My Problem with Anastasia the Musical | Movie vs. Musical Analysis

I love theater and musicals, so why not talk about one?! Today I talk about the big problem I have with the Anastasia musical from the changes they made from the screen to stage adaptation. This is my first Movie vs. Musical Analysis, with possibly more to come!

#Anastasia #AnastasiaMusical #MusicalAnalysis

All photos and videos are from the 1997 version of Anastasia, accessed on Disney+. Or they are found by looking up the Anastasia musical on Google. The clip from the Broadway show of the musical was found from Broadway musical Edits, link below.

Songs:
English Country Garden by Aaron Kenny
Night Snow by Asher Fulero
Beneath the Moonlight by Aaron Kenny

Music provided by No Copyright Music:

Music used: Spook by PeriTune

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Follow me on Instagram!

Enjoy! And thanks for watching!

[audreysegedin]

Actually, now that you brought it up, after hearing your point, and as I was reading the comments, I see some people saw Dimitri saving Anya and her Grandmother as a way that he was courageous and selfless. The whole movie and musical we see him just concerned with earning the money, but that one act he did during the revolution was supposed to show us the real Dimitri. At least that seems to be what everyone is saying. And for that, I just made the realization, that they didn’t completely cut that from the musical! Except it wasn’t with Anya. The “In A Crowd Of Thousands” scene I think was the best they could do for their connection in the musical since they had her running with her family for more historical accuracy, but we do know he saved someone. Vlad! At the beginning of the musical, right after the Anastasia auditions but right before they meet Anya, we learn that Vlad was going to be killed, and although we don’t know how, somehow Dimitri saved him. They became friends and ran off together. It isn’t as precious as him saving Anya in the movie, but, it still shows that even through all the chaos, he was willing to help someone who needed it. The musical in my opinion was really good at coming up with more “historical” and “unique” alternatives for everything they changed from the movie. Thank you for letting my pick up on that!😁

[DragonRebelRose]

I agree with you completely, the romance between Dimitri and Anya/Anastasia in the musical felt so...flat, and generic, and typical that I actually ended up hating it. And because *that* romance felt flat, the romance with Gleb the officer felt so much more...interesting and different from what we usually get for romance stories. I mean, it's the *villain* falling for the *hero* ! I LOVE that idea! And also the fact that he was originally played by Ramin Karimloo only adds to Gleb's personality and conviction with his feelings, so bonus points there.

And it's because of those reasons that I ended up shipping Gleb and Anya in the stage musical rather than my forever OTP of Dimitri and Anya/Anastasia. I will always ship the 1997 animated movie version of Dimitri and Anya, but the stage musical brought up the really intriguing idea of an officer tasked with killing the last Romanov and falling for her instead, making him unable to finish his mission. He did it all to save the woman he loved!

[chelseabaker]

I will say this, my main issue was the ending, I did not like the way it ends. For one thing, I feel like the final confrontation between Gleb and Anastasia was anticlimactic and I didn’t like how they have the grandmother and Gleb say “There never was an Anastasia, she was just a beautiful dream.” To me that’s like saying she never existed in the first place, like they’re saying Nicolas II never had a daughter named Anastasia. Now some people might say “no that’s not it, they wanted the musical to be more historically accurate and it’s now known that Anastasia didn’t survive.” Yes I do know that but this is an alternate history story (like an alternate reality) and in the stories reality SHE DID survive

[KoyaKoala]

I completely agree with you!! Dimitri finding out that Anya is Anastasia in the movie, is one of the most impactful scenes in the whole movie. It completely changes Dimitri from then on.
I cannot believe they changed it for the stage!

[kikingo]

As a huge fan of the movie and the musical, I admit, I came into this one a little defensive. Much to my surprise though, I ended up agreeing with many of your points. I feel that what they did with Dimitri was necessary for the realism (her being with her family during the murder), but it really took away from Dimitri's selflessness of the original film. And while I agree "In a crowd of thousands" has some pretty... flat lyrics, it's still one of my favourites, a guilty pleasure if you may.
The addition of Gleb is what saves the musical, in my opinion. I don't miss Rasputin, and Gleb's whole arc is just so compelling, I love how he was written. "Still/The neva flows (reprise)" is the best song in the musical and no one can convince me otherwise.

But yeah, great video, you got yourself a new sub! :v

[StarWarsHour]

I don’t really like Rasputin in the original. Not just because of historical inaccuracies. Even without Anastasia living both are very inaccurate. It’s just that Rasputin isn’t a very compelling threat. He lost every conflict in the movie. He never posses a serious threat. He just looks scary. But not a true villain. Gleb isn’t much of a threatening antagonist but he’s written better.

[little.prince]

I love that they made it more contemporary and historical (as in realistic, not modern), however I still haven’t seen the musical to know exactly how much I like the change. One thing I’ll say is if 100% want to be in it and have a novelization of it.

[alexl.]

Hi. I agree with what you said in the video. I love Stay, I Pray You. Quartet at the Ballet is brilliant!! I loved Gleb as a villain more than Rasputin. Still/The Neva Flows reprise was so haunting. Close The Door was such a heartbreaking song and a good choice to give the Dowager Empress more stage time. In the musical, I also love how they expanded Anya talking her her grandmother. It kind of reminded me of the reunion scene in the 1956 film Anastasia. It started Ingrid Bergman as Ana Koreff, Helen Hayes as the Dowager Empress, and Yul Brynner as Ana’s love interest General Bounine.

I didn’t grow up with the animated movie Anastasia. In fact, I didn’t see it until I was around 18 or 19. I really liked it, but I’m a bigger fan of the stage musical.

[erikajones]

I love that the big reveal was more of an intimate moment between Demitri and Anya, I haven't seen the musical but I've seen clips here and there and from listening to the songs, I would think you could begin to see the closeness of their relationship at around my Petersburg

[jimmymagma]

I have to say even if I love the musical to bits, I completely agree with you on the Dimitri and Anya relationship. I literally just finished rewatching it and the point where Anya yells at Dimitri for using her to get money off the Dowager Empress just felt so unearned. Like it's established at the start of the musical that Anya has some awareness of what they're doing and they convince her by saying if she is Anastasia, the Dowager Empress will know, and if she isn't, no harm no foul. I find Gleb to be a much more compelling love interest not because I want him and Anya get together but because there is actual romantic tension between them. I think the creators of the musical probably thought that audiences would know about Dimitri and Anya being endgame and just let us fill in the blanks instead of putting the work in for a deserved happy ending

[lexalyntof]

the problem i have with the musical is that anastasia loses alot more of her sassiness. it seems like she doesnt know how to stand up for herself in the musical and that she just goes with the con. there wasnt really that much of a convincing anya to come with dimitri in the musical. it was more "hey i need to go to paris, here is my tragic backstory" and then she just agrees to go with them. her character in the musical just seems so dry and fake like a puppet, while all the other characters seem well thought out, and its honestly sad when its her musical.

to the whole romance thing, i feel like her and gleb as a way better romance story than her and dimitri, which says alot coz it was onesided and was shown that way.
if you watch the musical, watch it as a retelling of historical events and not as a live action of the movie

[ashleywalker]

Girl, I just saw a touring version of the play last night. Your words are LITERALLY my exact thoughts! Love it for what it was, but disappointed with some of the changes.

[MissKris]

Just saw Anastasia today and agree with you about the Dimitri/Anya relationship.

[nzcole]

I have Never seen this Broadway musical but now I'm compelled to look up A rendition. Thank you for your highlighting the Strings of both and the differences

[sethdahoodedbandit]

I fall in line more with the philosophy that if a musical is adaptating something well-known, I'd rather see a different take on the story in general. We already have the movie! I could always go watch it if I wanted that story with its lovely animation.

Listening to the musical really made me desperately wish they leaned further into the political dynamic between Anastasia and Gleb, and that the musical just focused more on them as a whole. Gleb was just too interesting of a character to be just another addition to the cast from the film. I'd rather they cut back on some of the callbacks to the film and lean harder into this darker take on the story, personally.

I do still really love the music though! I just needed it to go a bit further, for me personally.

[gradygal]

Love the Broadway musical!! Lily is funny, gleb is a great villain, and the new songs are amazing. I do agree though that Anya and Dimitri’s relationship is better in the movie

[taraburke]

I agree, even if they had a scene and explained that Dimitri TRIED to save her, to keep most of the plot. But also make the impact so much bigger.

[SummersMovingBookshelf]

I feel so vindicated. I made a (bad) video talking about my problems with the musical after I saw it a couple years ago, and my main problem was Anya and Dmitri's relationship, and I go into a full rant about how they destroyed Dmitri's character (I was very unforgiving). I think it would've been better for him not to be in the stage version at all and they could've made a tragic love story between Anya and Gleb.

[lovetolovefairytales]

I have to disagree; Crowd of Thousands was my favorite in the musical, and I loved the change. But I do understand your opinion.

[caitlyngerardi]

Great vid, and I love that you did your hair like stage Broadway Anastasia!!