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beyondthegoblincity · 2 years

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Anastasia Second National Tour Thoughts (May 2022 Detroit performance)

I saw the Anastasia 2NT when it came to Detroit in early May. Here are my longwinded thoughts on my experience, including changes made for the tour, thoughts on the lead Anya and Dmitry, and whatever else comes to mind. Please note I am very blunt about what I like/don’t like, if you really don’t want to hear those things, this is not the post for you.

The Overall Production

So, biggest thing first: the show I saw was missing an entire ensemble member. During Dance of the Romanovs, only two sisters came out, and for a moment I wondered if the 2NT actually cut down the sisters but I double checked the playbill and all three (plus Anastasia, so 4 total) were listed. Throughout the show, it was obvious that a woman ensemble member was missing.

There was always a man without a partner, at one point the man without a partner was essentially tossed in with a different pairing, making the choreography triple. There were only two little swans during Swan Lake. Etc.

The show had to cancel its' first two Detroit shows due to COVID cases, and I believe three ensemble members made their debut on 5/6's evening show. Presumably the cast is stretched thin, and uh, it was definitely something to see the show like this. Was it obvious to people who hadn't ever seen the show? I don't think so. No one I saw it with mentioned anything. But if you were watching like I was, or you specifically knew the show was supposed to have 3 swans, all of OTMA, etc, then you might have noticed the details.

The Second National tour has made changes to the staging. This includes reducing the overall complexity (what complexity there was) of the Broadway and 1NT tour staging.

Staging differences + Actor Breakdowns below the Keep Reading!

Some differences between the 2NT and old 1NT:

No train set piece.

Instead, there is a projection of the outline of the old bare-bones train car, and the cast line up their suitcases between the train car projection and sit in rows. The train car projection rotates to "side view" during the song, and the cast moves so that they are spaced out while Dmitry, Anya and Vlad do their bits. Vlad had more room to walk around and be silly here, which was nice and I did like that you could pay more attention to the trio while they were singing.

But the train projection looked a lot lower quality compared to the other projections in the show and it was not very wide, so that unless you were sitting center, it looked rather silly. If they are using a projection, why bother with that "skeleton" car? The point of the skeleton car in the original production was so you could see the actors inside it. If you're using a projection, make it wider and just make it an actual train interior at that point. What are you doing, what are your choices, Anastasia 2NT?

No turntable.

Actors just danced around Anya and Dmitry in the end. I don’t’ know if the stage had any automation, actors moved various set pieces on/off. But I can’t really remember what was/wasn’t automated on Broadway or the 1NT, aside from having the turntable.

-That center back panel, the one used for the windows in Close the Door (where little Anastasia pops in and out) and for the Romanov execution effect in The Neva Flows Reprise, was gone.

Instead there was a digital screen with digital windows/projections in its place. One square of the digital projections in the back kept blinking to black during Dance of the Romanovs; it wasn't even an entire panel, so it was just like this random chunk of the scene kept flickering. Thankfully that was the only time the projections were messed up.

Little Anastasia did not come out during Close the Door and there’s nothing in front of the Romanovs during the NF Reprise.

I do not know if this is normal, or if because of the cast shuffling that she didn't come out for some reason. If anyone has seen the 2NT and can confirm if she doesn't come out normally, that'd be great. The Romanovs were there for the background scene in The Neva Flows Reprise, but they were just... there, behind Anya and Gleb. Would have been a good time to put down a mesh screen or something to give them the "otherworldly" effect that you get from seeing them from behind the panels.

Little things missing on stage.

No throne for Anya to hide behind, only one sofa for the Dowager Empress in Close the Door. Key props are still there (the ugly doll, God, the ugly doll!) but the set feels less textured. Though it really wasn't all that textured to begin with, but, removing things like this makes it feel more bare during certain scenes.

Thoughts on the Actors

Before I continue, let me preface with my very blunt opinion about Lila Coogan's Anastasia, since I saw her live during the first national tour: Her acting was bad. I did not like it, at all. She barely reacted to other actors on stage, instead keeping herself closed off and in her own world, like she was waiting for their mouths to stop moving so she could say her lines. Whenever she was on stage, I dreaded her scenes with other characters. Overall, because Anya is obviously a massive part of the show, I left the first national tour feeling less than enthused.

Kyla Stone as Anastasia

Kyla Stone is proof at how much having a competent actor can absolutely change how you experience a show. While I do have misgivings about the overall production, none of them are related to Kyla Stone and her performance. Unlike with Lila Coogan, I never dreaded a moment with her on stage--except frustration at Brendon Delgado's lackluster performance in their scenes together, more on that later. She and Sam McLellan as Dmitry developed believable chemistry, and it was so refreshing and so much more fun to see the show with a good Anya.

Now, I'm not wild about some of her choices--Anya in The Neva Flows Reprise just sobbing and running away for most of the song never does it for me, though unlike Lila, at least I felt like Stone's Anya was actually upset here rather than mimicking emotion.

Sam McLellan as Dmitry

Sam McLellan as Dmitry comes as close as one can to cracking the unlikable coconut that is stage!Dmitry. It was almost disconcerting, and I don't know how to explain that. It was like most of the stage!Dmitry's flaws, which still exist in the writing, were smoothed over by his performance.

It's different from my views on Stephen Brower's Dmitry--which was "he made this unlikable character work, and he made Dmitry fascinating, and I will forever think about his expressions during In a Crowd of Thousands which almost seemed like he regretted telling Anya his story because he found it gross that she was taking his personal memory and using it."

Instead, it's like... Dmitry just clicked. I didn't find myself rolling my eyes at him being an asshole to Anya, because his performance (and Stone's chemistry with him) didn't make him feel like such an asshole. The line "This is the first time you've paid me a compliment" from Anya didn't make me think "YES, AND THAT'S A PROBLEM." Instead it felt like she said it in jest, because McLellan's Dmitry does not have the dickish inherent nature of other stage Dmitry's.

He felt looser, a bit guarded, but not serious when he's bantering with Anya. It felt more fun. Looking back, I never once thought to myself: "Dmitry is a dick and this show made him an unlikable ass" like I typically do in other productions. Instead he just... worked. It wasn't until the scene between him and the Dowager Empress that I remembered my misgivings about the writing in full, and even then, McLellan's Dmitry was so much more charming and earnest (even though the writing shouldn't let him come across this way) that the Dmitry + Empress scene didn't make me want to wring the script out as much as it normally does.

Added Anya and Dmitry Interactions

I think a lot of this shift in how Dmitry is perceived is because the second national tour's apparent added stage directions for Anya/Dmitry, which I *think* are new stage directions and not just personal choices on part of the actors. There were lots of added micro-interactions that made it way more obvious that these two characters had chemistry, from as early as Learn to Do It. Longer gazes, not unpleasant looks between them, more laughter, jests. Anya elbowing Dmitry when he teases her, but laughing herself.

There is added scene on the train where Anya stumbles and Dmitry catches her. When Anya and Dmitry dance during "Learn to Do It," they had a moment where they looked at each other with fascination and kindness. Anya stepping on his toes was accidental the first time, on purpose the second--but Stone makes it silly and funny, and McLellan's Dmitry was more exasperated than pissed.

For the first time since I've seen any version of this show, bootleg and otherwise, Vlad's line "I never should have let them dance" actually made sense. Because their chemistry and growing feelings started in that song, and not just "Dmitry is a dick for 95% of the show, er, wait I guess he loves Anya now."

I may be wrong in my assumption that these are new directions for all the actors, if anyone has seen the other actors in these roles and got a totally different vibe more akin to what we've seen before, I'd love to know.

Brandon Delgado as Gleb

Brandon Delgado is... uh. There as Gleb, and I say this as a massive fan of the character and all the hidden potential within. He just didn't seem to care at all, didn't connect despite all the energy Kyla was giving him on stage, and he kept doing odd gestures with his eyes--closing them repeatedly, rolling them up--that were genuinely off putting.

He let no dialogue breathe, and the woman next to me actually let out a laughing scoff in her throat during The Neva Flows Reprise when he suddenly rammed his gun onto Kyla's lower shoulder, then dropped down WAY too fast, within a second, without letting the moment breathe at all.

Instead of a sense that Gleb changed his mind, it was a sense of chaotic directionless mania. Gleb just... rushed at her, then oop, never mind.

His voice was solid, lovely, but his diction was not great, muddled with again, no sense of wanting any scenes to breathe. I did like his initial interaction with Anya, but it seemed like once he got singing The Neva Flows, his character just took off on a balloon and floated away from everyone else.

So many reviews single out Delgado as providing a great performance, so I don’t know if I saw him on a really off day or what. But he just didn’t do it for me.

Bryan Seastrom as Vlad

Bryan Seastrom was good as Vlad. I thought he had a very interesting reading of "He's a dead man on both counts" at the train station, it was a lot more serious than other Vlads that I've seen and it gave the scene a lot more initial weight. It also led nicer into the beginning of Stay I Pray You, because the audience was not flipping right from "one-liner" to "sad song about leaving your homeland from a character destined to die."

I didn’t care for the way that he took the “Vlad looking at the Romanov portrait and seemingly recognizing that Anya has Romanov characteristics” and made it more of a joke. He looked at the photo, seemed to study it, then got Dmitry’s attention and mouthed something like “THIS IS THE ONE” and made an “ok/we got it” symbol with his fingers. I don’t remember that happening on the 1NT when I saw it, but maybe it’s been part of the staging with other actors and I just didn’t know.

Personally I prefer the more serious, photo-to-heart reaction that I saw on the 1NT. But I am also a person who laments the removal of Gleb’s “your eyes, a man could look right into them… be careful comrade, they’ll give you away!” line, so there’s that.

Elizabeth Ritacco as Lily

Elizabeth Ritacco (swing) was on for Lily. She was fun, fine, much more youthful in appearance than other Lilys I've seen and it gave her a different vibe. She and Seastrom played off very well with one another, which is a must. I feel bad for not having more to say. She was fine, snappy, had a commanding, lounging aristocrat presence.

Christian McQueen as Ipolitov

His performance was so good that I have to mention it here. I do recommend checking out the 2nt Stay I Pray You audio to hear his version, because wow. It was just so different. The show basically seems to have given him carte blanche to do his own thing, and it has really stuck with me ever since I saw it. It was so aching and raw in a different way than the traditional way actors perform the song. I don't know if Ipolitov did this on Broadway or the 1NT because I can't remember, but he stayed until the end of the song, giving Anya a farewell blessing. Stone's Anya crossed herself after receiving it.

Overall Thoughts

The show’s writing still has major issues. Major, serious “I can and have ranted for hours about them” issues.

However, seeing the show with competent Anya and Dmitry actors who seem to understand these issues and smooth them over by creating great chemistry out of acting choices within a highly flawed script made SUCH a difference to a serious degree. By contrast, the odd choices made by Delgado during this performance and his seeming lack of “give-a-fuck” during the show I saw made Gleb’s scenes boring, pointless, and unfortunately since that climactic scene at the end rests on having a compelling Gleb, it just sort of… happened.

But I will say this, overall:

I left the first national tour critically thinking about all the show’s structural and narrative problems, and mentally affirming that the show is poorly written.

I left the second national tour wishing I was able to catch the show again before the tour left. My niece, as we were pulling out of the lot, sighed and lamented: “I wish we were still inside watching the show.” And with this particular cast, I can’t say I disagreed.

#anastasia #anastasia musical #anastasia tour #kyla stone #theater reviews #theater

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