The Musical, Anastasia, was breathtaking and beautiful
Anastasia has a rich background. The original movie is about Russia during a time of communist revolution in 1918. The play is inspired by the true story of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, who was born on June 18th in 1901, and died on the 17th of July 1918 by assassination.
Performance
The performance started off with the orchestra which set the scene. The costumes left quite the impression on the audience. Anastasia, played by Savanna Slater, had multiple dresses and outfits throughout the play, but the most notable would be her long blue dress that is decorated with pearls. Her last costume was a red ball gown with a silver-bedazzled neckline. Countess Lily, played by Lauren Olsen, had a beautiful green silk dress, and the ballet dancers had a gorgeous black and white theme . While the other characters were decked out in suits and attire from the 1920 and late 1990’s. The prosthetic and makeup used on the queen also made the play just that more realistic!
Anastasia was an incredible play, which was brought to life by the dedication of the cast, crew, directors, musicians and dancers put into this performance . In the first Part, we have young Anastasia, who is played by technical director, Mrs. Obray’s daughter, Presley Obray. Presley Obray allowed for them to show more flashback scenes. For example, when Anastasia is troubled about her past and she starts to remember her life in the palace, young Anastasia dances around, and when she finally made some connection to her past, their hands would touch. Resembling the connection made between her lost past and her present.
The scenes representing the disaster that overtook Anastasia’s life and caused her to lose her memory were paired with beautiful dance performances. Each major life event was accompanied with great dance numbers as well.
When young Anastasia is regaining her memory, it was performed with silhouettes interpreting the haziness of her state of mind, but pertained to obvious memories of her parents.
(silhouettes)
Anastasia was an incredible play, which was brought to life by the dedication of the cast, crew, directors, musicians and dancers put into this performance . In the first Part, we have young Anastasia, who is played by technical director, Mrs. Obray’s daughter, Presley Obray. Presley Obray allowed for them to show more flashback scenes. For example, when Anastasia is troubled about her past and she starts to remember her life in the palace, young Anastasia dances around, and when she finally made some connection to her past, their hands would touch. Resembling the connection made between her lost past and her present.
The scenes representing the disaster that overtook Anastasia’s life and caused her to lose her memory were paired with beautiful dance performances. Each major life event was accompanied with great dance numbers as well.
When leaving to go to Paris, the train scene was super fun to watch because they were moving around their actual carts on stage.
(train carts)
In the second part, we see the Countess Lily go to a speakeasy(which is an underground bar that was prominent during a time of old prohibition) where the ensemble performed a break-dance. Then the performance transitioned into a ballet performance. This was capped off with a heart wrenching performance, sung by Lauren Olsen.
The play was successful thanks to the great directors, cast and crew, and special performance by the orchestra for each song, which brought the performance to life with great music. Every small detail to the background sets and eye catching costumes.
