Anastasia

For Christmas of 2019 I had bought Brett and Meg tickets to see Anastasia.  Both had said that it was the Broadway musical that they most wanted to see and I was happy to have been able to find tickets for  a May 2020 performance in Indianapolis.  I had purchased pairs of tickets for both and said that I would definitely go with them if their friends were unavailable.

Unfortunately, due to the pandemic all Broadway performances were cancelled in the spring of 2020.  Brett and Meg were disappointed, but were hopeful that they would still be able to see it one day.  None of us realized at the time that Broadway shows would be put on hold for over a year.  Thankfully, when musicals resumed, IU Auditorium announced that Anastasia would be part of their line up for the 2021-2022 season.  As a priority member I was able to buy tickets last summer and today Brett and Meg were finally able to see one of their favorite animated movies come to life on the stage.  As an added bonus Meg's friend, Carson, and I were able to join them.

The four of us arrived well before the 7:30 p.m. start time tonight as I was concerned about parking and getting to the auditorium on time.  Fortunately, there were no issues and we were in the balcony area before the doors even opened.  Meg had remembered that I picked four seats together in a row by itself directly in the middle of the auditorium.  They were perfect for tonight's performance.

The first act of the musical was Brett, Meg and Carson's favorite part of the show.  It followed the movie almost exactly, thankfully leaving off our least favorite characters, Rasputin and his bat, Bartok.  The three of them knew the words to every song.  I even had to "remind" Brett with an elbow to the arm not to sing along.  We all got a laugh out of that.  The first half was also the most historically accurate which added to their enjoyment.  The second act was my favorite part as it was a little more lighthearted.  I had always found the story of the Romanov family depressing, so it was nice to have levity in a sad story.  Overall, the musical was exactly what we had hoped for and we were extremely glad to have finally gotten a chance to see it in person.   Brett had been to several shows this fall and Meg had attended a concert this summer, but for me it was the first live performance since we saw Book of Mormon in 2019.  It was a wonderful feeling to be back in the theater.