Saw Anastasia last night at the Broadhurst Theatre, and it was incredible!
It was based off of the 1997 animated movie that I fondly remember watching numerous times as a child (even if it scared me when they summoned Rasputin from hell). However, I have never seen a Broadway play that was adapted from a movie before, so I wasn't sure how a film-to-theatre work would go. And I am pleased to say that I think the musical is an improvement on the film.
From a narrative perspective, they took out all of the "magic" (in the sense of sorcery and spells) to instead put in the historical context of early 20th century Russia. Rather than a disgruntled sorcerer, the musical had the Bolshevik Revolution be the reason for the tsarist regime to be over. As a result, it was hard to desire the Romanovs to simply be put back in power. To root for aristocrats busy partying away their sorrows in Paris to be put back in power over a tumultuous and suffering Russian populace is a stretch - at best. And it allows the "villains" of the story to have the weight of historical context and motivators to fuel their actions for why they would want to over-throw and kill the Romanov family in the first place. As a result, it was a more "mature" story from classic Disney than I've seen in a long time - one rife with a lot of grey areas and politics.
However, that didn't stop the story from having compelling characters be the centerpiece of the story. In fact, rather cleverly, the writers made the audience root for a reunion between Anastasia and her grandmother (with perhaps a bit of romance on the side between Anastasia and Dimitri) instead of hoping for a broad restoration of a broken regime. By having a colourful cast be the centerpiece for a war-torn socio-political cultural landscape it felt more like a "Disney-fied" love story that takes place in the middle of war (always a crowd favourite).
In particular, the addition of communist soldier Gleb to round out the historical-bent of the musical to replace Rasputin's role was ingenious. A conflicted man trying to do his best for a party he believes in with a traumatic past shaped by revolution is much more interesting and compelling than a (literal) cartoon evil villain. And I absolutely adored the expanded songs and stage-time for the secondary characters of Vlad and Countess Lily. Their song "The Countess and the Common Man" was absolutely hilarious and, to be honest, made their love story more compelling than Anastasia's and Dimitri's. The not-so-subtle hints of their passionate love affair in their youth was reminiscent of many truly Russian stories in which unhappy marriages are the norm.
Which, speaking of, the amount of historical, cultural, political, societal, and artistic nods and one-liners throughout the musical was absolutely fabulous. Unfortunately many of them went over the heads of the audience as they were all related to great Russian and French figures of the late-19th and early 20th centuries. But I still loved many tongue-in-cheek nods like the line, "Everyone's a writer! Painter! Poet! Everything is avant garde or chic!" referring to the culture of early 20th-century Paris. And the tone of the mourning Russian aristocracy to the "Land of Yesterday" was absolutely dead-on in terms of the complicated sentiments everyone had to Russia's changing political landscape.
And then finally, the ending of the narrative was much more ambiguous than the film which I liked a lot better. The film makes it clear that "Anya" (the young woman who lost her memory who is the protagonist of the story) is the real Anastasia. In fact, it is revealed that as a young boy Dimitri is the one who helped her escape the fire. In the musical, however, the truth of her identity, although assumed, is much more ambiguous. Her recollections of her past are constantly in conflict with the fact that she is attempting to embody the character of Anastasia and "making the story her own". And the only interaction she and Dimitri would've had before her memory loss in the musical is that he was a boy she spotted in the crowd during a parade. Although the characters all accept her as the real Anastasia, this ambiguity is cleverly incorporated into the ending. Both her grandmother and Gleb announcing to the world that the fate of the real Anastasia is lost to history - and a mystery - to this day, while it is assumed that Anastasia ran off with Dimitri to live a long and happy life away from the prying eyes of politics and society. I liked this ending more than the original film as well because it allows for history to continue as it unfolded throughout the 20th century and for the fate of Anastasia to continue to be romanticised in future story-telling to come.
From a technical perspective, the musical numbers weren't anything to write home about. It had a lot of the "mid/late-90s" feel, but combined with vaguely romantic Russian influences. The clear stand out number being "Once Upon a December" from the original film. The costumes were typical Disney - absolutely romanticsed (in a good way), with everyone performing being vaguely handsome. However, the real stand-out to me were the computerized stage pieces and backdrops. At first I was wary of how it would look. I love the physical set pieces of Broadway and the special effects are well-renowned. But after seeing how they incorporated the virtual backdrops with the physical set pieces I was pleased with the overall effect.
The backgrounds themselves were clearly romanticised backdrops - "cheese-y" CGI that even a basic film wouldn't accept today. However, it seemed to harken back to the large backdrops of old where romanticized scenes were painted that would've never existed in the real world. And by leaning into the "backdrop" heritage rather than trying to make it look a 100% realistic, the computer effects totally worked. Although I still enjoy my physical props, I definitely can see the potential for when and how to use the digital wonders of the 21st century within a fun theatre context, which I greatly enjoyed. If nothing else, for all the colour it brought to the stage.
So overall I give this musical a solid 4/5 for improving greatly on the story and characters from the original film and for incorporating new technical elements into its adaptation. If you're in the area, I recommend it as a fun show to see if you're looking for a good time at the theatre.
And if you excuse me, my entire week has apparently been about consuming and talking about Russian art, so I need to finally start reading
The Brothers Karamazov now.
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