ANASTASIA Previews- Page 3

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:01pm

TheSassySam said: "Tonight was rough (hello! Music box breaking?) But the highlight was Caroline O'Conner. If this show gets any acting Tony nominations. It'll be for her role as Lilly. 

 

"

Yup, they said on IG that they have 6 boxes just in case something should happen. When did it break? And yes! I loved Caroline too!

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:07pm

Hope all is OK sunset.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Act I. Though I have to say, the "no backs to the audience" note is something I haven't heard since high school theater. LOL. I see it happen pretty often, actually. 

They're really banking on that "Fanastasia" stuff, huh? 

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:16pm

For this production, is A front row of the orchestra? Or is there double letters?

[lambchop2]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:16pm

Re: Gleb

Interesting... the character had empathy in Hartford--did they remove scenes like where he warns Anya about her eyes?

[TheSassySam]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:17pm

disneybroadwayfan22 said: "TheSassySam said: "Tonight was rough (hello! Music box breaking?) But the highlight was Caroline O'Conner. If this show gets any acting Tony nominations. It'll be for her role as Lilly. 

 

"

Yup, they said on IG that they have 6 boxes just in case something should happen. When did it break? And yes! I loved Caroline too!

 

"

During Once Upon a December! To be honest, the audience was enchanted that it didn't even matter. But there was an audible gasp from both the stage and audience. Haha. 

[bwayrose7]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:18pm

Hope everything is alright, sunset. Appreciate you taking the time to write up Act 1 for us! I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it. 

*Plot discussion below*

@TheSassySam: I seem to recall the Hartford script had him realizing he did not want to be like his father, taking orders without a question. Or at least that was the implication from the preceding dialogue. Is that thread gone from the Broadway version, then?

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:21pm

Song list??

[TheSassySam]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:30pm

disneybroadwayfan22 said: "Song list??

 

"

ACT I

 

Prologue: Once Upon a December - Dowager Empress and Little Anastasia 

The Last Dance of the Romanovs - Ensemble

A Rumor in St Petersburg - Dmitry, Vlad and Ensemble

In My Dreams - Anya 

The Rumors Never End - Gleb and Ensemble 

Learn to Do It - Vlad, Anya, Dmitry

The Neva Flows - Glen and Anya

The Neva Flows (Reprise) - Men

My Petersburg - Dmitry and Anya

Once Upon a December - Anya and Ensemble

A Secret She Kept - Anya

Stay, I Pray You - Count Ipolitov, Anya, Dmitry, Vlad Ensemble 

We'll Go From There - Vlad, Anya, Dmitry, Ensemble

Traveling Sequence - Gorlinsky, Anya Dmitry Vlad

Still - Gleb

Journey to the Past - Anya

Act II

Paris Holds the Key (To Your Heart) - Vlad, Dmitry, Anya and Ensemble

crossing a Bridge - Anya

Close the Door - Dowager Empress

Land of Yesterday (showstopper, imo) - Countess Lilly and Ensemble

The Countess and the Common Man - Vlad and Countess Lilly

 

Land of Yesterday (Reprise) - Gleb 

A Nightmare - Romanov Children, Tsar and Tsarina (this song gave the classic line, "I have a secret! Im gonna die soon."

Ina Crowd of Thousands - Dmitry and Anya 

Meant to Be - Vlad

Quartet at the Ball - Anya, Dmitry, Dowager Enpress, Greb Ensemble 

Everything to Win - Dmitry 

Once Upon a December (Reprise) - Anya and Dowager Empress

The Press Conference - Countess Lilly, Vlad and Ensemble 

Everything to Win (Reprise) - Anya 

Still/The Neva Flows(reprise) - Greb, Anya and Ensemble 

Finale - Anya, Dmitry and Company 

 

Updated On: 3/23/17 at 11:30 PM

[10086sunset]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:35pm

GreasedLightning said: "Hope all is OK sunset.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Act I. Though I have to say, the "no backs to the audience" note is something I haven't heard since high school theater. LOL. I see it happen pretty often, actually. 

They're really banking on that "Fanastasia" stuff, huh? "

LMAO. Greased, it's really true, it also takes me back to high school. 

Yes, they are banking hard on the "Fanastasia" stuff.

[10086sunset]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:37pm

Thanks everyone for the kind words and warm wishes. They were certainly much appreciated. 

[bwayrose7]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:43pm

Question, SassySam, since I don't want to quote the whole post: In Act 2, does the song you listed as "Meant To Be" replace "I Never Should Have Let Them Dance," or is it still that same melody? (Apologies for all the questions - 90s kid here who's a little too excited about this show finally arriving :)

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:49pm

Wow so much changes! And btw: you meant Ballet right?

 

EDIT: Oh snap Anya's brown hair is back! Thank God!

Updated On: 3/23/17 at 11:49 PM

[bwayrose7]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 11:58pm

disneybroadwayfan22 said: "Wow so much changes! And btw: you meant Ballet right?

 

EDIT: Oh snap Anya's brown hair is back! Thank God!

 

I'm guessing you saw this Insta pic of curtain call: https://www.instagram.com/p/BSAUDDlFKH1/

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 3/24/17 at 12:41am

A bit perplexed by the lack of responses after tonight's first preview...

[Eliza2]

Posted: 3/24/17 at 12:42am

LimelightMike said: "For this production, is A front row of the orchestra? Or is there double letters?"

A is front row. I was row B tonight. 

I agree that there were parts in Act 1 that dragged. I thought Act 2 was much better, and I credit most of that to Caroline O'Connor and Mary Beth Peil. They were wonderful.

 

 

Updated On: 3/24/17 at 12:42 AM

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 3/24/17 at 4:59am

Tell me they got the blue ballet dress from the movie back 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/24/17 at 8:27am

BroadwayConcierge said: "A bit perplexed by the lack of responses after tonight's first preview..."

I agree. Is there anyone else who was there last night willing to give their review?

[Wick3]

Posted: 3/24/17 at 8:57am

10086sunset said: "GreasedLightning said: "
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Act I. Though I have to say, the "no backs to the audience" note is something I haven't heard since high school theater. LOL. I see it happen pretty often, actually. 

They're really banking on that "Fanastasia" stuff, huh? "

LMAO. Greased, it's really true, it also takes me back to high school. 

Yes, they are banking hard on the "Fanastasia" stuff."

I thought the ads all over nyc looked a bit odd when Anastasia wasn't had her back towards the audience (you only see the back of her hair and dress.) normally in ad you show a beautiful face to promote the show. 

Theres no rush/lottery option for Anastasia right?

[Steve C.]

Posted: 3/24/17 at 9:06am

I'm very excited again now after hearing the FB clip live...

I think given that this is (I believe) the first 21st/FOX adaptation into B'way that they are willing to spend a few rubles.

I'm glad that Caroline is great but never doubted she wouldn't be. Clips online from Follies, etc, she even slayed at the Tonys w/ A Christmas Story.

Mary Beth Piel should be great also. Any feedback on MBP or RK? [..and boy, they added a ton of songs didn't they?] 

Can't wait..seeing this and HD on same day. The costumes and sets will spoil me I'm sure.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/24/17 at 9:19am

Hi all-- don't worry, I have a report! I completely disagree with basically everything Sassy Sam wrote- "But the highlight was Caroline O'Conner. If this show gets any acting Tony nominations. It'll be for her role as Lilly. "

Really?

Anyway, I digress.

I loved the show in Hartford and I love it on Broadway. To be honest, they've done a lot of work. There are lots of new lyrics in Rumor in St Petersburg and some dialogue changes all through the first act. Some of them seemed to be fine to me before, but the new ones are just as good. It seems that they clarified some of the political stuff to make it easier to understand-- there's a new line about spies. I don't have my Hartford playbill handy but I feel like some stuff may have been moved around. IIRC there was a bad Gleb song near the top of the show that is now gone, or changed significantly. Gleb has a new song near the end of the first act called Still, right before Journey to the Past, which is much improved.

The pacing of the first act did seem a little off to me, but it was a first preview so that is to be expected.

I have to say I applaud the work they've done on Gleb, and casting Ramin was a fantastic choice. He really brings the appropriate amount of menace and the motivations are clearer-- it is still a little muddy but again, much improved IMO. There isn't a weird why is he so obsessed with her? is he in love with her? thing anymore, it's about his father and his father's legacy.

Christy did drop the music box, but no one in the mezz audibly gasped or noticed, despite reports to the contrary upthread. There was a loud bang and then when she was holding it the top was gone. It was fine, she hid it nicely.

I truly think the leading performances by Christy and Derek are wonderful, and Mary Beth Peil and John Bolton should not be counted out awards time.

The set! Holy wow the set is stunning. It was gorgeous in Hartford but it's 10x better now. Bigger and more video screens and it is just beautiful. You have to see it to believe it. The costumes too are just beautiful.

The ending is the same as it was in Hartford and still feels like a bit of a cop out, but like I said, Ramin really sells it. "Paris Holds the Key to Your Heart" has been completely restaged--- they all sort of danced around a small Eiffel Tower in Hartford. There is none of that here-- it lands much better.

Happy to answer any questions!

bwayrose7- Meant to Be is the same melody and it is now used throughout the act. It really works nicely.

Concierge- as far as lack of responses here, the audience seemed to be almost entirely tourists, especially in the mezz. There was a massive tour group from the South behind me. It was packed with many tourists and people who are not traditional theater audiences.

Updated On: 3/24/17 at 09:19 AM

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 3/24/17 at 9:23am

Hooray! Had been looking forward to hearing from you all night, neon

Could you speak a little more specifically to Christy and her Anya? Has she grown in the role since you saw her last summer? Would you say she's giving a performance worthy of "locking" (though I hate that word) her in as a Lead Actress Tony nomination?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/24/17 at 9:27am

If I was on the Tony nominating committee, I would certainly nominate Christy as Anya, but they don't usually do what I think they should do. So we'll see.

She has definitely grown in the role, but she is just so wonderful. She really captures the spunkiness and the optimism of the character but there is no doubt that she can take care of herself. She is massively vulnerable, but also really feisty, and she has a clear arc as she becomes Anastasia (spoiler!) in the second act. She handles all the big songs with absolute grace and she was in great voice.

Updated On: 3/24/17 at 09:27 AM

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/24/17 at 9:35am

Sorry, me again. I also wanted to point out that Ramin's Gleb is more like a Javert character than it was before. He pops up in a few scenes following them to Paris, so it's not so abrupt when he appears at the end.

[curel1]

Posted: 3/24/17 at 9:51am

Neon, thanks for your report! I can't wait to see this.

Just a couple of questions:

You already kinda answered this but compared to Hartford, is Anya a bit more feisty here? 

I'm glad they changed the staging Paris is the Key! Could you go into more detail about that?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/24/17 at 9:59am

I mean I thought she was feisty in Hartford, so not a ton more so here.

They have some gorgeous projections of the city in the background, and it's just a different sort of big dance number. Some of the famous artists still appear (Gertrude Stein & Josephine Baker), but it may have less of them? Sorry, it's sort of hard to describe. It's more about Vlad, Anya, and Dmitry arriving and being excited about all Paris has to offer, with the sumptuous views behind them.

Updated On: 3/24/17 at 09:59 AM