Anastasia: Disney Gone Wrong by Jacob Khabie

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 Anastasia: Disney gone wrong

By Jacob Khabie


Going into Anastasia, I had little background knowledge of what I was about to see, aside from the stellar reviews I heard surrounding the film and source material for the show. What I saw, however, was a vague attempt at a Disney-esque show that left me feeling quite disappointed.


Based on the 1997 film of the same name, Anastasia follows amnesiac orphan Anya (Kyla Stone) on a journey to rediscover who she really is. Joined by two con men, the trio journey across 1920’s Russia and to Paris in a Disney-like fashion, bringing each of them to explore their own identities and find the ones they truly love.


Saying that Kyla Stone carries this production of Anastasia would be an understatement. In a show otherwise filled with tacky acting, poor set design, and repetitive songs, Stone brings a perfect combination of charisma and naivety to the titular role of Anya. Additionally, songs like “In My Dreams” and “Journey to the Past” perfectly suit Stone’s powerful vocals, a stunning combination of Disney princess and Broadway beltress. The only other actor that truly compares to Stone in this show is Madeline Raube’s Countess Lily. Raube provided stellar comedic timing and outstanding vocals to the show’s second act, creating a missed opportunity for more Countess Lily in Act 1. The rest of the acting in the show was not necessarily horrible, but the inconsistencies among principal characters left me feeling annoyed. For example, Sam McLellan’s Dmitry felt more like a newsboy than a conman, and Brandon Delgado’s Gleb seemingly could not decide whether or not he had a Russian accent. 


My biggest bone to pick with Anastasia lies in Alexander Dodge’s set design, which heavily relies on three large LED screens. While I am not totally opposed to a digital set, and I understand that touring productions may need to limit the intricacies of their productions, the set of Anastasia completely took me out of the show. Using LED screens for a show set in the 1920s was a poor choice on behalf of Dodge and the rest of the creative team. The only logical rationale that could justify a digital set would be a call back to the original film, but the backdrops used made this show look less like a film and more like an early 2000s video game.


This is not to say that Anastasia is a complete creative flop, however. Linda Cho’s Tony nominated costumes steal the show, as she perfectly pulls off the outfits of both a glamorous Tsarina and a Russian peasant. Cho’s costumes were perfectly made for the stage and for the time period of the show; I couldn’t keep my eyes off of them. In a show full of ballet, jazz, and regular musical-theater-style dancing, Bill Burns’s choreography allows actors to flawlessly pull off all three styles of dance with ease. The Swan Lake sequence towards the middle of Act 2 was particularly breathtaking, as Burns was able to choreograph a sequence that showed amazing parallelism between the ballet dancers and the principal characters. 


Overall, Anastasia was a mixed bag. While a few aspects of the show truly excelled, other aspects felt lazy and half-hearted. It is clear that the target audience for this show is either children, or those craving for a few drops of childhood nostalgia. Regardless of why one might see this show, Anastasia is nearly guaranteed to leave audiences unsatisfied.

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