Examine

the ways in which you consider Anastasia to be innovative and/or

experimental
Introduction

Whenever one goes to see a musical is mainly because they are looking for an escape, for a
story that will make them forget about the real world. But there are others, who go to be
witness of a story that will make them believe again in love, to be engaged with the
characters, witness their struggles and overall listen with their hearts. Anastasia is a musical
that needs to be felt and understood in a different way than other musicals. It dealt with
casting risks and leaps of faiths in a way. And Even though, like many other musicals they are
using projection mapping as part of their design, this time the production team made
projection mapping design a crucial part of the whole musical, and without it, the effect it has
and its staging wouldn’t have the same impact on the audience.

This essay will examine the ways in which projection mapping design in Anastasia, the musical
in Broadway is innovative and experimental.

Anastasia, The Musical

Anastasia’s is a book musical with an amazing creative team backing it up. It is written by the
celebrated Terrence McNally1 who has received the Tony Award for Best Play for “Love!
Valour! Compassion!” and “Master Class”, as well as the Tony Award for Best Book of a
Musical for “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and “Ragtime”. It is directed by Darko Tresnjak2 who
is known for directing the Tony award winner “A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder” and
an Obie award for directing “The Killers”. The composer is Stephen Flaherty3, who is known
for “Ragtime”, “Once on this island”, “Seussical” and the score of the animated musical movie
of “Anastasia” and the lyrics are written by his long-time collaborator Lynn Ahrens4, who has
worked with him in the productions mentioned before and more. Their projection designer is
Aaron Rhyne5, who is also known for his designs in the Broadway productions of “A

1
McNally is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter.
2
Tresnjak is a Tony, Obie, Drama Desk Award winning director of plays, musicals, and opera.
3
Flaherty is an American composer of musical theatre and film.
4
Ahrens is an American writer and lyricist for the musical theatre, television and film. She has collaborated
with Stephen Flaherty for many years.
5
Rhyne is an American video and projection designer for live theater.
Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”, “Bonnie and Clyde” and Disney large-scale musicals
Frozen and Tangled. Also, the team includes Alexander Dodge, in charge of the sets, Donald
Holder, director of lighting, Peter Hylenski chief of sound and Linda Cho, the costume
designer.

With this promising team the musical had a lot of expectation from the reviewers and the
audience, especially for the ones who grew up loving the animated film in 1997. The job for
McNally was to create a story based on the 1997 animated musical film as well as the 1956
historical drama about the true story of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia,
rumored to have escaped their family’s faith in both occasions.

“What theater artist would not want to take this journey, be he or she a writer, a lyricist, a
composer, a director, a designer? It is an invitation we were all eager and happy to accept”
Terrance McNally (McNally, 2017)

A simple way to tell the plot of Anastasia will be by saying that it is a story about a young
woman named Anya, with no memories but the memory of someone waiting for her in Paris,
who tries to find out who she is or was. A con-man named Dimitry and his partner make her
believe she might be the missing princess Anastasia who has her grandmother looking for her
and is living in Paris. They accompany her to the city of lights, while they are being persecuted
by a Bolsheviks General who is ordered to stop her, arrest her and if needed, kill her, because
no Romanov could be alive and maintain peace with the new order. Through her journey Anya
will end up falling in love with Dimitry forcing her to decide between duty and love, while
facing her past, accepting the present and envision her future.

The way the story starts engages the audience from the beginning. It starts with the Empress
having a tender moment with her young grand-daughter Anastasia talking about how she
needs to go to Paris and will wait for her there and they will be together again. Afterwards,
there is an ensemble moment where the audience gets to meet the court of the Romanov’s
and get a glimpse of their life, also the lovely and appraised costume designs, until it is shown
through a lighting, projection and music change that the happiness will end for the family as
the Bolsheviks invade the palace and the family attempts to escape. The staging of that
moment has a success in showing the feeling of despair the characters go through and the
lighting effects along with the projection of snow at the moment of the disappearance of
Anastasia create the perfect sense of ambiguity. And this is just how it begins, but it sets
perfectly how the whole production will exploit everything they got.

“The story begins in the bejeweled and magnificent court of the Romanovs, continues in the
turbulent, oppressive years of the early Soviet Union and ends in the free-spirited…Paris in
the 1920’s…” Terrance McNally (McNally, 2017)

The marketing of the musical had a different approach than other musicals that tell this kind
of stories. The first poster (See Appendix 1), accomplish the mission to create a mystery and
provokes intrigue of what the show is about, while the final poster (See Appendix 2) plays
with the idea of accomplishing dreams, having a girls back facing the front, to one side you
have what appears to be the Russian Palace and to the other side the Eiffel Tower and without
seeing the girls face the audience can be communicated the desire and hope the character
faces, just like the well-known and awaited song “A Journey to the Past” does in the
production.

What is Projection Mapping?

Projection mapping is a new technique that turns objects into a display surface for video
projection. These objects may be complex landscapes, such as buildings, small indoor objects
or theatrical stages; it depends on the outcome desired. Also, there is specialised software
that allows an object to be mapped on the virtual program that mimics the real environment
it is to be projected on. This technique is used by artists who want to add extra dimensions
and notions of movement onto previously static objects or surfaces. The video is commonly
combined with, or triggered by, audio to create an audio-visual narrative (Jones, 2015).

There are four categories of mapping known as:

• Real-time visual performance (video Jockeying): used in live events where they
interact with music being controlled live, and consist of pre-programmed videos and
combinations of effects and effect overlays.

• Theatrical: where projections are preset and scenes are "cued" on demand, usually in
a set order, in conjunction with an onstage performance, often interactive.

• Static/Interactive: where a display is set up and loops or interacts with the

environment and viewers via programming.
 • Video: where a generally long segmented show is present as a single fluid video that
is not interactive and plays from beginning to end.

The role of Projection Mapping in Anastasia

There are a lot of things the creative team of this musical did that were innovative and some
even would say risky. There are new songs added that complement perfectly the storyline,
the casting of Christine Altomare in the main role, she wasn’t that known in Broadway since
she only had one big role in Mamma Mia in Broadway. Derek Klena as her love interest who
played Fiyero at the 10th anniversary company of Wicked on Broadway. And Ramin Karimloo
as the villain, which is an interesting change since he was last seen as The Phantom in the
Phantom of the Opera and Enjolras at the 25th anniversary of Les Miserables.

However, it is Aaron Rhyne, who assume the risk and had the vision to create an integrate
projection mapping as part of the whole design, being no more just an add-on bonus.

“Projection design is an art form that can add to the theatrical experience and not detract
from it. What are we trying to get the audience to feel and think?” (Mogol, 2017)

It has become a must in productions, it contributes with the “wow” factor and in a way, it
becomes a challenge too, to try to create an environment in 3D and make it an integral part
of the whole set design.

“…The hardest thing is just making sure that every piece of technical equipment is
successfully talking to the other pieces so that everything appears smooth and not like you’re
watching a bunch of computers working.” (Perkins, 2017)

Rhyne set decision on how to blend scenery with video projection made the story a true
journey for everyone involved and help tell the story because it made it easier to understand
the transition from a Tsarist Petersburg to a Communist Russia in act 1 and then to Paris in
the late 20’s in act 2. The iconic moment, the one in everyone’s mind and mouths, is the end
of act 1, when not only does Altomare sings her heart out with the song “Journey to the Past”
but the projection behind shows an Eiffel is discovered right at the moment of the final belt
and, that along with that impressive interpretation brings audiences to tears and joy (See
Appendix 3).
 The image projected against the backdrop of the stage took Altomare breath away when she
first saw it in technical rehearsal.

“I kind of freaked out…There’s an image that shows up, and Darko, the director, just goes,
‘Turn around.’…I jumped up…But it’s not even just that. There were times during tech
rehearsals that we were sitting there watching them tech-ing elements of the show, and we
would just start clapping just because it’s so beautiful and awe-inspiring. You can’t believe
how beautiful it is visually.” - Christy Altomore (Gioia, 2016)

It is also worth telling that every image that the audience gets to experience comes from a
long research that Rhyne did, photos that he took and how he adapted them to heighten
everything on every image to make it look like something magical. He took a bold move to
create this integrated design. This challenge is both innovative and experimental because it
does allow to experience theatre in a whole new level, where there is an actual interaction
with the video and it is just not a video played through but it flows with the story and with
every song.

Another example happens in the scene of the “Quartet Ballet” where everyone is singing
while they are attending to a theatre to see the play Black Swan and the set design looks like
an actual stage within another stage (See Appendix 4) and as soon that number ends the set
changes and you feel you are backstage without actually breaking the story or get the feeling
that the set is the same, it is just done so smoothly and precision that you never get out of
the story.

Conclusion

Anastasia not only is a popular musical in Broadway at the moment but part of their success
is due to the team they have, from the actors involved to the staff. They all worked really hard
on putting this musical together, and one as part of the audience can see that everyone
involved puts their heart and soul to the production. As for the projection design, only Aaron
Rhyne could have done what he did with his design. Since projection mapping has become
important for many musicals, in Anastasia video and set design go hand in hand. It is actually
difficult to picture this musical without it and that is because the whole set works along with
the set.
This musical is innovative because the lighting design, costume designs and set designs make
a crucial part of the whole production, without any of them or a detail missing the show just
wouldn’t be what it is. Cast might change, but the production will endure and will forever
remain in the minds of everyone who witness it.

 Bibliography
1. McNally, T. (2017). Anastasia, the new Broadway Musical. New York: Araca Group.

2. Jones, B. (2015). PMC. Recuperado el January de 2019, de Light Form: http://projection-

mapping.org/whatis/

3. Mogol, A. (3 de June de 2017). PlayBill. Recuperado el January de 2019, de

http://www.playbill.com/article/how-projection-design-is-changing-the-landscape-of-
theatre

4. Gioia, M. (27 de July de 2016). Playbill. Recuperado el January de 2019, de Anastasia’s

Leading Lovers on How the Story Has Been “Enhanced” for the Stage:
http://www.playbill.com/article/anastasias-leading-lovers-on-how-the-story-has-been-
enhanced-for-the-stage

5. Perkins, M. (27 de July de 2017). Live design. Recuperado el January de 2019, de

https://www.livedesignonline.com/theatre/journey-past-projecting-anastasia-broadway

 Appendices
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3

Appendix 4