“Anastasia,” the stage musical, is a work of historical fiction that bridges the gap between 20th Century Fox’s magical movie “Anastasia” (1997) and the climate of 1920s Russia. Anya, or as we come to know her, lost Princess Anastasia, is an amnesiac who, by the guidance of two con-men, Vlad and Dimitri, attempts to reunite with her grandmother in Paris. They face many obstacles along the way and eventually find that their mission wasn’t a con at all, and Anya is in fact the lost Princess Anastasia.
“Anastasia” is a challenging musical. The original movie of the same name is so beloved that it was unlikely a stage production would be able to compete, and it simply didn’t. The fantastical elements and dark mystical tone of the story are removed in favor of a much more grounded take with references to communism and the Bolsheviks. Rasputin is knocked out in favor of the Bolshevik officer Gleb Vaganov with less classical animated movie pizzazz. Despite the show being almost entirely sung through, much of the music wasn’t all that impressive—save for a few songs borrowed from the movie and lighter moments. “Anastasia” the stage play and “Anastasia” the movie are strikingly different entities. This is all to say that Footlighters took an already lacking musical and made something beautiful.
Footlighters delivered a great performance throughout. Some standouts were “Once Upon a December,” “Learn to Do it” and “Still / The Neva Flows” reprise. “Once Upon a December” is a classic song from the movie and remains beautiful, yet haunting with a performance by Shareen Chahal, who plays Anya. Chahal gave a consistently strong performance, lending a comedic, but genuine, air to Anya. “Learn to Do it” is a fun romp of a song in which Anya is coached by Dimitri (Ryan Gilmore) and Vlad (Cade Kuhlins). This endears the audience to our central trio, and shows incredible chemistry. In “Still / The Neva Flows,” performed by Austin Kennedy (Gleb Vaganov), the audience feels the culmination of the Neva motif built throughout the musical swell to a beautiful payoff, giving depth to the new antagonist. Beautiful vocals joined the wonderful choreography.
Despite the struggle to get their footing in some larger dance numbers, the smaller pieces were stunning. “The Countess and The Common Man” was accompanied by a touching sequence that reflected the cast’s chemistry. This moment between clear audience favorites was appreciated. “Quartet at the Ballet” was accompanied by a charming ballet routine. The number is performed over a fight for Anya, which reflects the choreography of the graceful battle. The piece managed to subtly convey both circumstance and emotional weight, a testament to the choreographer’s skill.
Footlighters’ “Anastasia” is visually stunning. Great care was taken to immerse the audience into the historical fiction world with a slightly magical atmosphere. May it be the street lamps providing a warm feeling or the use of shadows to create ghosts which haunt our protagonists, the lighting design was an integral and thoughtful part of the show. Alongside beautiful lighting was stunning costuming. From ensemble to main characters, every cast member was dressed to the nines. As of printing, I am still hearing about Anya’s iconic gala dress and the Dowager’s blue gown.
We were able to talk to some of the people behind the costuming department, Costumes Head Allison Hall and one of the Assistant Costume Heads Regan Manning.
Hall is a third-year nursing major. This is her second show doing costuming. She has been sewing since middle school and worked on costuming in high school.
Manning is a fourth-year sociology major and first-year combined bachelor’s/master’s student in the Master of Public Health program. Her grandmother taught her how to sew when she was nine years old, and she really fell in love with it. She’s been able to make a lot of crazy projects like tear-away clothes and ballgowns through Footlighters.
Penelope Cloonan: How long have you been involved with Footlighters’ costuming? What brings you back to Footlighters’ costuming each production?
Allison Hall: I’ve only been doing costumes with Footies for two semesters, but I’ve been involved with the club for five. I just really love the community that this club has in general, which is mainly what keeps me coming back. I also enjoy getting to do some sewing again and have had a lot of fun this past year!
Regan Manning: I’ve been doing shows with Footlighters since my first semester here! “Anastasia” was my seventh show with the club. I keep coming back because I really love the people and the creative outlet that Footies gives me! I’ve met some of my best friends through this club, including my fellow Assistant Costume Designer, Kate Zerefos, and it’s really nice to have a dedicated time every week to create something and not worry about work for a moment. Footies has also given me a lot more confidence in my sewing skill! I used to be really afraid of making anything without a pattern and specific instructions, but the costuming process has taught me how to just go for it and make something that I designed.
PC: I’d imagine costuming with a student budget and shorter timeline can get pretty tricky, but in the end the costuming team pulled off something truly beautiful. Have you had to get craftier in any ways?
AH: There were a lot of Goodwill runs and some creativity to figure out how to fit past costumes into our show. I would say one of my weirder decisions was to order a bunch of tablecloths instead of actual fabric for all of the Romanov clothes since it was cheaper! In the end though, I would say I had a great crew that was able to put in some late nights when we needed it and get everything done.
RM: We definitely had to get crafty! “Anastasia” could be an especially expensive show because it’s set in the ‘20s and requires ballgowns, but we are able to work around by using things like tablecloths for cheap fabric and doing a lot of thrifting. Especially with Joann closing, we really had to get creative this year with our fabric sources. We also took some artistic liberties with historical accuracy!
PC: Was it a challenge to costume a period piece? Were there any significant differences from your usual process?
AH: Yes absolutely, especially since all the shows we’ve done since I’ve been here have been more ‘80s/’90s to now, which is much easier to find in a Goodwill! I would say pretty early on in the process I admitted that time period was going out the window—if the audience believed it could look old enough, it was good enough for me! We knew we would be having to make a lot of the older clothes, but we managed to make a lot of pieces work when I really didn’t think they would. I was really happy with the way everything turned out though, as long as no one checked too hard on my historical accuracy!
RM: Period pieces are always difficult because finding period-accurate clothes can get really expensive, so we definitely make a lot more of the clothes from scratch for a show like “Anastasia” than one like “Footloose.” Every show requires finding a balance between which pieces to make and which ones to buy, so this “Anastasia” was not too different. We were able to make it work with a lot of vintage patterns and creativity!