The Anastasia Musical We've All Been Waiting For Is Finally Here

Together in Hartford!

It's official: there is an Anastasia musical coming out May 12, 2016

The show will be on the Hartford Stage in Hartford, Connecticut.

The show plans on running just over a month from May 12-June 19, with evening performances every evening but Monday, and matinees & evening shows most weekends.

Run time is 2 hr 15-20 minutes, and ticket prices are $20 for students, and $25-95 for regular admission.

Anastasia will be played by Christy Altomare.

She has toured Broadway in Spring Awakening and Mamma Mia!, and off-Broadway in Carrie and Camelot.

Dmitry will be played by Derek Klena.

He has toured Broadway in Wicked and The Bridges of Madison County. He has also appeared off-broadway in Dogfight and co-starring with Christy Altomare in Carrie.

The Dowager Empress will be played by Mary Beth Peil.

Beginning in the 1960s, Peil appeared in Boris Goldovsky's opera company, the Metropolitan Opera, and the New York City Opera. In 1971 she originated the role in the opera of Summer and Smoke, and found herself on Broadway for Kiss, Me Kate, The King and I, Nine, Sunday in the Park with George, Women on the Verge of A Nervous Breakdown, Follies, The Visit, and off-Broadway in Birds of Paradise,and As Thousands Cheer. She has also appeared in film and television.

The script was written by Terrence McNally.

He has been a Tony Award recipient for Love! Valous! Compassion! and Master Class. He is considered one of the most important playwrights of our time, and has written over 33 plays and nine musicals, including the 2011 adaptation of Catch Me If You Can.

The music was composed by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.

The two are famous for working together and have written the music for Once On This Island, Seussical the Musical, and Ragtime.

The musical is directed by Darko Tresnjak.

He has directed 29 plays, including several works of Shakespeare such as The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, and Anthony and Cleopatra. He has also directed Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the Shakespearean absurdist tragicomedy.

Set design is by Alexander Dodge.

Who is an award winning set designer, and has done stunning sets for The Tempest, The Ghosts of Versailles, Rear Window, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Cosi Fan Tutte, Present Laughter, Henry IV, Pygmalion, Lips Together Teeth Apart, An American Tragedy, Bell Book and Candle, All New People, The Winter's Tale, Trust, Dog in the Manger, The Understudy, Old Acquaintance, and Miracle at Naples. The set above is from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

You can see his initial sketch for the (Winter?) Palace:

And costume design by Linda Cho.

Cho has designed over 30 costume sets for both theater and opera, including Peter Pan, Twelfth Night, and M. Butterfly. Cho has won a Tony award for Best Costume Design for A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, the TDF/Irene Sharaff Young Master Award, and Henry Hewes Design Award.

You can see some of her initial sketches:

It's not the Fox Animation Adaptation.

Although there are similarities hinted at as it follows Anya in Paris of the 1920s, from the cast list, Rasputin (and his evil magic of communism) isn't even a character.

Which means there will be ALL NEW MUSIC to learn!

You can buy your tickets now (if you live even remotely close to Connecticut), on https://www.hartfordstage.org/anastasia.

For the rest of us, we'll cross our fingers and hope it makes it to Broadway and the eventual off-Broadway tours!

No longer das vitanya!

Anastasia + Dmitry forever.