ANASTASIA Previews — Page 13

I'm confused why it's not Journey in the Past. Not only is it the show's signature number, but it's Christy's star-making moment

I dunno, I think that the romance is better done in the movie than in the stage show. They just had really good chemistry in the movie, so them going from arguing to head over heels was a believable transition to me. In the stage show, they're nicer to each other but I don't get why they fall for each other. Although I did like the change about how they met as kids because I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.

I know I'm way behind on this, but saw Anastasia tonight and man was this a chore to sit through. So boring. So bland. Mary Beth Pill, though, I was very impressed by. She's however old and she's still giving 8x a week and slaying it.

I don't get why people are taken with the set. It's literally the same 2 turntables used over and over again. And then a giant ugly train set piece. The projections are interesting, but most of the time, I was in the Mezz, the floor didn't line up with the projection so it felt artificial and I wasn't really "transported" anywhere.

There were just SO many songs and just way too many and none of them were good or memorable. And I actually LOVE a lot of "Rocky," but just nothing here rivaled "Raining" - one of my favorite musical theater songs of all time.

I do agree. As a performer, I get that's live, but her and Dimitri both had a crack moment. It was fine and they both sounded great. But I don't know. The show didn't click. House was full, but can see why it's not going to be a huge, 10 year plus show.

Agreed! There was only one moment - they had a projection that had the same tiled floors and then the ghosts were all dancing, and the projections came out over the audience and that was a truly interesting, cool moment. But then there's 2 1/2 hours of the show... I was just waiting for the walls to fly out and open up the space once they fled Russia. I thought that would have been a really interesting transformative moment. But alas. But people were eating it up so who cares what we think, ha.

Sarah329, I also have seen the show multiple times (twice for me) and genuinely love it. The projections seem to be very love-them-or-hate them for sure. I don't quite get the lamentations about how dumb or unsophisticated the show is, though - it's no Ragtime, to be sure, but I personally found it a step above most of the adaptations that have recently hit Broadway, at least in terms of craft. But that's just me, I can definitely see how it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea!

I finally caught this yesterday at the matinee and thought it was lovely. Not the best thing I've ever seen or the most creative but it was enjoyable. I hadn't seen the movie but knew the story.

I did think there were a lot of songs and only the ones from the movie stick out. I also liked the set. it was simple which would be easy to tour with and I didn't mind the projections. They did remind me of a Disney show though and the "Swan Lake" scene reminded me of Phantom and Pretty women combined. Still, I enjoyed it. Getting a discounted ticket via TDF helped.

I thought it was a pretty good musical. Nothing overly special, like others have said above, but enjoyable overall.

I agree on the sets, though. I still don't understand why they had a huge, elaborate balcony setup for the ballet, which isn't (at least in terms of plot) all that important as a set itself. It appears once and then it's gone. An odd choice to me, when they could have elaborated on the ballroom (a staircase setpiece that goes from gilded and golden to dilapidated from the invasion would've been great. They could've had young Anastasia come down the steps and then have Anya mirror that later on.) or even just some broken mirrors that have shattered (they could even go Phantom tour and have fake pieces of glass scatter). Juxtaposition is important. But they decided to forgo that and instead use...a single cherry blossom tree?

And yeah, the video screens aren't that great. When they work, it's nice. (I liked the moment of Vlad "pulling" the curtains and revealing the snow outside). But otherwise they're a bit lacklustre.

And don't even get me started on the confusion of whether Anya was Anastasia or not. Dmitri mentions bowing early in the show, so Anya recalling it in act II isn't that telling. The music box, sure, but things are fuzzy.

Updated On: 9/10/18 at 08:55 PM