Anya(musical)
| Anya | |
|---|---|
 Original cast recording | |
| Music | Robert Wright George Forrest Based on themes by: Sergei Rachmaninoff |
| Lyrics | Robert Wright George Forrest |
| Book | George Abbott Guy Bolton |
| Basis | Marcelle Maurette's playAnastasiaandAnastasia1956 film |
| Productions | 1965Broadway |
Anyais amusicalwith a book byGeorge AbbottandGuy Boltonand music and lyrics byRobert WrightandGeorge Forrest.As they had done withSong of Norway(1944) andKismet(1953), Wright and Forrest developed the musical score using themes written by a classical composer, in this caseSergei Rachmaninoff.
Based on Bolton's 1954 English adaptation ofMarcelle Maurette's 1952 playAnastasiaand the subsequent1956 film adaptation of the same name,it focuses on Anya who, when discovered in aBerlinpsychiatric facility in 1925 by taxi driver Bounine, a formerCossackgeneral inCzarist Russia,claims to beAnastasia,the supposedly murdered youngest daughter ofEmperor Nicholas II.
A number of fictional elements, including a romantic triangle involving Anya, Bounine, and his mistress Genia and the addition of a comical character, café proprietor Katrina, weakened the plot of the true story. It also continued to perpetuate the notion that theDowager Empresshad met Anya in real life, when in fact the two never crossed paths.
After sixteen previews, theBroadwayproduction, directed by Abbott and choreographed byHanya Holm,opened on November 29, 1965, at theZiegfeld Theatre.Denounced as an old-fashionedoperettaby the critics, it closed after only 16 performances, the last production to be presented in the historic venue, which had housed the originalShow Boatin 1927.
The cast includedConstance Towersas Anya, Michael Kermoyan as Bounine, Karen Shepard as Genia,Irra Petinaas Katrina, andLillian Gishas the Dowager Empress. Supporting roles were played byGeorge S. IrvingandJohn Michael King.
The production was nominated for theTony Awardfor Best Scenic Design. Anoriginal cast recordingwas released byUnited Artists Records.
The show was later reworked under several names:A Song for Anastasia(1967),The Anastasia Game(1989 and 1990),The Anastasia Affaire(1992), andAnastasia, the Musical(1998).[1]A cast recording was made in 1992 using mostly 1989 cast which was re-released and expanded in 1998.
Song list[edit]
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References[edit]
- ^Rewritten Wright-Forrest Anastasia Refreshed for OCR CD Release,Playbill,Nov 24, 1998
- Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical FlopsbyKen Mandelbaum,published bySt. Martin's Press(1991), pages 235-36 (ISBN0-312-06428-4)