Review of Anastasia the Musical
From Russia with love from Anastasia
There are two things Anastasia has in common with Taylor Swift and I feel both are worth celebrating. First, glitter. And when has glitter ever made anything worse? Second, American accents. Which, in a musical about Russia and France performed in Sydney by Australians, did initially make my brain do a tiny, confused pirouette.
I spent at least the first part of the show wondering whether the entire cast had been airlifted in from New York. I can spot a fake Australian accent at fifty paces. Most of us can. We’ve all endured the occasional horror show, where an actor sounds less “from Bondi” and more “English backpacker who once changed planes in Brisbane”. But fake American accents? That is not my specialist subject. So imagine my surprise when I discovered these were Australian performers putting on American accents in order to sound, apparently, Broadway-authentic.
And yes, there is a reason for this. Musical theatre, being its own highly specific and faintly glamorous universe, tends to preserve the original sound of a major Broadway production. There is also the practical matter that American vowels apparently sit rather beautifully in contemporary musical theatre scores, making songs easier to sing with clarity and punch. Add to that the international commercial logic of giving the show a familiar global sound, and there you have it. My confusion was real, but so, in fairness, is the theatre logic.
American accents aside, I absolutely loved this production.
Anastasia is a winter fantasy with shimmer
It is visually sumptuous from the get-go. You are plunged into a snowy, sparkling world of imperial Russia, all white ballgowns, chandeliers, swirling dancers and frost-tipped grandeur. It is a winter fantasy with enough shimmer to make a magpie pass out. Then, as the story moves from tsarist splendour to Soviet bleakness and eventually to Paris in the 1920s, the design changes with it in a way that feels genuinely magical.
One of the smartest things about this production is the way the video and set design work together. Rather than using projections as a flashy add-on, the whole visual world feels integrated. Windows and physical scenery melt into cinematic landscapes so that St Petersburg and Paris all seem to untwirl around the characters. The result is lush and so pretty you almost want to applaud the backdrop on its own.
The set design is like a Fabergé egg
The set design is especially clever. Built around an arched wall and turntables that allow for beautifully smooth transitions, it has the elegance of a palace and the intimacy of a music box. It even suggests a Fabergé egg, which is exactly the right note for a story this emotionally glossy. It creates a world that feels storybook-rich without ever becoming cluttered.
And then there is the music. Anastasia began life as the 1997 animated film, with songs by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and for the stage they have expanded that score into something richer. You can hear the blend of influences throughout, Russian choral traditions, folk textures, classical ballet flourishes and, later, the fizz and snap of 1920s Paris. It gives the whole piece a lovely sense of travel.
As for the story, it is very much a modern fairy tale. We know now, through DNA evidence, that the real Anastasia Romanov died with her family. So this is not history in any literal sense. But theatre is not a courtroom and fairy tales do not survive because they are factually tidy. They survive because they speak to longing, identity, loss and hope. This one asks us to imagine that someone lost to history might still find her way home, and there is something undeniably moving in that, even when you know perfectly well it did not happen.
The show also sketches the harshness of the Soviet era more sharply than the brutality of the Romanov world that preceded it. History buffs may wish for a little more complexity there. But as a theatrical journey, it works. The emotional logic is clear. The world closes in and then Paris bursts like a champagne cork.
Rhonda Burchmore as Countess Lily
My standout performance was Rhonda Burchmore as Countess Lily, who arrives in a yellow ballgown and steals the room by the sheer force of fabulousness. Her scenes at the Russian club were among my favourites, partly because they felt steeped in that more distinctly Russian theatrical energy, with the dancing and music giving the production an extra kick.
The rest of the cast is glorious. Georgina Hopson as Anya has that rare leading-lady thing where she manages to be strong and vulnerable. Robert Tripolino’s Dmitry brings charm and just the right amount of swagger. Joshua Robson gives Gleb a real emotional weight, Rodney Dobson’s Vlad is a total delight, and Nancye Hayes AM, brings such dignity and feeling to the Dowager Empress that every moment she is on stage lands exactly where it should. Altogether, it is a cast so strong you rather want to stand up afterwards and personally thank them for their service.
So yes, Anastasia is a polished and undeniably artificial confection. It is a fairy story served on a silver platter, with a side order of sequins and impossible hope. But it is done beautifully. The sets are dazzling, and the costumes are luscious and the music is stirring. The whole thing has such confidence and style that resisting it would feel curmudgeonly.
For anyone with a soft spot for a properly magical night at the theatre, this is a delight. And for the little princesses in your family, or indeed the fully grown ones, it is likely to go down very well.
Showing at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney until July 18, 2026.
