What is Anastasia: Heritage High School’s Spring Musical

In their most recent production, Heritage High School’s Pride Productions performs Anastasia, a Broadway musical based on the 1997 film of the same name. Taking place amidst the Russian revolution, it follows the tale of the lost princess Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov, left stranded as an orphan on the streets of St. Petersburg, having no recollection of her past life. This is caused by a coup that resulted in Czar Nicholas Romanov’s forced resignation from the throne and an assassination attempt on the rest of the Romanov family. Throughout the show, Anastasia is under the name Anya. Anya meets Dmitry, a con artist, as well as an ex con-artist, Vlad Popov. The three join together to take Anya back to Paris, where the only remaining Romanov, the Dowager Empress Marie, lives. Throughout Anya’s escape to Paris, she is followed by a Soviet officer, Gleb Vaganov. Gleb is on a mission to finish what his father started:  to eliminate the entire Romanov family. Anya goes on a determined journey to figure out her past and slowly learns to embrace the life she once lived.

The cast, crew, and pit put months of hard work into this show. I interviewed multiple different people within the team of Anastasia, asking how this show was put together within such a short period of time.

The crew, who play a behind-the-scenes role, contributed heavily to the physical creation of Anastasia. I also asked multiple crew members within the production what their favorite memory of working on Anastasia was.

“I am a part of the set design team. Seeing it all come together in the end, and seeing the full finished set shows how much hard work and dedication we put in, and how worth it it is,” said Drew Crawford. 

“Working on costumes was one of my favorite things to be doing as a part of the crew. Finding articles of clothing from the costume closet was the easiest thing, however, figuring out if the article of clothing was deemed appropriate for the time period was the hardest. I also am a part of the choreography team for Anastasia, and I enjoyed seeing all of the dances we choreographed come together,” said Gracie Cunningham. 

“I also worked on costumes throughout the creation of Anastasia. Creating the Romanov dresses was the most stressful, but the results were extremely rewarding. Seeing them on stage after they were all done was truly a refreshing moment for me, as well as the rest of the costume crew,” said Caitlin VanBerkel. 

“I interviewed to become a part of hair and makeup because I have always loved hair and makeup, and helping our cast members with their hair or makeup has helped the show more on the characters. Also, as a part of the costume team, I enjoyed picking out the costumes, and also the bonds I have created through this show made this show enjoyable. 

I then asked the cast members what their favorite memory of the show was.

“Definitely when I had to go on as Dmitry opening night,” said Neve Holloway, a junior. “That entire day was super stressful, but everyone in the cast was so unimaginably kind and supportive. It reminded me how strong of a family we have, and what we were able to create in only a few months.”

“The moment when I first met Mr. Herman. He is super talented, and the way he was able to create our pit and use it to create the music for our show is incredible,” said Mia Sirinsky.

“This was not necessarily the creating portion of Anastasia, but the bond I have created with some of my castmates is something I will forever cherish. James, who is a castmate of mine, left his Chromebook open to a ten-hour loop of dancing gorillas during the show one night, and it just made my day,” said Alanna Fumagali. 

“The first day we worked on the choreography for the song Land of Yesterday was a very eventful memory for me. We were in the choir room learning it the first day, and the day we performed it on the stage all done is my favorite memory I think I have from creating Anastasia,” said Claire Prugh. 

There are three more opportunities to see Heritage High School’s Spring Musical:

May 6th- 7 pm (Understudy Performance)

May 7th- 2 & 7 pm (Senior Night)

This show contains an insane cast, crew, and pit. If you have the time, you should stop by and watch the show! Tickets can be purchased online, or at the door for $10! Come support Pride Productions and see Anastasia!