Review: My Ramblings on the Musical Anastasia

Are you thinking about seeing the Broadway tour of Anastasia? Maybe you are just curious? If so read on and I will tell you about my musical bestie date night in lovely Cleveland, Ohio and discuss my thoughts on the show.

Wow! It felt like forever since I enjoyed a night out at the theater! It had been a couple month break in between shows so I was excited to get back into it.

Pre-Show Snacks

Normally we don’t get to meet up before the show but it was a special occasion as my BFF had a sitter. (Yay!!) We decided to check out Rebublic Food and Drink to snag some food with a little over an hour to kill.

Being the day before Valentine’s day, it was packed but we managed to find the last table at the bar. There is actually a LOT of seating in the bar area so we were grateful.

We didnt get there as early as we had liked so we just opted for a few appetizers. I will be honest, I can be pretty picky and cheap so I often prefer an appetizer. I hate to spend $25 to find out I don’t like something! Plus I absolutely love appetizers. I am a bit of an app snob!

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Tonight we opted for the corn dip and buffalo bites. The corn dip was good, nothing spectacular. But the buffalo was super yummy. I think there was 5 of them. I do NOT normally like blue cheese dressing but this one was fantastic. It was mild and smooth and I couldn’t get enough!

I love the location! It is absolutely perfect and only a couple minutes from the theater doors! You can get enter the restaurant from the street or using the walk way inside from the attached parking area to the theater complex.

The fact the theater doors are only a couple minutes from the door is probably the best part but the food did come out hot and fairly quick too.

I can definitely see us going back. The other food coming out of the kitchen looked so scrumptious and I would be happy to try more.

Showtime

Now on to the main event, Anastasia! We still had a little time to left before the show so we decided to head over to get our picture in front of the cute backdrop. The Connor Theater always has some little spot for cute selfies at their shows.

I knew nothing about the story. It’s funny because I have heard the name before but thought it was a book.

The Story

Act 1

The show starts with an exchange between Dowager Empress and granddaughter, Princess Anastasia before returning to Paris. Anastasia quickly becomes a young lady and the Bolsheviks overthrow and execute the Romanov family. And these 2 occurences set the stage to understand the entire show.

The rest of the show takes places years later when people are living in what appears to be terrible times. There is rumor that Princess Anastasia never died which gives people hope.

Enter the swindling duo of young Dmitry and his older sidekick and comic relief, Vladimir. They hatch a plan to find an Anastasia look-a-like to present to Dowager in exchange for a reward.

Next we meet naive Anya who is looking for something or someone in Paris but she has lost her memory and is not sure what that is. Dmitry and Vlad are happy to take her under their wing and groom her to be Anastasia. As the story progresses, we start to believe along with Anya that she in fact could be the long lost princess.

Meanwhile, the scheme is uncovered by the Bolshevik regime and General Gleb has Anya arrested. He has a strong sense of duty but also has come to care for Anya so he let her off with warning.

We learn that General Gleb was a child in the palace when the royal family was executed. His father was a guard that turned on the Romanov family and it was said to have haunted him until his dying days.

Eventually Vlad, Dimitry and Anya head to Paris. The Russian government hunts them down even with the intent to kill and destroy this plan.

Act 2

The second half offers a much more upbeat score and comic relief after the trio gets to Paris. Several relationships are explored as the task of getting grandma to meet Anya is underway.

Over the years many people have tried to present themselves as Anastasia and the old lady has become hardened from the heartbreak and disappointment of so many people just looking for fame and fortune. She has almost given up hope entirely.

I am going to leave it there as I don’t want to ruin the rest of the story for you as if you are like me you don’t want to know everything. You will just have to come watch the show to see how it ends.

The Performance

The characters all seem to be necessary to move the story forward. I just found most of them to be a little drab.

As far as performances, I enjoyed Dmitry’s most. Anastasia had a fantastic voice as well but she was just so……boring as a character it was hard to really be impressed.

And one akward performance was that of Gleb. His acting was wonderful but when he sung, I just didn’t understand what was happening. Maybe it was the orchestra was often too loud over him or that the vocal range was difficult, but it was just odd.

Overall I there were no really no amazing standout performances but nothing bad.

The Music

Here is where I think lies the problem. The music is just nothing exciting. The songs were just blah. The first act was pretty slow. And the second half was not much better.

There is one song in the first act, Stay, I Pray You, that really hit me. Just the emotion you feel as the aristocrats flee their homes to avoid persecution. I felt it in the harmonies and MAY even have shed a few tears.

Unfortunately, you just don’t leave the show with a song that you want to sing. A catchy tune. Something to remember.

The Set

Now the set was by far my favorite part of the show. It was so real. I find it just crazy what they can do with sets these days now that they digitize everything.

We joked after the show about how in another 10 years or so people will be wanting going back to backdrops and call it retro.

I really felt like we were wherever the production wanted us to be.

The Wrap Up

After the show, we had out routine meet up at Bin 216 where we review the show with a couple friends over a cocktail and catch up. General consensus seemed to be the same. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t memorable.

I wasn’t excited about the show but I rarely am. This works out well because then I am not disappointed and I normally end up really liking a show.

This one was just……meh……I did not dislike it, but it was nothing to write home about. I did enjoy the story but I almost felt like some of the songs dragged it down.

In another year, I will have forgotten that I even saw the show and what happened. It is just forgettable. There was no real wow factor in the performances or the music.

If you like the story or are interested in an evening out, Anastasia is entertaining and is would be a nice night out . Just keep your expectations real.

Look, I am nonprofessional theater person. I am just a middle aged lady who loves to watch musicals and has seen quite a few. So please take what I say with a grain of salt. Now go out and watch a good show and let me know your thoughts.