By Emma Krasov
To some purists, reworking this morbid piece of bloody Russian history into entertaining format might seem classless (pardon the pun), but hey, the Broadway show was admittedly inspired by the Disney-Fox 1997 musical animation which in turn followed a 1956 screen drama with Ingrid Bergman, which was inspired by a play depicting Anna Anderson, one of the many Anastasia impostors vying for the Romanovs’ imperial fortune, or whatever’d left of it following the Bolshevik rebellion of 1917, a.k.a. the Great October Socialist Revolution.
Unfortunately, the real Grand Duchess of Russia at the age of 17 has been executed with revolutionary bullets and bayonets along with the entire royal family in a basement of Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, and her continuously developing story, even more unfortunately, morphed from a rooted in factual happenings impostor account into a wildly fantastical version of real Anastasia’s presumed survival and the following fairy tale of her happy life and romance in the 1920th Paris (book by Terrence McNally, director Darko Tresnjak).
This reporter finds referencing the sources somewhat useful for the demonstratively enthusiastic San Francisco audience whose knowledge of historical events that happened a century ago at a remote location sometimes appear insufficient comparing to magical thinking and ubiquitous readiness to accept a beautifully packed hoax.
And beautifully packed it is! Lila Googan (as Anya) has a strong voice, and confidently holds a long note concluding “Journey to the Past” hit song, written in a haste and rehearsed amid late-night exhaustion, as Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics) humorously admit in their interview, originally published on Playbill.com in 2017. Ms. Googan’s stage partners, Jason Michael Evans (as Gleb), Stephen Brower (as Dmitry) and Edward Staudenmayer (as Vlad) flawlessly deliver their respective roles in support to the main character as the creator’s idea of “a brave young woman set out to discover the mystery of her past.”
The comic relief female characters, Countess Lily (an audience’s favorite Tari Kelly), Paulina (Taylor Quick), Marfa (Kylie Victoria Edwards), and Dunya (Kourtney Keitt) as well as the “Russian nobles,” Count Ipolitov (Brad Greer), Gorlinsky and Count Leopold (Fred Inkley) and others, plus a masterfully inserted reference to Swan Lake with Lyrica Woodruff, Mark MacKillop, and Ronnie S. Bowman Jr. dancing, provide added lightness to the story, and more visual fireworks to the engaging show.
The creative team includes Peggy Hickey (Choreography), Alexander Dodge (Set Design), Linda Cho (Costume Design), Donald Holder (Lighting Design), Peter Hylenski (Sound Design), Aaron Rhyne (Projection Design), Charles G. LaPointe (Hair/Wig Design), Joe Dulude II (Makeup Design), Tom Murray (Music Supervision), Lawrence Goldberg (Music Direction), Doug Besterman (Orchestrations), David Chase (Dance Arranger), casting by Telsey + Company/Craig Burns, CSA.
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The show runs through September 19 at the Golden Gate Theatre is located at 1 Taylor St., San Francisco, CA 94102. Performance times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 7:30pm; Friday and Saturday at 8pm; Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2pm.
Tickets from $56 to $256 and are available on www.shnsf.com
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