★★★★★
Anastasia joins the list of major touring musicals to make their final stops in Brisbane, following CATS, Annie and Jesus Christ Superstar. Perhaps that is one reason cast and creatives so often remark on the warmth and enthusiasm they receive from Brisbane audiences.
The Scoop has followed the Anastasia tour since it opened in Melbourne on Boxing Day last year, tracking its journey through Perth, Sydney and Adelaide. Along the way, we’ve chatted with lyricist Lynn Ahrens, who flew out from the US for the Sydney opening. Ahead of last night’s Brisbane opening, I spoke with the legendary Rhonda Burchmore, who plays Countess Lily (interview still to come).
Anastasia draws on one of the great mysteries of 20th-century Russian history: the fate of Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra.
Following the Russian Revolution, the Romanov family were executed by Bolshevik forces in 1918. For decades afterwards, rumours persisted that Anastasia had somehow survived, giving rise to one of the most enduring historical legends of the 20th century.
That history has always felt particularly close to home for me. My Russian grandfather was just 19 when he fled the country in 1927, escaping in the night on board a Japanese freight ship. Arriving at Thursday Island, he entered a strange new country he would never leave. Nor would he see his Russian family again.
Making his way to Sydney, he became part of the generation of migrant labourers who worked on major infrastructure projects, including the Sydney Opera House. So when I watch Anastasia, a story about a lost princess searching for her identity, I’m also watching a musical that draws on a period of Russian history that shaped my own family’s story.
Of course, the stage musical takes considerable creative licence with that history. Anastasia picks up years after the Romanovs deaths and imagines a young woman with no memory of her past, who is told she may be the missing Grand Duchess.
Known as Anya (Georgina Hopson), she joins forces with the con man, Dmitry (Robert Tripolino) and the former aristocrat Vlad (Rodney Dobson), as they attempt to make their way from revolutionary Russia to Paris, where the promise of a new life awaits.
At the centre of it all, Georgina Hopson is superb as Anya. She has a natural comic instinct, landing the humour exactly when it is needed, but it is her vulnerability that brings the emotional force. Her beautiful, expressive face conveys both the uncertainty of a young woman searching for her identity and the quiet bearing of someone who could genuinely belong to royalty.
Hopson’s singing has the same emotional clarity, especially in Once Upon a December, where, confronted by the music box, Anya begins to unlock fragments of memory. There is something exquisitely fragile in the moment, and Hopson allows the character’s confusion and longing to cut through the spectacle.
By contrast, Journey to the Past, the iconic Act One closer, allows her to unleash the full scale of her voice, and she turns it into a genuine showstopper.
Her connection with Tripolino as Dmitry during In a Crowd of Thousands is beautifully touching. Their shared sense of recognition gives the number a genuine tenderness.
And when Anya finally reunites with the Dowager Empress, played by the legendary Nancye Hayes, the emotional stakes rise again. It is an especially poignant scene, and feels personal rather than simply the culmination of the plot.
Outstanding performers abound in this cast. From Robert Tripolino’s soaring tenor in My Petersburg, and Elliot Baker’s luscious bass in Stay, I Pray You, to Joshua Robson’s knockout operatic solo as Gleb in Still, this is a vocally impressive company. They are backed by an enormously talented ensemble.
Rodney Dobson brings a lovable, charismatic warmth to Vlad, playing off the formidable Rhonda Burchmore as Countess Lily. Their duet, The Countess and the Common Man, gives both performers plenty of room to shine.
It is also a thrill to see multiple generations take to the stage. At 83, Nancye Hayes brings decades of theatrical history to the Dowager Empress, while little Anastasia was played on opening night by Eva Boldery, one of four young local talents sharing the role.
There is something particularly special about seeing the span of generations represented on the same stage, from one of Australia’s great theatrical legends to performers taking their first steps in the world of musical theatre.
Anastasia has it all: tragedy, comedy, romance, lavish costumes, an ingeniously transportive set, beautiful singing and dancing, even a touch of ballet. And the level of talent is exceptional, reminding us why we keep heading back to the theatre.
But for me, there is something deeper at its heart. My grandfather left Russia as a young man, travelling into an uncertain future and ultimately building a life in a country he had never imagined calling home. Nearly a century later, I found myself sitting in a Brisbane theatre watching a story inspired by the country and history he had left behind.
That is the real magic of theatre. Sometimes a story can find its way into your own life. I don’t think I’ll remember Anastasia simply as the musical I followed across Australia, I’ll remember it as the musical that brought my grandfather’s Russia a little closer to home.
Anastasia the Musical runs to 18 October at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC as the final stop on its national tour.
Tickets: https://anastasiathemusical.com.au/tickets/brisbane/
Website: https://anastasiathemusical.com.au/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/anastasiathemusicalau/
Photo credits: Jeff Busby
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