ANASTASIA Previews — Page 6

This was always my fear. I know the show has its fans on here, but the whole things just comes across as subpar Disney. From the production values - I mean projections just feel out of date for something like this - to the director himself. And an out of town tryout in Hartford just seemed odd too. Seems like they were trying to save some coin.

I was there tonight and I really enjoyed it--it definitely exceeded my expectations. I haven't particularly loved other musicals based off kids' movies and if I hadn't read the comments on here about the pre-Broadway versions I may not have seen it. I would not have wanted to see a musical version of the movie with the sorcerer and such.

George53, I can see why you are a proud uncle! Your niece is crazy talented. I thought her performance was just lovely. At intermission I heard several people saying the whole cast was great but she was upstaging them all because she was so good :)

Caroline O'Connor and Josh Bolton were my other favorites. Their scene together in the second act was quite funny and she is just hilarious. Overall the cast was excellent.

I agree with Whizzer that it was entirely predictable but it didn't bother me. To me it was just a nice, heartwarming musical. It's not groundbreaking or revolutionary, but it's enjoyable without being too cartoonish or childish. (Although yes... a couple jokes went a bit overboard with the cheese factor.)

I find it interesting to read that in prior iterations there seemed to be a sense that Gleb's motivation was some sort of obsession with Anya. I wondered about that. There were just a few lines where it seemed like it was supposed to be some sort of love triangle but I wasn't sure if I was imagining that as t was not at all clear and I got that his primary motivation was the history of his father. I found the hint of a romantic obsession distracting but hopefully they're on the path to doing away with that--I think it was literally one or two minor lines that gave me that impression.

At times the projections were well-done and lovely. But at times they were way too busy for my non-millennial brain. The maps, for example, were distracting and didn't add anything because it's not like they actually told you where they were on their journey (nor did they need to). The whole scene on the train I went back and forth between trying to decide whether i liked it or not. It was realistic and it was cool how they synced it to the changed angle of the train, but sometimes it was a bit dizzying. But the vast majority of the audience was younger than me. Perhaps since "kids these days" are more accostomed to sensory overload it will work well for them. And if it works for their target audience, more power to them.

Lots of groups of teens in the audience and it seemed to be largely attracting tourists. I am no expert but I would think it would continue to do well with these crowds. The teens around me all loved it and were beaming. It also seems like it will be a candidate to be a popular choice for high schools to perform someday. Good solos for a few leads plus a chorus that could be a flexible size and opportunities to showcase talented dancers.



Overall is it my favorite musical this season? No. But it was a nice, pleasant, feel-good evening. And I teared up several times (which is something of a litmus test for me in terms of musicals... I tend to tear up whenever I am enjoying them!)

Updated On: 3/28/17 at 12:30 AM

WhizzerMarvin said: "The whole thing felt so bland and the plot (what little there was) just kept plodding along."

There's plenty of plot...

WhizzerMarvin said: "I actually don't think there's all that much plot, especially given the runtime. Remember the film is only 94 minutes and the musical has been stretched to 2:45. The story has become padded to the max.



"

Haha, I think we'll have to agree to disagree then

RippedMan said: "And an out of town tryout in Hartford just seemed odd too. Seems like they were trying to save some coin.



"

What do you mean by this?

RippedMan said: "And an out of town tryout in Hartford just seemed odd too. Seems like they were trying to save some coin.



"

What do you mean by this?

RippedMan said: "And an out of town tryout in Hartford just seemed odd too. Seems like they were trying to save some coin.



"

What do you mean by this?

I wholly preferred the musical Anya, but all things considered, this provided an acceptable evening's entertainment. Its structure and musical style evoke the musicals of the past, though emerging more as echoes of their predecessors than as full-bodied entities themselves. Indeed, as the evening progressed, the ghosts of such old friends as Anya, Kean, Tovarich, Gigi, Irene, and Cinderella seemed to make fleeting appearances on stage. As I loved all of those shows, I was certainly pleased to see them!

The book moves efficiently, but is short on both spark and sparkle. The meeting scene between Anya and her grandmother is a cut above the rest. The score is rather bland, but at least it's easy on the ears, which is a hell of a lot more than one can say for such musical clunkers as Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Amélie, Groundhog Day, and that pretentious tuneless bore to end all pretentious tuneless bores, Sunday in the Park With George.

I thought John Bolton used his comic skills to good effect, and it is always a pleasure to see Mary Beth Peil on stage.

The show is not so much vin ordinaire as fraises Romanoff with ordinary strawberries. Still, I'll take it any day over the castor oil forced down our throats at the above-named musicals this season.

If something is 'forced down your throat'-then one is usually physically restrained to do such a thing..

Were you strapped to your seat, made to attend against your wishes and only released when it was over?

Karimloo has a lovely voice and is a very handsome man, but I thought he underplayed the part a bit. As a Russia to Russia comparison, I thought Paul Alexander Nolan had a lot more fire and charisma as the bad guy in Dr. Z than Karimloo did in Anastasia.

The problem is his role of Gleb is not a strong one. He barely interacts with any of the characters, save Anya, and his actions have essentially no effect on the plot. You could completely remove his character and the events would unfold exactly the same way.

Has anyone won the lottery yet? Where are the seats? Thank you!

After Eight said: "The score is rather bland, but at least it's easy on the ears, which is a hell of a lot more than one can say for such musical clunkers as Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Amélie, Groundhog Day, and that pretentious tuneless bore to end all pretentious tuneless bores, Sunday in the Park With George."

While I can understand if you weren't a fan of Come From Away nor Dear Evan Hansen, many people will still disagree with you on that.