the chance to purchase a limited number of $25 tickets available per performance.

The digital lottery is open to accept entries NOW for all performances and will remain open until Sunday, Oct. 21, at noon. Fans who have been selected will be notified via email or text and have 24 hours to purchase up to two (2) tickets at $25 each. All entrants are encouraged to follow Anastasia on Instagram (@anastasiabway), Twitter (@anastasiabway) and Facebook (@anastasiabway) for additional lottery news and information.

Entrants must be 18 years or older. A valid, non-expired photo ID that matches the name used to enter is required for pickup. Seat locations awarded by the lottery are subject to availability and may not be seated together. Additional lottery requirements can be found at www.luckyseat.com/anastasia/.

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