Melbourne Reviews

It’s been almost 30 years since 20th Century Fox Animation premiered the fantastical film reimagining of the Romanov Dynasty and the lost Princess Anastasia, yet the story is as enticing as ever. Like many beloved animations of the 1990s (The Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast), these cherished childhood movies make an easy leap to the musical stage.

Anastasia, however, poses a more difficult transition. Based on a historical timeline that covers the fall of the Imperial Empire and the revolution that saw Russia become part of the Soviet Union, Anastasia isn’t exactly the fairytale story we’re used to seeing in animated films.

The film version is able to sidestep the tragic and devastating effects of the revolution by wrapping all of the complicated political issues into one villainous character, Rasputin. Rasputin is also based on a real person who influenced the royal court of Imperial Russia but, unlike the film, probably didn’t have a talking bat voiced by Hank Azaria.

In the Broadway musical, Rasputin is removed (and unfortunately Bartok, the wise-cracking bat), and the story adds in more historical context that references the darker issues of revolution, including the murders of the Romanovs and societal shifts. Walking a fine line between pantomime and social commentary, as a musical, Anastasia is trying to appeal to a broad audience.

Opening on the Dowager Empress, played by Nancye Hayes AM, and a five-year-old Princess Anastasia (performed by a rotating cast of Bibiana Brudan, Eleanor Flynn, Alyssa Fooks and Lillian Kinter) in 1906, the musical sets up the Dowager Empress’s departure to Paris, leaving a devastated Anastasia behind. Time moves quickly as the impending fall of the Romanovs reaches its tragic climax, and the audience is transported to 1926, where a young woman with amnesia named Anya is working as a street sweeper. Played to perfection by Georgina Hobson, her performance is both brave yet vulnerable as she navigates this new world.

Desperate to leave Russia, Anya approaches Dimitry (Robert Tripolino) and Vlad (Rodney Dobson) to illegally obtain documents and travel to Paris, where she believes she will find out who she is. Seizing the opportunity and Anya’s remarkable likeness to Princess Anastasia, Dimitry and Vlad agree to take Anya to Paris to meet the Dowager Empress (and collect the reward money for returning her granddaughter) and the hijinks ensue. Tripolino plays Dimitry with a street-rat Aladdin quality, more cheeky than conniving, and Dobson is delightfully charming as the ex-aristocrat, who despite being ethically flawed actually has a heart of gold.

The soundtrack by musical theatre royalty Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens is both highly entertaining and emotionally charged, moving between the joke-filled Learn to Do It and the Countess and the Common Man to the more serious The Neva Flows, performed with stoic resolution by Joshua Robson as the Soviet Officer Gleb.

As the musical reaches its final act, the audience is treated to an incredible performance by the one and only Rhonda Burchmore as Countess Lily Malevsky-Malevitch, who brings the house down with her trademark sass and unbelievable stamina. Burchmore brings a touch of Aussie royalty to the production, grounding it with practised expertise.

The bright and bubbly performances are directed by Darko Tresnjak, and the animated film’s costumes are brought to the stage with breathtaking effect by Linda Cho. The vocal performances by the cast are all incredibly supported, and the choreography by Peggy Hickey is effective without being overbearing.

With an opening night audience that spanned an age range of four to ninety years old, Anastasia tries to appeal to the nostalgic millennials who grew up on the cartoon and their children, while also giving older audiences a nod to the historical context and the general razzle-dazzle of musical theatre productions. And while it stumbles at times to achieve this, the musical does its best, giving audiences a little bit of everything in what is ultimately a joyful production.