Anastasia on Broadway nominated for two Tony Awards

The new hit Broadway musical Anastasia has been nominated for multiple awards, including two Tonys and nine prestigious Drama Desk Awards.

The production has been recognised with Tony nominations for Mary Beth Peil for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and Linda Cho for Best Costume Design.

In the Drama Desk Awards, legendary playwright Terrence McNally is nominated for Outstanding Book of a Musical and shares the honours with others members of his creative team including Stephen Flaherty (Outstanding Music) and Cho (Outstanding Costume Design).

Christy Altomare (Outstanding Actress in a Musical) and Peil (Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical) get a nod each, while the production itself is nominated for Outstanding Musical.

Since its 2016 world premiere in Hartford, Connecticut, Anastasia has also received 13 Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Award nominations, and last year won seven Connecticut Critics Circle Awards.

The musical has also received critical acclaim with NBC-TV calling it “A serious hit” and Time Out New York praising it as “A sweeping adventure, romance and historical epic that piles discovery upon discovery. Its fine craftsmanship will satisfy musical theater fans.” The Wall Street Journal says: “Anastasia is the real thing! Fantastical, intelligent, well-crafted, and exhilarating, Anastasia deserves a coronation!”

Taking audiences back to the days of revolutionary Russia and 1920s Paris, this production – with music and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and Flaherty, and words by McNally – is based on the 1997 film of the same name. This new show includes six of the film’s original songs, including the Oscar-nominated Journey to the Past.

The musical, which is supported by Bruno Wang Productions, tells the story of Anastasia, famously believed to be the only member of the immediate Royal Romanov family to survive the Bolshevik Revolution, who has developed amnesia as a result of the tragedy.

As part of the plot, two Russian conmen find and mould a young girl, Anya (Altomare) – who bears a striking resemblance to the lost princess – into playing the part of Anastasia. They hope to use her to extort money from the Dowager Empress, another survivor of the revolution, who has given up hope of seeing any of her family again. Can the conmen pull off their trick – or is Anya’s true identity more aristocratic than they could possibly have imagined?