Whenever he had a show that didn’t work, Jule Styne shouted, “Next!”
Rather than lick his wounds after a flop, he went straight to the piano and started writing a new show. After all, he reasoned, it might be the biggest hit of all time.
Terrence McNally, pro that he is, already is on to the “next!” after “The Visit,” which he wrote with John Kander and Fred Ebb, closed Sunday. This week McNally was at an invitation-only workshop for “Anastasia,” which he’s written with Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, who scored the 1997 animated movie the musical is based on.
“Anastasia” tells the story of the youngest daughter of Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia. A bunch of nasty Bolshies murdered Nicholas and his family in 1918. His daughters had sewn their jewels into their dresses, so they survived the first hail of bullets and had to be finished off with bayonets — a scene that’s not in the animated movie.
Confused accounts of the execution gave rise to the legend that Anastasia somehow managed to escape. Many women claimed to be her, the most famous of whom, Anna Anderson, inspired several books, the 1956 movie “Anastasia” and a good but forgotten 1954 Broadway play.
Anderson turned out to be an imposter, of course. Edvard Radzinsky showed in “The Last Tsar” that Anastasia was killed with the rest of her family. Remains found near the site of the execution in 2007, along with DNA testing, proved that she did die in 1918.
Darko Tresnjak, who staged last year’s Tony-winning “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” is directing. Sources who attended the workshop say he’s made the show tougher and more adult than the kiddie film.
Sources say director Darko Tresnjak has made the show tougher and more adult than the kiddie film.
Ahrens and Flaherty have supplemented their film score with several new and, I’m told, lilting songs. “Journey to the Past,” a song from the movie, was nominated for an Oscar.
Elena Shaddow (“The Bridges of Madison County”) played Anna in the workshop. Ramin Karimloo, Tony-nominated for “Les Misérables,” played Dimitri, a con man who falls in love with Anastasia.
Stage Entertainment, which produced “Rocky” last season, is the money behind “Anastasia.” The show opens at the Hartford Stage, where Tresnjak is artistic director, in the fall. Bill Taylor, the head of Stage Entertainment, is looking for a Broadway theater for spring.
Attending the workshop were reps from the big three theater owners — Shubert, Nederlander, Jujamcyn — who, according to my spies, seemed impressed.
This Broadway season is shaping up to be a good one for new musicals, with “Anastasia,” “School of Rock” and “Waitress.”
Don’t get so cocky on the way to the Tony Awards, “Hamilton”!