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nancybeth's review
3.0
The script for Anastasia was horrible. Cheesy with planted dialogue to force character development and plot movement. There were rarely good transitions and it puts actors in a difficult bind trying to act through the poor script. The animated film script was MUCH better and I don't understand why they didn't incorporate more of that dialogue. And some of the storyline changes weren't smart. Dmitry and Anastasia's romance is much stronger in the film. The musical's flimsy meeting as children and threadbare dialogue cheapened their connection. As for the larger themes, the characters' longing for imperialism over communism was a bit cringey. Don't take such a complicated subject like forms of government and try to turn it into a bittersweet nostalgia for classism. Any anti-imperialism content was expressed by the villain, who values equality and speaks some truth about how people deserve control over their lives. I was also uncomfortable with how the mass murder of children was sensationalized.
The music is the highlight and carries the show. There are a few new songs that stand up to the charm and musicality of the movie - In My Dreams, We'll Go From There (so good!), The Countess and the Common Man, and In a Crowd of Thousands. It was a brilliant move to have Journey to the Past be the Act 1 ending showstopper. But so many of the new songs are slow ballads that don't lend themselves to a fun musical. Overall, I was disappointed with the musical, but I am still glad I saw it, discovered some new songs, and could listen to the originals sung live.
The music is the highlight and carries the show. There are a few new songs that stand up to the charm and musicality of the movie - In My Dreams, We'll Go From There (so good!), The Countess and the Common Man, and In a Crowd of Thousands. It was a brilliant move to have Journey to the Past be the Act 1 ending showstopper. But so many of the new songs are slow ballads that don't lend themselves to a fun musical. Overall, I was disappointed with the musical, but I am still glad I saw it, discovered some new songs, and could listen to the originals sung live.
no_prince_here's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.75
Had to read for a Theatre Uni project and say what I’d do differently. I loved it overall, however there’s definitely ways to streamline this play and make it a bit more fast paced, and it doesn’t include cutting any of the songs, don’t worry. The reprises could be trimmed down a bit though.
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