Grand Duchess
Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was murdered along with the rest of the Romanov
family in 1918, as part of the Red Terror during the Russian Civil War. For
much of the 20th Century, rumours persisted that Anastasia had
survived the massacre and several women claimed to be her. The best-known
imposter was Anna Anderson, who first made the claim in the early 1920s and
spent most of the rest of her life trying to prove her story.
The question
of whether Anastasia survived lasted a long time, mostly due to the ongoing court case about Anderson's identity. A 1952 play called Anastasia - based on Anderson's life - was turned into a film in 1956, starring Ingrid Bergman as Anna and Yul Brynner
as General Bournine, the proprietor of a Russian-themed restaurant in Paris,
where the story is set. The play and film have Pygmalion quality about
them, with Bournine coaching Anna – who suffers from amnesia – into passing as
the Russian princess.
The 1997
animated film by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, with songs by Lynn Ahrens and
Stephen Flaherty, is based on the earlier movie – though the 50’s movie refuses
to answer the question of whether Anna (Anya in the later version) is who she says she is, but the cartoon –
and subsequent stage show – is much more definitive. Anya is Anastasia; the
only question is whether she wants to take up that mantle or settle down with Dimitri,
once a servant boy to the Romanovs.
By the time
of the Bluth-Goldman collaboration, the burial site of the Romanovs had been
excavated, but DNA evidence and forensic experts did not confirm Anastasia’s remains
there. But by 2016, when the musical version premiered, the remains of all the
Romanovs had been found, including those of Anastasia. Why persist with a fairy
tale about a missing princess coming back, when scientific evidence had long
proven the fantasy and rumour false?
It's not
hard to imagine that Fox wanted to emulate the success of Disney Theatrical
turning their big-name animated films into stage spectaculars. Unfortunately, Anastasia
is not The Lion King or Aladdin in terms of source material, though
the title has name-recognition even if you’ve forgotten the animated film even
exists.
Terrence
McNally’s book of the stage show tightens things up – ridding it of the
animated movie’s Rasputin, who is a sorcerer, and his sidekick bat, Bartok.
Ahrens and Flaherty have created a full score with many new songs, but none
really as memorable as the Oscar-nominated "Journey to the Past", which becomes
the Act One closer on stage.
The set
design is basic: columns and arches, that are enhanced by Aaron Rhyne’s
video elements, that are functional and clearly designed with touring in mind.
Occasionally the projection works in a similar way to a film transition and one
moment of dramatic tension emulates a cinematic “dolly zoom”, sometimes
known as the Vertigo Effect. But often it’s a cheap way to insert a different background
or, most insultingly, a map as the characters travel from Leningrad to Paris.
Linda Cho’s costume design is the real standout of the craft elements, stretching from the elegance of Tsarist Russia to the fun of Paris in the late 1920s.
The standout sequence of the show was “Quartet at the Ballet” – which combines a song of duelling monologues as characters watch each other across a stage where Swan Lake is being
performed. Every element works here - the singing, the precise ballet choreography and the direction create theatrical magic.
Georgina
Hopson’s Anna is lovely to watch and exquisite in her solo moments, but it’s the
trio of Anna, Rodney Dobson’s Vlad and Robert Tripolino’s Dmitry
that make the first act really sing. Nancye Hayes is in fine voice as the
Dowager Empress and the comic timing of Rhonda Burchmore’s Lily is the
highlight of Act Two.
This is a
family-friendly musical that’s light and fluffy and leans into the romance of
history and fantasy and how they can comingle. It’s not revolutionary or bold
and if resurrected shows or retold stories can sometimes be described as dated,
Anastasia is pretending the last three decades of real history just hasn’t
happened. It’s a myth built on the foundations of a rumour. That said, it is entertaining
and for lots of young theatre kids in the audience, it made their year. For me, it was just my last show of 2025.
- Keith Gow, Theatre First
Anastasia is currently playing at the Regent Theatre
in Melbourne until February 20, then travels to Perth, Sydney and Adelaide
Photos by Jeff Busby
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