Through Nov. 1-3 and 8, the legend of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia came alive through the Firehouse Art Center’s musical production of Anastasia, Youth Edition. The musical aired a few times a day, with afternoon and evening performances.
Throughout the auditions, the cast went through multiple trials and rehearsals over the past months in preparation for the show. Notably, the musical consisted of students from a variety of ages and backgrounds.
“There are two casts for this show and four days of rehearsals. Each cast took two of those days. We usually started with music from the hardest songs to the easiest songs and then the solo songs. Then we would learn the dance next, and then we would do blocking after and more of the talking and moving around the stage,” said actor for Vlad Popov Sophia Garcia (‘25).
“I think it just took a lot of practice from everyone in the cast and it took a lot of memorization of the choreography and lines. It was also so much fun getting to know everyone on the show. It’s also kind of sad because when the show is over, you end up missing everyone. It was a really wonderful experience,” said Jew-Fortner.
The audience was transported to the changing world of Russia in the 20th century when revolutions began to occur. The compatibility between all the castmates and the fitting choreography helped bring out the essence and seriousness of the story.
“My favorite part of the musical was the bigger group numbers, because I liked seeing everybody on stage together and it’s harder to dance to songs that are traditionally solo songs and then add an ensemble to it. I thought they did a good job,” said Emma June (‘27).
