Audiences Journey Into the Past with ‘Anastasia: The Musical’
Highland Park theater students took audiences on a magical adventure with a young woman struggling to unravel the mystery of her past during October’s production of Anastasia: The Musical.
Students began rehearsing for the musical before school started in August. The cast and crew spent six hours every evening finessing the production in the final days before opening, said senior Claire Vaughn, who played Anya.
“This production is so much fun. The music is amazing. The storyline is so good,” she said. “It has everything that you want in a musical — great music, a nice love story, a really nice message about finding yourself and identity.”
The production’s elaborate costumes and professionally mapped projections helped create an immersive environment for the audience.
The characters’ journey began in an opulent palace in 1907 before jumping forward in time to the streets of St. Petersburg and traveling more than 1,000 miles to Paris. Those transitions would have been difficult to show with set pieces that would need to be moved on and off the stage, explained HP Arts programs representative Carrie Martinez.
Anastasia’s director, Brittany Murphy, teamed up with Lightware Labs to create the projections, which were operated by students. Funding for the projections was provided by HP Arts. Thanks to the images, the characters and audience even seemed to travel together through the countryside on a train.
Switching costumes quickly as characters journeyed through the story was another of the challenges created by the production, said senior Grace Martin who played Countess Lily.
The show also featured more complex harmonies than previous musicals such as last year’s Chicago, said junior Jaron Pierce who played Dmitry.
“I think it challenges everyone to some extent, with either memorization or the difficulty,” he said. “I think it’s making everyone a better musician.”
Students said they enjoyed the process of working with their friends and of watching the production come to life, and they hoped that audiences were impressed by their efforts.
“You can find who you are,” Vaughn said of Anya’s journey. “And it’s really cool to go through the whole story figuring that out.”
This is a great piece showcasing a beautiful production!
This is a great piece about a wonderful production!
Can’t wait to see my Grandaughter, Claire and the cast in this amazing production performed by the Highland Park students!!!