In “Anastasia — The Musical,” a Russian princess takes a trip from St. Petersburg to Paris.
Now the show itself is assured an adventurous journey of its own — leaping from Hartford Stage to New York City’s Broadway.
When “Anastasia” had its world premiere at Hartford Stage May 12 through June 19, a move to Broadway was already in the cards. It has been known for months that “Anastasia” would be on Broadway sometime during the 2016-17 season, at a theater run by the Shubert Organization. On June 27, the show’s producers revealed the specific theater where the show will play — The Broadhurst, at 235 West 44th St. — and when it will have its first performance there: April 24, 2017.
The historic Broadhurst Theater turns 100 years old next year. Shows that have premiered there include “Cabaret,” “Amadeus,” “The Sunshine Boys,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and “Fosse.” A revival of “The Front Page,” starring Nathan Lane, will be at the theater this fall, prior to “Anastasia” arriving in April.
A press release from the New York publicists of “Anastasia” notes that four lead players from the Hartford Stage cast will reprise their roles in the Broadway production: Christy Altomare will again play Anya (aka the lost princess Anastasia); Derek Klena as the trickster-turned-love-interest Dmitry, John Bolton as the comical scoundrel Vlad Popov and Caroline O’Connor as Countess Lily Malevsky-Malevitch, who gets some big numbers in the show’s second act.
Notably absent from that list is Mary Beth Peil, who portrayed the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna at Hartford and was the best-known star in that cast. The producers note that “additional casting will be announced soon.”
“Anastasia” is based on two films that shaped the popular real-life legend that a daughter of Czar Nicholas II survived when the rest of the family was executed in 1918 at the outset of the Russian revolution. Both films — a 1956 drama starring Ingrid Bergman and Yul Brynner, and a 1997 cartoon feature — turned the story into a romance. The musical adds some new political and historical elements, and uses some songs from the animated version, though much of the script (by Terrence McNally) and most of the score (by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens) is fresh.
The show is directed by Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak. A previous musical that Tresnjak staged in Hartford before it went to Broadway, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” won four Tony Awards, including best musical and best director.
