This spring, Crown Point High School Theatre is transporting audiences to the early years of Soviet Russia, and to the glamor of 20th century Paris with their production of “Anastasia.”
Adapted from Disney’s 1997 animated film, the musical brings to life the legend of Grand Duchess Anastasia, the youngest daughter of the last Russian Tsar who was fabled to have escaped her family’s assassination.
An ambitious production and huge in scope - the students of CPHS Theatre were thrilled to put the show, which opened on Friday night, together. Among those most excited was Nathan Coronado, who just transferred into the school after moving to the area this year. He is playing Gleb, a Soviet officer tasked with hunting down Anastasia.
“When I auditioned and got the role, the first thing I did was sit down and watch an hour long YouTube documentary about the history of Russia,” he said. “ It’s been a lot of fun to get into the role, he’s actually a pretty complicated character. I’ve spent a lot of time working out the details of the character and how I want to portray him.”
Antagonists with sympathetic motives, protagonists with questionable backgrounds, and a setting filled with conflict all make for a dense production. Rosalie Degenhart, who portrays the title character, loved the challenge.
“Anastasia is such an in-depth character, she’s really complex,” she said. “It’s been so fun to become her because she's such a strong, independent woman. I want to be just like her, and I’ve become more confident in myself because she’s confident. It’s just been amazing.”
A diverse array of sets, musical numbers, dances, costumes, and technical showcases round out the effort from CPHS Theatre.
“I think this production is amazing,” said Hannah Gerner, who plays the Dowager Empress - Anastasia’s last surviving family member. “Everyone’s put so much time and effort into this, I think it’s going to blow people’s minds when they see it. It’s just such a good story with such a good message, I can’t wait for people to see it.”
Anastasia has showings on March 12, 18, and 19 at 7 p.m., as well as March 13 & 20 at 2:30 p.m. Learn more and find tickets at https://sites.google.com/cps.k12.in.us/cphstheatre/home.