Anastasia- Broadway Back in Time

By Ellis Clark 

Anastasia is a relatively new Broadway musical that began its run in 2017. It has since taken the fandom by storm, leaving many fans desperate for playbills, of which there are three types. One of the more interesting and overlooked things about Anastasia, however, is that it is based largely and truth, and obviously the movie that we all love. The Plot

The play takes place in the early 1900s in Russia, and in the beginning, there is an image of the whole royal family being shot, apart from the Grandmother (who fled to France). There are rumours circulating throughout Leningrad that the grand duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova had survived the assault. Two conmen decide that they will find a “fake” Anastasia to play the part, so that they can escape Russia and then proceed to collect the large sum of money being offered by Anastasias grandmother. However, later in the play it is revealed that Anya (the girl they employ) is, as a matter of fact, the real Anastasia, but she falls in love with one of the conmen, and then leaves her grandmother to live with her pauper. The main antagonist is a communist officer named Gleb Vaganov, who hunts down Anastasia in attempt to kill her, but when presented with the opportunity he could not.

Film, History, and a great big Conspiracy

The film follows a similar structure, except instead of communists its an evil wizard named Rasputin who tries to kill the Romanovs. The history of it is that when the Bolsheviks (communists) did take over Russia, they shot and killed all the royal family, but there were strong rumours that Anastasia survived throughout the world, and many imposters claimed to be Anastasia, in hopes for a reward. Rasputin was a real man who was in fact very close to the family of the Tsar, however the evil wizard he is portrayed as by Disney is in fact slightly true. He believed that he was a very gifted man and cursed the tsar that if he was killed by a royal relative then the whole family would be dead in 2 years. He was very close to Anastasia, like a mentor to her. This was, until he was murdered in 1915 by a prince of Russia, 2 years before the Romanovs were killed, apart from Anastasia. Another rumour was that her little brother Alexei was also not dead, and this was slightly backed up when some archaeologists found a pit of 9 bodies in a mass grave, believed to be the Royals, however there were 11 royals that were supposed to be killed. The two missing were the bodies of the two lost children. As well as this, the German Kaiser was related to the royal family of Russia. He helped to smuggle Lenin in, under the agreement that the communist rulers would let 2 of the royals live. However, the two missing bodies were found around 20 years later in a nearby grave, matching a similar description to Anastasia and Alexei.

Ellis