Anastasia the Musical National Tour Review

Anastasia the Musical opened on Broadway in 2017 starring the amazing Christy Altmore. In October 2018, the first national tour started starring Lila Coogan. 


The musical opens up with the family ballroom dancing and then the family is killed. Ten years later Dmitry, played by Steven Brower,  and Vlad, played by Edward Staudenmyer) overheard the Empress is giving a large money reward to anyone who finds Duchess Anastasia. The two of them holds auditions to find a woman who can trick the Empress.
Anya arrives at the audition because she needs food and shelter. As she learns about Duchess Anastasia she starts to remember her past. Dimitry starts to fall in love with her.

In Act 2, they safely arrive in Paris even when Bolshevik Gleb chasing Anya down to kill her. In Act two had a comic relief with Vlad and Countess Lily's romance song. It really didn't do much for the plot but it was a fun number. Countess Lilly talks to the Emperis into meeting Anya at the ballet. Is she the real princess or a fake?

This show reminds me of My Fair Lady and Les Miserable, especially with Bolshevik Gleb, sings a song about killing her or not.

Anastasia was the youngest daughter to Tsar Nicholas II. She was 17 years old when her family was assassinated in the Russian Revolution in 1917. A rumor that Anastasia was still alive.




Lila Coogan, Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova. Her performance was phenomenal. She brought so much energy to the character. Her voice was clear and powerful. She made me have chills especially during the song Journey to the Past.

Steven Brower, Dimitry, did a wonderful job of showing the emotions of love. He had a good voice however at times he was very pitchy especially the song St. Petersburg. I thought maybe it was an off night, but after researching him on youtube he was pitchy in many of the videos. I wonder if it is just not his vocal range.



Edward Staudenmaya, conman with Dmitry, and Tari Kelly, Countess Lily brought comic relief to the show during the second act with their number The Countess and the Common Man. A song about their romance. These two had perfect comedy timing. The audience loved it.


The villain, Bolshevik Gleb, played by Jason Michael Evans had a powerful voice. He brought a lot of mix feelings. I hated him, but I also felt bad for him. He didn't want to kill Anya, but he is ordered too. HIs songs remind of Les Miserable character Jarvet.





Joy Franz, Anastasia's Grandmother was a great fit for the cast.

Delilah Rose Pellow who plays little Anastasia and Anastasia brother. She is so adorable and very talented. I was so excited I got to see her perform because she played this role in the Broadway show.  I fell in love with her from watching Christy Altmore's Instagram lives during the show. She takes turn with Addison.

The ensemble was incredible. The show contains many different types of dancing. Everything from waltz, tap, jazz, flapper, and ballet.

I was really lucky because I got to see Kenneth step into the role of the ballet dancer because Mark was sick. I would have loved to see Mark perform, but I love Kenneth because he is really cute. He is the dance captain for the show and performed in the Broadway cast of Anastasia.


The costumes by Lind Cho was immaculate.
There were so many details in every piece of clothing. There were thousands of hands sewn jewels. The poverty clothing had the right about of wear to them. My favorite costume in the show was Anastasia's mother's white dress which weighs over 40pounds. Another dress I love was Anastasia's Blue and Red dress. The red dress is said to weight around 35 pounds.

The scenery was simple but breathtaking. There weren't many large set pieces other than the train. Alexander Dodge created the shows scenery as projections beam on a palatial set. Aaron Rhyne's cinematic projections take you into the home of the Romanoffs with dancing ghosts to St. Petersburg and then to Paris. I loved the train scene with moving landscape projections that lined up with the train making it actually look like they are on a train track traveling. The LED screens make the 3D projections clear and crisp. You have to see this show because I am telling you it's so beautifully done.

The musical Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens songs were beautiful. They made the new songs blend with the old songs from the animation film. It has such a variety of songs everything from ballads, jazz, waltzes, belting songs and powerful lyrical songs. You will leave the show with t many of the songs stuck in your head.


The show is a must see!! This really isn't a kid show. I believe kids under the age of 8 might really bored. Plus it contains some mature content in the way of death, violence, and sex. There is no nudity and not too much swearing. The show is around two hours and a half hour plus 15 intermission. You will not regret seeing this amazing show!!