ANASTASIA


Anastasia The Musical provides a glorious close to the 2025-2026 La Mirada Theatre season as a Disney-style animated flick for the kiddies gets transformed into an epic romantic musical for grown-ups blessed by one fabulous performance after another and the most gorgeous costumes and cinematic backdrops in town.

Both the 1997 movie and the 2017 Broadway musical tell the highly fictionalized tale of amnesia victim Anya (Lena Ceja), whose looks and age (17 in 1917) make her the ideal candidate to flee Leningrad and present herself to Paris-residing Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (Suzanna Guzmán) as her granddaughter Anastasia (Sofia Aniceto), the executed Tsar and Tsarina’s supposedly sole surviving child.

Enlisted by handsome young con man Dmitry (Dillon Klena) and his more seasoned accomplice Vlad Popov (Peyton Crim), once a member of the Imperial Court, Anya soon finds herself recalling events that only the real Anastasia could possibly remember.

Might it be that Anya and Anastasia are one and the same?

Book writer Terrence McNally wisely jettisons the kids-friendly animated film’s living-dead villain Rasputin, his albino bat sidekick Bartok, and the movie’s rizzable central conceit (that the scarcely mentioned Russian Revolution was just one of Rasputin’s evil schemes) for a more adult-oriented and historically accurate approach.

Instead, we are introduced to diehard Russian revolutionary Gleb Vaganov (Richard Bermudez), a man with an Inspector Javert-like mission to locate and kill the sole possible heir to the throne with the help of the Dowager Empress’s lady in waiting Countess Lily Malladevsky-Malevitch (Sarah Wolter).

Six songs from the movie (“Journey To The Past” and “Once Upon A December” the most famous among them) and over a dozen new additions showcase Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s talent for bridging genres, from Broadway pop to Russian folk to Paris ooh-la-la with director-choreographer Parker Esse serving up one exhilarating dance number after another in genres ranging from traditional Russian moves to waltz to ballet to the twisting feet and swinging arms of the Charleston.

All of this adds up to a musical that may have a G-rated animated film as its source material but becomes an epic cinematic love story when adapted for the Broadway stage.

Though I’ll deduct a few points from Esse’s total score as director for not having reined in some Carol Burnett Show-style shtick at the end of “The Countess And The Common Man,” the performances he has elicited from Anastasia’s six major players are captivating as all get-out.

Leading lady Ceja may be new to L.A. audiences, but not to Chance Theater regulars or those down San Diego way, and if Rent’s Mimi and tick, tick… BOOM!’s Susan showcased Ceja in sexy contemporary mode, the role of Anya reveals the rising star as a classic leading lady with a soprano belt to match some touching dramatic chops.

And no Anya could ask for a more swoon-worthing love interest than Klena, the uber-charismatic star of La Mirada’s Newsies, who graduates here from scrappy newsboy to bona fide romantic hero with Broadway-caliber pipes.

Bermudez, fresh from his triumph as Cervantes/Don Quijote’s Man Of La Mancha, is a Gleb as determined as Inspector Jabert, as handsome as a 1940s matinee idol, and as vocally blessed as a musical theater star can get.

Bearded basso Crim makes for a charmingly roguish Vlad, the divine Wolter invests Countess Lily with oodles of sophistication and continental flair, and opera star Guzmán effectively buries a decade of pain and loss under a hardened façade.

Ensemble members Aniceto, Tucker Boyes (Count Leopold), Wes Dameron, Lauren Decierdo (Tsarina Alexandra), Michael Deni (Tsar Nicholas III), Christopher Ho (Sergei The Russian Doorman), Anton Harrison LaMon (Prince Seigfried), Tayler Mettra (Marfa), Shanon Mari Mills (Countess Gregory), Natalie Palmgren (Dunya), dance captain Kyle Vaughn (Gorlinsky, Count Rothbart), Rasha Willes-Samaha (Odette), and Toni Elizabeth White reveal triple-threat gifts throughout as suitors, soldiers, comrades, ghosts, Parisians, White Russians, waiters, reporters, and Swan Lake cygnets, with special mention due LaMon, Vaughn, and Willes-Samaha for their balletic grace and a delightful Elayne Cowden (alternating with Annabelle Bergold) as Little Anastasia and Alexei Romanov.

Rented sets, costumes, and video wall projections give Anastasia the look of a Hollywood period epic enhanced by Jennifer Edwards’ vibrant lighting, with additional local design kudos shared by Josh Bessom (sound), Kaitlin Yagen (hair, wigs, and makeup), and Kevin Williams (additional props).

Last but most definitely not least, music director Ryan O’Connell once again does a bang-up job not only with cast vocals but in conducting the production’s crème-de-la-crème orchestra, one that features both associate conductor Jennifer Lin and frequent SoCal MD Anthony Zediker on keyboards (and how classy is that!).

Casting is by Julia Flores. Michael Laverde and Sabrina Marielle are swings. Maria Turnage is associate director. Julian Olive is production stage manager and Lisa Palmire and Audrey Colindres are assistant stage managers. David Elzer is publicist.

Anastasia may not be the musical for small children that some parents might be expecting, but those old enough to find themselves entranced by epic tales set in dramatic times will appreciate the senses-thrilling, heartstrings-tugging international smash for what it is, a musical as sumptuous as it is romantic, and gorgeously sung to boot.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Boulevard, La Mirada. Through June 28. Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays at 8:00, Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00, and Sundays at 1:30 and 6:30.
www.lamiradatheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
June 6, 2026
Photos: Jason Niedle

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

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