So, as a birthday gift mostly to myself, I went and saw Anastasia with my mom yesterday. And there’s a couple of things I absolutely adored from the cast:
- Ben Edquist is a perfectly adorable Gleb
- The chemistry between Veronica Stern as Anya and Willem Butler as Dmitry was palpable and they stole every scene together.
- Legit, having an Anya and Dmitry who are roughly the same height was just so cute.
- Bryan Seastrom as Vlad was glorious.
- The passion Veronica brought to “In My Dreams” is something I haven’t seen with other casts.
- Amin Fuson as Tsar Nicholas and Count Ipotov -- and other background characters throughout scenes -- has a stunning voice. It was so beautiful. Hearing him sing the opening lines of “Stay, I Pray You” was jaw dropping.
- And the look he shared with Anya at the end of the song was heart breaking.
- Vlad flirting with people on the train was hilarious.
- “Land of Yesterday” brought back Thoroughly Modern Millie feels for me. I miss my fellow flappers.
- Anya and Dmitry being teasing and flirty through all of “In a Crowd of Thousands”.
- Veronica saying “I remember” with just enough tears and happiness that I wanted to cry for her.
- Dmitry being absolutely starstruck in seeing Anya in her blue dress, and Anya gesturing for him to get to his feet. Like I said, their chemistry was just so palpable.
- The entire ballet scene was beautiful.
- “Better knock on wood” *Dmitry knocks on his head*
- The gasps of the little girls a few rows in front of us at Gleb pulling out the gun on Anya was funny but also big mood .
- Anya showing off her red dress to Dmitry. *Tah-dah! Dmitry, look!* Babe was just adorable doing that. She was cute and awkward and I loved her for it.
There’s probably some stuff I’m missing, but these are what I remember. Honestly, if you can see it with the currently touring cast, do it!
