NVD’s upcoming spring musical, “Anastasia,” takes place over several sharply contrasting settings and time periods, defying a common linear aspect found within many musicals. Thus, the lack of a consecutive story progression must be supported by other factors of the show to help viewers understand it. Many aspects of “Anastasia,” such as its music, set, and choreography, will help guide the audience through the many different places and time periods within the show.

Initially set in 1920s post-revolution Russia, “Anastasia” follows a teenage girl with amnesia on a road to Paris, hoping the city holds keys to her lost memories. With the change in location–from poor, communist Russia in Act One, to bustling and magical Paris in Act Two–also come drastic changes in culture and ways of life that make France feel like a new world to the characters as well as the audience. To ensure that audience members don’t experience confusion regarding the sudden shift in location in the second act, the cast and crew of the show will lead them to and through the newly introduced French culture, which vividly contrasts the Russian lifestyle settled into in Act One. 

Director of the musical, David Marconi, explains how each aspect of the show comes together to make it flow smoothly and take the audience along with it.

“Similar to the song ‘Journey to the Past,’ it’s a combination of not only… the writing of the musical, but the sets, the props, the costumes, and the character work that [the actors] are doing with their physicality, their vocal qualities,” Marconi said, “all of those things help paint the picture, and help really bring our audience to that time period, and make it feel real and fleshed out.”

Without the work of the actors themselves, the show’s characters would be underdeveloped and impossible to understand. The actors’ performances help the audience to follow the plot and the transition from Russia to Paris. Each character holds a different perspective on the forceful change of location, and the audience must understand each one to truly feel the characters’ strong reactions to it. 

NVD actress Kayla Kun plays the character of Countess Lily Malevsky-Malevich, who is forced to flee Russia during the Russian Revolution in “Anastasia.” To effectively portray Lily’s longing for her old life in Russia and her lack of settlement into Paris, Kun plans to take from her own moving experiences to create realism within her character’s transition.

“At first, I lived in New York, and then, I had to move to New Jersey, so… I think channeling… the difference from living in one place to another, and having to adapt to new cultures, new people, new ways of life… [will be] really helpful to seeing Lily go from… being someone that was idolized in Russia, to somebody who had essentially nothing if it wasn’t for the Dowager Empress in Paris,” Kun said, “I think that just going through the change one way, I can use my [emotional recall] technique to apply it to the show.”

Actor Pablo Hernandez Ruiz’s character, Count Ipolitov, also must escape Russia in the musical. However, instead of drawing from his own personal experiences, Hernandez Ruiz instead focuses on his character’s deep connection to his homeland of Russia, especially through his solo, ‘Stay, I Pray You,’ about the bittersweet journey to Paris.

“I’ll clearly show signs that I’m still missing Russia, of course, because I think that’s my main point of this journey, or that’s being shown. But I’d also just show off the fact that I’m going on this journey to Paris… I would show the audience how pure my emotions are,” Hernandez Ruiz said, “I’d definitely show how much this journey means to me by leaving Russia… You have to let some things go in order to move on, is what [‘Stay, I Pray You’ is] saying. That’s how my character feels, and that’s how I’ll portray it.”

Music within the show such as ‘Stay, I Pray You’ is crucial, not only to the progression of the plot, but also to the audience’s feeling that they are being taken on the transition from Russia to Paris alongside the characters. The music changes with the switch of the setting to portray how different the cultures of 1920s Paris and 1920s Russia were, as well as the energy–or lack thereof–within scenes. 

Meghan Magnus, vocal director of “Anastasia,” explains how the music differs from Act One’s Russia to Act Two’s Paris.

“The music fits with both the time period and with the places that [the main character, Anya, is] going. The first act takes place entirely in Russia, so there’s a lot of Russian themes and musical influences… In the second act, which largely takes place in Paris, you have a complete change of mood and character… you have a lot of jazz influence, which was happening in Paris in the 20’s… there’s a complete change musically… which is really exciting,” Magnus said, “I think it’s a great juxtaposition as to what’s happening in Russia versus what’s happening in Europe.”

She also explains how the music also helps the audience understand where the story is in terms of time period and setting at a given point.

“…Thinking about transition music, the music is a character of itself, and also gives you key indicators as to where you are. It gives you indicators as to, are we a flashback into Romanov times? Are we in communist Russia times? Are we in Paris times?… because… we’re jumping all over times and periods throughout the show,” Magnus said.

Even with multiple aspects of the show leading the audience through the plot, none of it can be understood without the actual setting itself. The set for “Anastasia” is a series of video projections that show any location needed within the musical in detail, leaving room for only a few moving pieces to be dealt with on stage. The projections will eliminate any need for audience members to imagine details of the setting, allowing them to fully immerse themselves into every scene.

The hard work behind the scenes of “Anastasia,” whether it be through its actors’ talents, its set, or its music, takes the audience by the hand and guides them through the settings of 1920s Russia and Paris. The show promises to be a journey full of magic and discovery for the audience, and another success for NVD theater.