Story by Robert Viagas

Willem Butler (Dmitri), Bryan Seastrom (Vlad), Veronica Stern (Anya) and The Company in the North American Tour of Anastasia – Photo by Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made.

WHEN STORIES BECOME LEGENDS

The Curious Life of Anastasia

STORY BY

Robert Viagas

How real is the story of Anastasia?

We know there once really was a girl named Anastasia Romanov. She really was the daughter (the youngest of five children) of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. We know her official title was Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicolaevna, though she was just a teen-ager.

We also know the sad fact that she and her whole family were rounded up and executed by the Communist revolutionaries who overthrew her father and established what would become the Soviet Union in 1918.

But here is where the story enters a hazy zone. It was believed by many, especially those who hated the Communists and those who revered the royal family, that Anastasia somehow had managed to survive, alone of all her family, and escape. Over the succeeding years, several women claiming

to be Anastasia came forward to claim they were the last heirs to the throne. Some of the claimants made very convincing cases, but none were conclusively proven to be the last, lost princess.

IT’S ABOUT WHO WE ARE

Nevertheless, the story captured the public’s imagination, especially after the release of a live-action movie in 1956, starring Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes, with a script by Arthur Anastasia - Tony -winning playwright Terrence McNally with songwriters Laurents. Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.

But in the 1990s, DNA testing of the Photo by Jeremy Daniel. family’s remains seemed to establish that all the claims were hoaxes, and that the legend of Anastasia had been only wishful thinking all along. So why is Anastasia’s story so perennially popular, generation after generation, even after the it’s been found to be mainly a legend?

Lynn Ahrens, Tony Award-winning lyricist of Anastasia, said, “Stories become legends when they resonate with our dreams and hopes. Anastasia has themes of romance, redemption and reunion at its core—it’s about who we are, who we yearn to connect with and the possibility that maybe, just maybe we’re more than we ever could imagine…who wouldn’t love a story with all that?”

The show you’re seeing today has had almost as circuitous a life as Anastasia herself. Produced and directed by Don Bluth, the story was adapted in 1997 as the first animated musical film released by 20th Century Fox Animation. It featured an original score by Ahrens and her partner, composer Stephen Flaherty. Together, the collaborators have written award-winning musicals including Ragtime, Once on This Island, Seussical and A Man of No Importance, the latter of which is currently enjoying an Off-Broadway revival. Powered by its Oscar-nominated score and especially its Oscar-nominated song, “Journey to the Past,” Anastasia proved to be the most profitable Fox animated film, and beloved by children who grew up with it in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The animated film tells the story of two Russian con men who are trying to find a girl of the right age and look to pass off as Anastasia so they can collect a generous bounty. They find a likely young woman who is suffering from amnesia, who seems to be the perfect choice. But as things progress, they start to suspect that she really is the lost princess.

The continued popularity of the film led to plans for a stage adaptation. Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally penned the libretto. And after several workshops and a major regional production in Hartford,

Veronica Stern (Anya) in the North American Tour of Anastasia. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made

Connecticut, the full stage adaptation opened on Broadway in 2017 featuring seven songs from the movie (including “Journey to the Past”) and more than a dozen new Ahrens & Flaherty tunes. It ran 808 performances and won two Tony Awards.

ADD A LOT OF FUN

Ahrens and the rest of the creative team paid special attention to this North American touring production that has come to the Fox. “As with any tour,” she said, “there have been certain modifications made to the physical production to make it more portable and easier to assemble as it travels from venue to venue, each with different physical and technical needs. Probably the most important of these modifications was that the turntables were eliminated, and transitions became a lot more actor-driven, rather than automated. On Broadway we had a rotating train, and on tour the train is created by the actors.”

Ahrens said, “These re-thinks are all very successful and add a lot of fun. (And of course there are still the gorgeous videos and costumes!) I saw it at one of its stops, and I must say, thanks to [director] Darko Tresnjak, designers and the whole team, it looks and sounds totally sumptuous—real Broadway quality.”