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| Christy Altomare. All show photos by Joan Marcus |
These days, just about any show
that’s boarded gets some form of standing ovation, but on a recent Sunday when
I saw Anastasia up at Hartford Stage,
it was the first time I can remember that the audience was on its feet before the curtain went up for the
curtain call. Was the unbridled enthusiasm justified? Well, yes. Anastasia is a big, crowd-pleasing,
old-fashioned musical that doesn’t mind wearing its heart on its sleeve.
Blessed with a superb cast that Darko Tresnjak has directed with style and
aplomb, Anastasia, which is most
likely headed for Broadway, will make you smile and, perhaps, draw just a tear
or two from your eyes.
Scenic and projection designers, as
well as choreographers, are mostly mentioned at the end of reviews, often with
nothing more than an obligatory nod, but in the case of this production, these
folks deserve star billing. Let’s start with Alexander Dodge, who is
responsible for the lavish scenic design. Over the course of the evening he will
have you in St. Petersburg (in both the Tsar’s palace and on the streets where
revolution is brewing), take you for a ride on a train heading for Paris,
entrance you with a walk down a boulevard in the City of Lights, invite you to
a café that caters to Russian expatriates and even bring you to a performance
of Swan Lake, and these scenic
transitions are absolutely flawless. There’s not a moment wasted.
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| Traveling Sequence |
These scene establishments and
changes are enhanced by some of the best projections I have seen, all designed
by Aaron Rhyne. His work gives a cinematic feel to many of the scenes without
ever falling into the trap of trying to force the production to try to
accomplish what can be done on the screen. Of special note is his work for the
train-ride sequence – the train car itself is on a revolving platform and as it
turns, the perspective of the countryside rushing by also changes. Then there’s
the French forest that dissolves into a stunning view of the Paris
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| Mary Beth Peil as the Dowager Empress |
Finally, there’s Peggy Hickey’s
choreography, which embraces multiple styles. You’ll see Russian folk dances,
regal ballroom dancing, Jazz Age Charlestons and even classic ballet. It’s
inventive, smart choreography that’s totally in sync with the story being told
and the years the production spans (1907 – 1927)…and, she certainly knows how
to build a show-stopping number. Plus, watch for the deft “switch” early in the
first act as the scene changes from 1907 to 1917 – it’s still the tsar and the
nobility dancing the night away, but little Anastasia (Nicole Seimeca) becomes
a teenage Anastasia (Molly Rushing) – ten years covered in a single moment! I’m
sure there are more formal terms to describe the transition, but the most
appropriate one I can come up with is “Way cool!”
Okay, so what about the cast? Well,
you couldn’t ask for a finer collection of actors and dancers, starting with
the superb and totally beguiling Christy Altomare, who plays Anya, a young
woman suffering from amnesia who may just be the Princess Anastasia. When she
is on stage she simply owns it, which brings us to perhaps the only flaw in the
book by Terrence McNally, because for a long stretch of the second act (it
probably seemed longer than it was), Anya (read Altomore) is not on stage. By now,
the audience has grown to care for Anya, thanks to Altomore’s fine work, and
her absence is something of an emotional letdown, especially after her
first-act closing number, “Journey to the Past,” which brought down the house.
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| The Romanovs: Olga, Maria, Nicholas II, Alexandra, Anastasia, Alexi and Tatiana |
Standout performances abound. Derek
Klena, as Dmitry, Anya’s love interest, gives a heartfelt performance as a
commoner trying to find a way to make money off of the rumor that Princess
Anastasia survived the horrific slaughter of the Romanov family in
Yekaterinburg. Their characters’ love finally blossoms in the second act’s “In
a Crowd of Thousands.” Abetting Dmitry is John Bolton as Vlad Popov, also a
commoner with pretensions of nobility. Then there’s the marvelous Mary Beth Peil
as the Dowager Empress. Regal, yet riven by sorrow over the loss of her family
and besieged by young women claiming to be Anastasia, Peil gives a powerful yet
touching performance that culminates in a moving scene late in act two when she
interviews Anya.
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| Caroline O'Connor and John Bolton |
Supporting these lead efforts is
Manoel Felciano as Gleb, an apparatchik whose father was a guard at
Yekaterinburg and is now charged with killing the presumptive princess, the
tart Caroline O’Connor, who plays a countess who has become the dowager
empress’s secretary and yet likes to live for the moment, and the lithe and
lovely Lauren Blackman who does double duty as the tsarina and Isadora Duncan.
As you watch Anastasia, with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn
Ahrens, you may occasionally have a mind itch: doesn’t what you’re seeing make you
think of something else? Yes, it probably does, for there’s a bit of Fiddler on the Roof, My Fair Lady, Hello, Dolly! and even Thoroughly
Modern Millie in this production, but most musicals feed off prior
musicals, at least the successful ones. If you liked the scene in My Fair Lady when Eliza finally
understands how to speak properly about the rain in Spain, then you’ll like the
“Learn to Do It” number; if you liked “Thoroughly Modern Millie” then you’ll
like “Paris Holds the Key”; if you liked Dolly’s
“Put on Your Sunday Clothes” then you’ll like the “Traveling Sequence.”
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| Derek Klena, Altomore and Bolton |
Anastasia runs through June 19. For tickets or more information
call 860-527-5151 or go to www.hartfordtsage.org
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