Review: ‘Anastasia’ is a holiday season gift with spectacular performances, costumes and dance

On Tuesday night, “Anastasia” graced the First Interstate Center for the Arts with a night of high-energy dances, ornate costumes and top-notch vocal performances.

The opening night performance was part of the STCU Presents the Best of Broadway series and wraps up a delightful run of shows for 2021. “Anastasia” stars up-and-coming powerhouse Kyla Stone as Anastasia, with support from Sam McLellan (Dmitry) and Brandon Delgado (Gleb).

Loosely based on the 1997 20th Century Fox  movie “Anastasia,” the narrative follows a young amnesiac, Anya, on her journey to recover her lost identity as Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia. Along the way, she becomes part of a plan by two men impoverished by the Bolshevik Revolution, Dmitry and Vlad (Bryan Seastrom), to claim the reward for returning Anastasia to her grandmother.

A Bolshevik general, Gleb, not the magically terrifying Rasputin, serves as this production’s main antagonist. From a performance perspective, the production was stellar. Stone offered heart-wrenching deliverances throughout the night, as Anya struggled with the ghastly memories of her past.

The seasonally apropos waltz “Once Upon a December,” which returns throughout the musical, was particularly poignant. In Act II’s “A Nightmare,” the past deeply buried in the permafrost of Anya’s amnesia erupts onstage as the ghosts of her family return to dance through her dreams.

Delgado’s enactment of Gleb was perhaps the best male performance during the last few months of shows at First Interstate Center. Standout tracks include “The Neva Flows” and “Land of Yesterday (Reprise).” He represented Gleb’s conflict over pursuing the desires of the state versus his own heart beautifully.

The scene design by Alexander Dodge featured a 3D-rendered projection screen that offered some breathtaking moments and capabilities, especially for the outdoor scenes; however, it also brought some questionable moments, specifically in Act I during the awkwardly designed train scene.

From a narrative perspective, “Anastasia” has a number of issues translating the 20th Century Fox  classic into a more “historical” period piece. Some of the songs seemed to trivialize the plight of the Russian people, both during the Romanov and Bolshevik time periods.

In Act II’s “Land of Yesterday,” we visit a party with Russian political refugees, many of whom would have had their entire families butchered by the Bolsheviks. Yet, their only real purpose in the narrative was to give the keen insight that Russians like to drink vodka and reminisce about the good old times.

All nitpicking aside, “Anastasia,” filled with its snowy scenes, royal dances and spectacular performances, is a perfect way to spend the holiday season with the family. “Anastasia” continues at First Interstate Center through Sunday.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story misstated the production company.