Let's talk about Gleb from Anastasia!
This post is about the writing, not acting.
Some historical background!
Did you know that the antagonist Gleb Vaganov was named after two different people?
One of the men who murdered the Romanovs was named Stefan Vaganov. I assume that's where McNally inspired Gleb's backstory and last name, which means, that in the show, his full name is Gleb Stepanovich Vaganov.
The real-life Stepan Vaganov was said to be one the most out for blood (besides Peter Ermakov) and had seven children with his wife. None of them was named Gleb. Stepan was found hiding in a cellar in 1918 and was murdered by Verkh-Isetsk.
According to the historian Helen appaport (2008) wrote in her book "The Last Days of the Romanovs" about Stepan Vaganov; "Stepan Vaganov fell victim to summary peasant justice: he was set upon and murdered, not for his part in the Romanov killings, but for his participation in local acts of brutal renression hv the Cheka" n. 214.
According to the historian Helen Rappaport (2008) wrote in her book
"The Last Days of the Romanovs" about Stepan Vaganov; "Stepan Vaganov fell victim to summary peasant justice: he was set upon and murdered, not for his part in the Romanov killings, but for his participation in local acts of brutal repression by the Cheka" p. 214.
Also, one of the people who was murdered along with the Romanovs was Dr. Eugene Botkin (the family physician).
His son Gleb Botkin was a fierce defender of Anna Anderson, who claimed to be Anastasia. I wonder if that's why they gave him the first name Gleb.
Now onto the character discussion.
In Hartford, Manoel Felciano portrayed Gleb Vaganov. He portrayed the character as well-meaning, and the scenes between Gleb and Anya are so cute. He had such golden retriever energy. He was fawning over Anya the whole show. I liked that Gleb and his comrades sang "The Neva Flows" together (even though the lyrics are better in the Broadway version). It just makes more sense to me for the world-building than just trauma dumping on Anya later. They should not have cut out the line where Gleb explained he lived across the street from the Ipatiev House.
People did live across the street and noticed when the Romanovs were being murdered. I think that was an important line that was unfortunately cut.
Gleb singing a song about how he adores Anya's name is just cute. Gleb having a little solo during Land of Yesterday was good, and I prefer that he stole a uniform to get into the ballet.
Hartford Gleb had a little more to do, but not by much. Broadway Gleb feels like a different character entirely. For
Broadway, the addition of the song "Still" was great for the character. I liked that Gleb was a little more intimidating, but we lost all of his good characterizations of him as a character and of him with Anya. In Hartford, you could see Gleb being infatuated with Anya, but on Broadway, it's more like he's infatuated with his idea of Anya and being the man that saves her.
I love that Gleb is a foil to Anya; they both struggle with bloody family legacies, creating their own identities, and complicated feelings about their home. Even though Gleb is a more layered character (even though slightly underwritten), I did feel much sympathy for him. I prefer Gleb as an antagonist to having a one-dimensional over-the-top villian. Having a more human antagonist makes the stakes and emotions feel more personal to me.
This story has the same problem as Rasputin in the animated movie.
Rasputin starts the civil war, then dies, and does little to create obstacles during the plot. He crashes a train, then a nightmare, and then we barely see him until the end of the movie. Rasputin didn't even interact with any main characters through most of the movie, only in the opening and the final battle.
With Gleb, he's more compelling, but also doesn't do much to create obstacles for our main trio? Why not see him hot on their heels while planning to leave Russia? Sending officers to arrest people creating fake papers, ramping up patrols, and mentioning more train stations closing Why not let us see him following Anya during "Paris Holds the Key?" They could've given the cut lyrics Dimitri sang in the animated movie to Gleb, and it would have worked.
If we made this tweak to Anya and Dimitri in the Neva Club, and she doesn't like the former aristocracy and she could have a moment with Gleb to show opposing views to add more nuance to his character and the story. Maybe seeing how gaudy they are helps make her final decision to leave and have a simpler life at the end of the show.
The musical had good concepts and ideas for the characters, but didn't go all the way with them. If they gave Gleb more depth, stage time, and more to do, he could have made a stronger impact on the plot. since Anya had amnesia why not have Gleb explain what happened under the Tsar's rule to dissuade her from
"pretending" to be Anastasia. Use the screens to project footage and photographs to show Russians suffering.
Use Gleb to explore/explain the dark history since Dimitri and Vlad aren't telling her.
