Anastasia the Musical

Anastasia the Musical

Anastasia the Musical
4.5
Theater & Performances
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Duration: 2-3 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles282 reviews
Excellent
209
Very good
56
Average
10
Poor
2
Terrible
5

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Kathleen H
Calgary32 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2023
Perhaps my review is a bit harsh because I had just seen The Lion King in London, but comparison, this is an inferior experience. However, it was still very enjoyable. I saw Anastasia on tour in March 2023, and I absolutely loved both young and old Anastasia, her grandmother, Vlad, and the new antagonist, Glen. Wow. Dimitri started strong, but I felt like he could have brought more in the second act. The Lily character was really interesting and so different from the cartoon, I like the new style and personality, but I felt the actress was the best casting choice. There was a significant departure from the animated film and I wasn’t prepared for the differences, I was expecting Rasputin and “In the dark of the night” but I really liked the new direction of Communist Russia and the comrades coming for Anastasia. Glen was perfectly cast and his parts were thrilling. However, the climatic scene when he finally confronts Anastasia seemed out of character for both – didn’t she fight her way there, and fight off drunks with a stick in an earlier scene? Why is she being so docile now? What was the catalyst that made them both just give in? It didn’t make sense. For other songs, they were adapted to fit into other parts, what she sings in the snow outside St. Petersburg is now sung at the end of Act 1, and it’s really moving. I really, truly enjoyed the Russian night club and the dancing, that was a fun addition and surprise. But some of the other additions seemed to slow the pace too much. A lot of the scenes seem to be two characters sitting on a bed, a bench, just looking at each other. Back dancers would have made this so much more spectacular. The lighting and props were really fun, the movement and stage illuminating was enthralling. Wardrobe in Act II was so magical and enchanting – I absolutely loved all of the Act 11 outfits! Act 1, it makes sense for clothing to be more drab, I actually liked the peasants clothes, and Vlad, Dimitri, and Anastasia’s clothes. However, the white immaculate dressings of the Romanovs didn’t show well under the theatre lights. More contrasting hues would have been better, though it helped them to look ghastly later on. This was a really fun time, a really wonderful event. I just wish it had stayed a bit truer to the film in some ways, and spiced up some of the choreographing during some of the duets.
Written March 6, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Barbara C
Estes Park, CO23 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2019
I saw this production in Denver at the Buell Theatre. The set was brilliant, offering quick scene changes and wonderful color schemes. The special effects were well executed with just the right amount of drama to convey what was happening inside and outside the palace, yet not dwell on the horrors of the revolution. The music was quite enjoyable, and although I didn't come away humming any particular melody as I can often do with a musical, the music was very well suited to the storyline and the action on stage. The script was historically accurate, too.
Written March 11, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

lisaeI6934HR
Fairfax17 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2018
My adult daughter and I went to see Anastasia on Broadway. We expected the story from the movie when she was a kid. This is NOT a young child appropriate show. It was dark and showed communists pointing guns at children. We watched parents with elementary aged children squirming in frustration, covering their eyes and were mortified. Having said that we enjoyed the show as a historical piece that showed the devastation caused by the Russian Revolution. The music was wonderful and the acting terrific.
Written June 17, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Alessia C
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2025 • Friends
Very detached from the animated film. All that remains is the gist of the story or his move from Russia to Paris because he has to visit his grandmother and the fact that Dimitri is looking for her. Stop it. The rest is completely different. Poor set design. I expected a lot more. Scenes either cut or reversed or not understood. Not disappointed by 0 but 4/5 yes.
Automatically translated
Written January 5, 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Tailin
Monroe, NY3 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2018 • Friends
I was severely disappointed by the stage reinterpretation of the excellent Fox animated film from 1997. My expectations going in were high. Having experienced the excellent stage productions of the Lion King and Aladdin, I was anticipating an excellent adaptation. The advertising had heavily emphasized the classic score, furthering my belief that this would be a nostalgic experience. I feel this is purposeful deception and a misrepresentation of what the play actually is.

For the first few moments of the play I kept waiting to see the eerie green light of the necromantic Rasputin but quickly understood that this play was not going to be the faithful adaptation I’d been expecting. For some reason, the screenplay abandons all elements of magic and mysticism in favor of a more realistic but infinitely less interesting antagonist in the form of the Bolshevik government. There would be no animated Pegasus battle on a collapsing bridge to look forward to. No vortex of demonic spirits to assault Rasputin when Anastasia gains the upper hand. Instead, there would be Gleb, a Russian soldier as uninteresting as his name implies working through his unresolved daddy issues.

Even setting aside the massive disappointment of half of the animated film’s plot being tossed out the window, the play suffered for a number of other issues. The first is that the play features 16 new songs which is far too many. Most of the dialogue serves as a bridge from song to song and those songs, while fine on their own, don’t do anything to move the plot forward (like the numbers in Wicked for example) and quickly gain the feeling of “filler” to pad out the play’s runtime. Another issue with the new songs is that several feature sections of counterpoint but the different parts compete with each other and make it hard to understand anything that is being sung.

From the very beginning I was struck by how the performers seemed to be focused more on the audience than on the other characters on stage. I know that’s fairly common but it seemed to be much more present here. The frequent musical numbers hide much of this but when the orchestra drops away and the dialogue begins again, it’s off-putting. I thought it was just me at first but others around me noticed as well.

The set and A/V design for Anastasia is superb, with 3 rotating floor sections allowing for incredible scene changes. Multiple dazzling screens help complete the illusion as the stage transforms from a palace, to an office, to the streets of St. Petersburg seamlessly. The excellence of the technology exhibited only makes it more disappointing however. I can easily picture the screens depicting menacing green demons harassing the protagonists across the stage. The left and right turntables swivel to reveal a massive Pegasus puppet battling Dimitri on one side while Anastasia grapples with Rasputin on the other. Ultimately Rasputin’s source of magic is shattered by the heroine and a whirlwind of demons erupts across the massive backdrop screen to finish off the villain.

All things considered, at best I can say the play was just OK. The new songs were decent and the cast serviceable but with ticket prices as high as they are for this show, you’re really better off giving it a pass and treating yourself to the animated version of the tale instead.
Written June 17, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Alena B.
Charlotte, NC1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2018 • Friends
The show was exquisite. However, my issue is not about the show itself. Unfortunately, my experince at a show on November 28 2 pm was ruined by a very rude bar manager Jason.

When i tried to get a bottle of water in the intermission, it was about 7 minutes left till the second act, he refused me in a rudest way.

Jason, the bar manager told me in a abrupt and condenscending tone, as if something I asked was inappropriate: “the bar is closed, the show is about to start.” And it was still 7 minutes till the beginning of the show. I was surprised at a mean demenour at such a tasteful venue, and tried again and I asked ( politely again): can I just get a bottle of water for cash? (Seeing some bottles at the reach of his hand, knowing it would not take nore than 10 seconds literally to perform this transaction). And he responded with even more condensending tone of voice, “No! You can’t get anything. That’s what “the bar is closed” means.
I was shocked and felt like this should not be happening at a theatre and a classy environment.
Therefore, I felt I had to tell him: “You don’t have to be so rude to your customers”
To which Jason responded that if I would like to be escorted out of show by security, he can arrange that.
That was so insulting.
I then proceeded downstairs to use a bathroom (now it was about 5 minutes before the show), and I saw a second bar there. I asked a female bartender there whether I could get a bottle of water for cash, since I just grabbed a $5 bill with me. She said “Sure, it’s $6”. I thanked her and said that I didn’t have enough. When I exited the bathroom, I walked past this bar downstairs again, there was Jason standing there - he must have ran down downstairs to tell his coworker not to sell me anything. Seeing me he said to his co-worker nodding in my direction: “There she is” to which the second bartender responded: “She did not have enough money anyway”, and he said: “That’s funny”

I feel like this should not be happening at venues like this, and theatres should be picking out staff that is more friendly and polite.

Thank you for taking your time to read my review.
Written November 29, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

LynseyGr
Manchester, UK66 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2017 • Friends
Wow! This show is fantastic, the costumes, staging and performers were amazing! I loved it!
However, just as a pre warning to anyone, we booked these tickets last minute online using tele charge whilst we were in New York. We found tickets for the Box seats on the right side, front box D, seats 1-2 (you can fit 4 seats in a balcony). These seemed like great seats and they were not cheap, so we assumed they would be great value for money, during purchase it did not say anywhere that these seats would be restricted view, we really wanted to see the show so we went ahead and purchased them.

Following the purchase I received an email on the day of the show to say that "the box seats contain moveable chairs on the EXTREME sides of the theatre", it stated that the majority of the action happens on the centre of the stage but we would miss several minutes of action throughout the performance.
Talk about an understatement, when we arrived our seats were in position so that 2 other people could join us in the box and sit behind, we could not move the seats without removing the other chairs, this was obviously not possible as other people needed to share the box with us. One of our seats included a lovely view of a very large black speaker that blocked around 80% of the stage, including the middle! So not only were several minutes of the show not visible, it was most of the show!

Avoid these seats at all costs, luckily we ended up being the only 2 in the box so we had to move our seats one behind the other right over to the very left hand side of the box, practically hanging over the edge to even see the middle.
So beware as they only tell you this information after you have ordered and paid for the tickets!
Written May 13, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

catmdino
Midlothian, VA44 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2019
I had an amazing time seeing Anastasia the Musical. I grew up with the movie, and though not made by Disney, the music and characters were amazing. The musical was slightly different and had a slightly different story (which I will not give away), but I really enjoyed it and I thought it brought a good historical aspect surrounding Russian History. The sets were beautiful and the music was amazing. Anyone who loved the movie should definitely see the play.
Written May 22, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

LouisM565
New York City, NY604 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2019 • Couples
In Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1917 Princess Anastasia escapes an invasion of the palace by the Bolsheviks. 10 years later two con artists (Dmitry and an ex-member of the Imperial Court named Vlad Popov) search for an imposter who they intend to groom to become Anastasia in order to extract the reward being offered by her family who now reside in France. During their auditioning Anya wanders in. The con artists are amazed by her resemblance to Anastasia and are excited that she has a memory loss. She is chosen to play Anastasia, and the trio proceeds to France. Anya is indeed Anastasia; the con artists refuse the reward particularly because Dimtry is in love with Anastasia.

One leaves the theatre not knowing if the story is fact or fiction, the songs were breathtaking, the singing was magnificent, the set designs were of the highest standard and the transition of them was seamless, the costumes were exquisite and perfect for the time period. Anastasia is a wonderful show that kept my attention throughout.

We saw Anastasia performed by a touring group. Their performance was comparable to that of Broadway. Many in the troop had Broadway experience.
Written May 16, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

HappyHikerGirl
Madison, NJ464 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2018 • Friends
STORY: Do you know the animated film Anastasia? Well, if you loved that story, you will enjoy the Broadway show. There are slight variations to the story - instead of Rasputin we have a Russian solider as the antagonist. There are new songs, but the story line is generally the same. I went with a friend who also grew up loving the animated film. For late 30s-early 40s ladies, we LOVED IT :-P I was surprised there weren't more children in the audience.

SEATS: We sat in Orchestra: Row E, seats 107 & 108. Great seats. Also, the show is generally less expensive than other Broadway shows.

SET: I wasn't enamored with the digitized sets. One of the reasons I love Broadway shows are the elaborate sets. The second half of the show has more sets, but I am not a fan of projecting images on a screen... That's just me...
Written September 3, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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