#elna I know you don't care about this musical

[scarred-hope]

Things from the Anastasia musical that had me shook:

(and no one else cares about esp since everyone who might care has already seen it...)

So I finally got around to watching a bootleg of Anastasia, and I now want to cry about the staging/blocking/choreo in a public forum. So me literally screaming about the musical is below

1.The transition between child Anya and teen Anya was smoother than butter! One of the reasons I switched to a better quality graphic, was to really see it better. That entire dance sequence was super well choreographed. (Sidenote the choreo was slightly different between versions. The first bootleg I watched had a pantomime section from Anya to her dad missing from the one I watched all the way through)

2. The entire Russian Revolution sequence was also jawdropping. The camera legitimately made me wince, such a subtle yet powerful way to reference/foreshadow the death of the family. The red light and how the stage slowly lost characters: everyone to just the family, to just the youngest and the parents, to just Anya and then that transition! just had me 😲.

3. Actually every scene with the Romanovs just had me screaming! There was no time they were on stage that I wasn’t absolutely blown away! Alexei on the “swing” in “A Nightmare” and Anya being lifted up in “Once Upon a December” rank among my favorites. 

4. Maybe I just haven’t seen enough professional performances, but I’ve never seen a better use of digital projections. Granted it may have been also been because of the camera to my screen, but the projections never distracted me or seemed fake/out of place. They seamlessly blended into the set

5. So I want to talk about Gleb real fast. So I always like the inclusion of his character, but never liked Gleb and was confused about people shipping him and Anya. I thought there would be more to his character, like in dialogue and blocking. Oh boy, was I missing something. But instead of any good thing he did, I was missing him being a shitty person. He threatens Anya, and a group of prostitutes, and makes Anya feel super uncomfortable by touching her. His struggle in the first act is truly horny vs country. I now, more so than EVER, can’t understand how people ship him with Anya.

6. Speaking of Anya, I want to talk about her characterization. I had come into watching having seen interviews and posts with Christy. I know she is, like literally, a real-life Disney Princess. And I expected that to overrule any snark/teeth I got from Anya. And I have to apologize for doubting Christy’s acting ability because she’s a professional and Anya definitely had teeth in Act 1. (She earned her princess in Act 2). I was really impressed by “the Neva Flows Reprise”. There is a lot of really subtle stuff with flinches on top of her stated background line that sell and edgier Anya so well!

7. The blocking of “Stay, I Pray You” that mimics the end of the prologue is also some top tier shit! I just love that song so much!

8. I was fangirling the entirety of “We’ll Go From There”! The use of the train, as well as the movement of the trio throughout, was some of the most incredible choreography and staging I’ve ever seen. I cried because of it. I already liked the song, but now I LOVE it!

9. I don’t know why, but I was not expecting the whole ‘art imitates life’ bit with the ballet in Quartet at the Ballet. I kinda missed it with Dimitri singing after the prince’s entrance, but Gleb singing with Rothbart’s got its own little squeal. 

10. Back to me screaming about anytime the Romanov’s were on stage: “Still/ The Neva Flows Reprise” gets its own special mention. I just can’t with this scene. The identical stances, how the audience doesn’t ultimately see the family get shot. Even the fact that a photoshoot between Anya and her grandmother happened directly before. I’m pretty sure this bit also made me cry. I just have no words for how much I loved it. 

11. I actually hadn’t heard the “Finale” before as I was saving it for when I watched it. I’m happy I did that. I really liked the finale. Her grandmother was definitely characterized much more in the musical than in the movie, especially with this song. I love the idea of cementing Anastasia as this legendary person, tying back to both Gleb’s and Dimitri’s usage of “fairytale”. And again, the Romanovs were there, so I was going feral. 

Quick shoutout to all the songs that couldn’t make it onto the album that I heard for the first time, especially “A Nightmare”.

1000/10, would recommend, to be clear I did cry.