Anastasia, the musical, premiered on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre in April 2017, and has since had countless productions worldwide. One such production will be here at OCSA! Come see the middle school Drama department’s take on Anastasia on March 20 and 21 in the OPAC Theater from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM. Admission to this tale of discovering truth and finding family is $10 on MySchoolBucks or at the door.
The musical is based on the old animations of a young woman named Anya who suffers from amnesia. She becomes allies with a conman and ex-aristocrat to unveil the mystery of her past. The plot follows a reward from Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna to anyone who safely returns her granddaughter, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaeva of Russia, who is rumored to have survived the execution of her family. Years later, Anya seems to bear some resemblance to the Grand Duchess and uses that as an advantage.
For middle school Drama majors, the early production of Anastasia is looking good! Wendy Alvarez, also known as Anya, says, “I’m close with most people in this classroom and because I really love this musical and it’s my first lead, I feel really good about it.” This is also her first time being part of an OCSA production; most of her acting experience comes from fulfilling roles at Osceola Arts.
Lara Moreira plays another lead role and describes the development of her character, “He wants money, he wants the reward, but then he falls in love with Anastasia.” Dimitri is the son of a chef who used to work at the palace and when the Nikolaeva family was executed, he lost his father as collateral damage, but he still remembers Anastasia. Moreira observes her fellow cast members, “I think everyone’s feeling pretty excited for the show.”
The actor for Count Leopold, Jude Downey, can attest to Moreira’s statement with his enthusiasm. Downey explains how he gets intro character, “I usually like to find out what their favorite color would be, what their favorite song would be… and songs they would listen to.”
The songs from Anastasia are known for how memorable they are, “There’s so many songs that I love but I think ‘In a Crowd of Thousands’ is really good, ‘Land of Yesterday’ even though I don’t sing in that is really, really good,” Moreira says. “And ‘Learn To Do It’ is just a classic.”
“My favorite song is probably ‘Journey to the Past,‘ because it was our audition song so I’m most familiar with and also it’s just really beautiful,” Alvarez describes the song as “sentimental because this is the moment in the show where she’s going to find out if she’s a princess and if she’ll meet her family.”
Downey, whose favorite song is “Land of Yesterday,” finds Anastasia’s story really interesting. Moreira adds on, “the DreamWorks movie doesn’t really show the actual story.” The musical provides a closer look at who these characters are and how their lives change from beginning to end.
Wendy Alvarez makes a final comment, “The meaning of the show is something that applies to everyone, it is finding yourself.” As for Anastasia, the musical can soon be found in the OPAC Theater with tickets already available on MySchoolBucks.
