The Eureka Theater Company (ETC…) never fails to pour their hearts out on the stages of Eureka High School. On Nov. 13-15, they performed Anastasia, a show that dives into different themes following the Russian Revolution.
“People should come and see the musical because it supports the arts and EHS as a whole,” Madden Parker, 11, said. “It’s also a lot of fun to see ETC… productions because there is a lot of effort put into them by the cast, crew and production team.”
The cast members had roughly three months to grow with their characters, and Evan Ferguson, 12, enjoyed finding who his character, Gleb Vaganov, truly is.
”There are so many hidden meanings and subtexts behind Gleb,” Ferguson said. “Although he’s less of a lead than Dmitri, Vlad and Anastasia, his character ties the show to real world themes and emotions. Even though Gleb has limited screen time, the scenes that he’s in ground the show a bit. He brings so much drama.”
Not only did the acting of this production impress, but so did the tunes that the Pit Orchestra played along with the cast’s singing.
“My favorite aspect of this musical is definitely the music,” Ferguson said. “If you aren’t going to come for anything else, come for the music.
This was a thrilling experience that people were happy to enjoy.
“This really is a beautiful show with so many stunning aspects to it,” Amelia Thal, 11, said. “It’s great for all ages and truly is something people do not want to miss.”
Show Description / Review (*spoiler alert*):
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov is given a music box that plays the song “Once Upon a December”. At a family gathering, they get caught in a gunfire. Anastasia loses her memory and identity after being separated from her grandmother, the only relative left alive. She is taken to the hospital, where she is given the name Anya, and a diamond is found in her clothing.
They put up a reward for whoever finds the lost princess, and people begin the long search. Dmitri Sudayev and Vladimir Popov, two con artists, begin to find an “Anastasia” to earn the reward. Upon meeting the real Anastasia, whom they do not know is the real princess, Dimitri and Vlad end up training her to be like a princess in the song “Learn to Do It”. However, a bond begins to form between the three, and they discover that Anya is better at being a princess than they expected.
After hearing her name across the streets of Petersburg, Bolshevik General Gleb Vaganov calls Anya to his office to warn her of the rumors going around about her being the duchess. In his eyes, she was causing trouble, and if she is the real princess she could be captured. He tells her about his family and his past in the song “The Neva Flows”, letting her off on a warning.
Dmitri gives Anya the music box he got a while back, and she begins to feel more of her past showing up deep in her memory. Anya, Vlad and Dmitri decide to leave and go to Paris to find out if Anya really is the long lost princess that they are searching for. Gleb finds out that Anya is making her way to Paris, and is tasked with finding and executing her. The song “Still” gives us more insight to the fact that he potentially has buried feelings for Anya, but must complete the job his father would want him to.
Once they get there, they find out that police are looking for all of them, and they need to get to the royal family fast. Lily, the “assistant” to the Dowager Empress, attempts to give the Dowager letters from people who claim to be her grand-daughter, Anastasia. The Dowager begins to reject the letters, and decides to assume that Anastasia no longer exists for her own peace of mind. Meanwhile, Vlad and Lily reconnect after years of being apart, realizing that they both still have feelings for each other in the song “The Countess and the Common Man”.
Anya begins to start having reoccurring nightmares about her lost family. In an attempt to comfort her, Dmitiri tells her about a day he saw Anastasia in the song “In a Crowd of Thousands”, telling Anya he believes it could be her. As he’s telling the story about that day, Anya realizes she remembers a detail of it as well, specifically one that Dmitri had not previously mentioned. Thus revealing Anya to truly be the long lost duchess, and some feelings growing between Anya and Dmitri.
Anya, Dmitri and Vlad go to a ballet performance, where Anya and the Dowager Empress coincidentally end up sitting across from each other. Afterwards, Dmitri and Vlad take Anya to the Dowager to reintroduce her long lost grand-daughter. The Dowager refuses to believe that it is truly her, and Anya gets frustrated with Dmitri for bringing her their. Once Dmitri argues his case with the Dowager, claiming that they don’t care for the reward, she decides to give Anya another chance.
After the Dowager poses some questions to Anya, she realizes that she in fact is the lost princess, and that the vigorous search is over. Many journalists begin to ask the Dowager about Anastasia and how they found her, as Anastasia goes to find Dmitri. Before she can go search for him, Gleb finally catches up to her to complete his mission during “Still / The Neva Flows (Reprise)”. However, he ends up abandoning his mission as he realizes he doesn’t truly want to hurt Anya / Anastasia.
After Gleb’s change of heart, he tells the rest of Russia that Anastasia wasn’t real, and it all was a fantasy. Anastasia eventually finds Dmitri, and they live happily ever after.
The production of this show done by ETC… was brilliant. There was passion behind every character, even the ensemble members, and everyone seemed truly connected with their characters. It is no doubt that this group has high talent, and fans can’t wait to see what they have in store next.
