Anastasia has been one of the most anticipated musicals of this year, with the Australian premiere garnering interest from all corners of the country, especially given the star studded cast led by Georgina Hopson, who has just been starring in Titanique. Despite the musical being a feel-good favourite of many around the world, it actually has quite a dark storyline, following the story of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, who was rumoured to have been murdered in July 1918 before escaping. The story follows her fictional journey to Paris, where she seeks to meet up with the Dowager Empress, while the Russian army stays on her heels.

For those not intimately familiar with the classic film of the same name, the story is a little hard to follow and is obscured at the start of the production, meaning that the focus is very much on the spectacle and the vocals without a huge amount of character development. This begins to change as Dimitry convinces Anastasia to move over to Paris and their journey begins with a little bit more context and jeopardy drawing the audience in after a slow start but it feels as though the action really begins in the second act.

With that said, a lot of the great numbers are in the first act, with “Once Upon a December” and “Journey to the Past” being two of the most loved songs in the modern day theatre canon. With such emotional numbers in the first act, it did feel like some of the dramatic impetus and emotion of the songs did not quite carry through, with Hopson showing off a beautiful voice as always in the titular role, but perhaps missing some of the heart, drive and emotion that the character demands in such iconic songs. 

Equally, Robert Tripolino as Dmitry struggled a little vocally in the first act, with the leads very much relying on the strength of the fantastic ensemble to drive the momentum and maintain the intrigue.

The pace of the show picked up in the second act when Rhonda Burchmore as Countess Lily and Nancye Hayes really came into their own, bringing presence and wonderful vocals to the set, while Joshua Robson as Gleb really stole the show with an incredible version of “Still” at the end of the first act and continued the momentum with a consistent dramatic presence in the second act. Robson really got the balance right between overacting and maintaining dramatic interest and was without doubt the star of this show. It did feel, at times, in the second act, that the dramatic energy throughout most of the cast was a little bit single-paced, with the acting becoming a little overwrought but overall, the second act was very strong. 

The live orchestra also did a fantastic job, while the other star of this show was the absolutely incredible digital sets, with Alexander Dodge as set designer and Aaron Rhyne as video designer doing an incredible job of bringing the audience into the world of the fairy tale, with absolutely gorgeous designs and very clever projections, including of the train tracks, which made the audience feel as if they were very much a part of the experience. The costumes were also strong for the most part, although some of the costumes in the second act felt a little less polished than in the first act. It perhaps also would have been beneficial to explore some of the darkness of the storyline a little bit more with the dramatics and the acting, with the musical feeling a little light at points, both in terms of the writing of the narrative and in terms of the execution. 

Overall, this was a fun musical with some great songs that will appeal to families and those looking for a wonderful spectacle with larger than life sets and costuming. While some of the acting and vocals were a little inconsistent at times, star performances from Burchmore, Hayes and Robson lifted this production to a high level, with excellent work from the ensemble in both vocals and choreography, meaning that there was much for the audience to enjoy in this show. This is perhaps not the peak of dramatic richness that it could have been, but it certainly is a fun musical and one that will delight the entire family. A welcome addition to Sydney’s theatre scene.

Rating: ★★★★

Anastasia plays at the Lyric Theatre until 18 July. For more information, click here. 

All photo credits: Jeff Busby