On the night of July 17th, 1918, Russian royalty Tsar Nicholas II and his family were ordered to the basement of their two hundred room palace, under the impression that they were going to have their picture taken. The Romanov family was met by Bolshevik executioners and killed, including seventeen year old duchess Anastasia. Or that is what some believed to be true...

Hartford Stage's world premiere of the musical adaptation of Anastasia is simply astonishing, bringing the Russian myth of the surviving duchess to life.

Anastasia was a sparkling music box playing its beautiful and tragic melody, and when finally climaxing, I only wished to turn the crank backward to see it all once more.

Lead by Darko Tresnjak, Tony Award winning Artistic Director of the Hartford Stage, giving the story a light mythical quality, but also a grounded impression. With an orchestra of twelve musicians, Stephen Flaherty's score soared and twinkled, employing melodic motifs from the original Twentieth Century Fox film and new ones as well. The original music and sixteen additional songs were supported by intricate verbiage, as if being inside the character's minds, Lynn Ahrens' lyrics expressed the characters inner thoughts and desires. Playwright Terrence McNally's plot flowed smoothly, having comedic bits, but also possessing touching and poignant moments sprinkled throughout the night.

Photo by Peter Casolino from the Hartford Courant

The last time McNally, Falherty, and Ahrens collaborated was on their 1998 Tony Award winning production of Ragtime. Having penned the music for the late nineties film version of Anastasia, Ahrens and Flaherty were challenged with fleshing out the well known characters and giving them more dimension. The dulcet tones in Anastasia's "Learn To Do It" were reminiscent of the Flaherty's "Gliding" in their award winning musical about the turn of the twentieth century in America. The grandiose narrative and harmony of music and lyrics were evocative of the creative team's masterful style.

The set design was impressively executed using projections as an innovated way to illustrate the numerous locations in the classic story. From St Petersburg, Russia to Paris, France, the audience was transported to early twentieth century Europe. Alexander Dodge's grand French doors were given a breath of life by Aaron Rhyne's projections, conjuring each location's climate and environment. The projections only amplified the story, never distracting from the most important element, the plot. Linda Cho's shimmering costumes were a material representation of the musical's magic ability to captivate its audience at every instant.

The cast of twenty four portrayed a story of heartbreak, self perception, love, and believing in one's self. Christy Altomare starred as the story's protagonist, Anya, the young street urchin that comes to discover she might be related to the royal Romanov's after all. Altomare's ability to be vulnerable and also possess a tough outer shell was fascinating to observe. The Broadway veteran's most memorable asset by far was her voice, which was a crystal window into her character Anya's soul.

It has been announced that this production of Anastasia will be moving to Broadway during the 2016/2017 season. Thankful another Ahrens and Flaherty musical make its way back down the Great White Way soon.

“Anastasia” runs through June 19th at the Hartford Stage in Hartford, CT. https://www.hartfordstage.org/anastasia Box Office: 860-527-5151