Inspired by the beloved films, the romantic and adventure-filled new musical Anastasia comes to Broadway.
From the Tony Award-winning creators of the Broadway classic Ragtime, this dazzling show transports us from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the euphoria of Paris in the 1920s, as a brave young woman sets out to discover the mystery of her past. Pursued by a ruthless Soviet officer determined to silence her, Anya enlists the aid of a dashing conman and a lovable ex-aristocrat. Together, they embark on an epic adventure to help her find home, love, and family.
Anastasia features a book by celebrated playwright Terrence McNally and a lush, new score by Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics). Tony Award-winning director Darko Tresnjak directs.
The key selling point of this pretty but anodyne musical, which ends up being more satisfying than the sum of its parts. It's a fairy-tale whose princess chooses her own kind of prince, a destiny foretold in the stirring shared childhood recollection of Dmitry and Anya, "In a Crowd of Thousands." It's kitschy, old-fashioned entertainment given a relatively sophisticated presentation, and you have to acknowledge its success when you hear the target demographic swoon on cue.
Alas for imperial Russia and the family of Czar Nicholas II, the 17-year-old Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna was murdered in 1918 by the Cheka, Vladimir Lenin's secret police. But since princesses have a unique ability to skate above republican sentiment and the harsh realities of forensic science, the legend of a surviving Anastasia has lived on in popular culture, most famously as a 1997 animated musical film, scored by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and wherein Anastasia was voiced by Meg Ryan, she whom no Bolshevik could ever suppress. Now Anastasia has reappeared on Broadway, the centerpiece of a new musical that works quite delightfully when the star is center stage, and struggles mightily when she is off in the wings, where the charming Christy Altomare spends far too long.
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