Anastasia Lyrics – All Songs from the Musical

"Anastasia" – The Musical Guide & Song Meanings

Review

“Anastasia” asks you to mourn a girl you barely know, then hum along as if grief is a souvenir. That’s the show’s central paradox. The lyrics keep reaching for “home” and “memory,” but the plot is fundamentally a con game: two men coach a stranger to impersonate a lost princess, and everyone agrees not to look too hard at the ethical mess because the waltz is pretty.

Lynn Ahrens writes best when she lets longing stay complicated. “In My Dreams” isn’t only hope, it’s an argument with the void. “Journey to the Past” is not nostalgia, it’s a decision, sung at the edge of terror. When the show is working, the text is obsessed with identity as performance: Anya becomes “Anastasia” by learning gestures, diction, posture, and how to narrate her own pain on cue. The lyrics often echo that training, repeating phrases until they feel rehearsed on purpose, as if the character is trying a self on in front of us.

Musically, Stephen Flaherty splits the difference between old-world sweep and Broadway propulsion. There are waltz shadows (“Once Upon a December”) that keep returning like a scent, and there are bright ensemble patterns (“A Rumor in St. Petersburg”) that sell the hustle. The score is sentimental, yes, but it’s also wired for narrative mechanics: songs are used as lessons, disguises, threats, and bargaining chips. Even the romantic numbers carry a transactional edge because Dmitry’s desire is tied to the scam until it isn’t.

How It Was Made

“Anastasia” (2017) is a stage reinvention of the 1997 animated film, built by the original songwriters and given a new book by Terrence McNally. Ahrens and Flaherty have been unusually candid about the craft problem: they wanted the iconic film songs, but they also needed a stage structure strong enough to justify them. In a later track-by-track essay, they describe returning to their older material and reworking it so it could feel specific to stage characters rather than floating as movie nostalgia.

The biggest structural rewrite is the villain. The stage version drops the film’s supernatural Rasputin element and replaces it with a new antagonist, Gleb, a Bolshevik officer designed to make the danger political instead of cartoonish. Ahrens has explained that Gleb’s backstory emerged from character conversations, including the idea that his father could have been involved in the Romanov executions, a generational shadow that turns duty into obsession. That shift also changes the lyric palette. The threats stop being gothic and start being bureaucratic. “The Neva Flows” isn’t a spell, it’s ideology sung as certainty.

Key Tracks & Scenes

"Prologue: Once Upon a December" (Dowager Empress, Little Anastasia)

The Scene:

St. Petersburg, 1907. A palace memory staged like a music box: warm light, formal movement, and a lullaby tone that feels too delicate for what the audience knows is coming. The Dowager’s farewell is ritualized, as if tradition itself is trying to freeze time.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric makes memory tactile. “Once upon” isn’t just fairy-tale language, it’s denial language. The words are already turning the past into a story because the present can’t hold it.

"A Rumor in St. Petersburg" (Dmitry, Vlad, Ensemble)

The Scene:

1927, a city running on gossip. The crowd snaps into motion around Dmitry and Vlad as they sell a myth like street merchandise. Lighting tends to stay bright and busy, the stage treated as a marketplace of attention.

Lyrical Meaning:

This is the show admitting its own business model. A rumor is a product. The lyric’s speed is the point: if you don’t slow down, you don’t have to think about who profits from the lie.

"In My Dreams" (Anya)

The Scene:

Anya alone, with the city noise dimmed into distance. The staging often isolates her in a pocket of cooler light, making the space feel larger and colder than it was during the ensemble bustle.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric frames identity as a half-remembered melody. She can’t name her past, but she feels it pulling. The song is less about what she remembers and more about what refuses to let her go.

"Learn to Do It" (Vlad, Dmitry, Anya)

The Scene:

A training montage as musical comedy. Etiquette becomes choreography. The light stays playful, almost tutorial-like, and the physical humor sells the scam as charming before the story asks you to accept it as fate.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyrics are instruction manuals for performing class. The show uses comedy to reveal something sharp: nobility here is a set of learnable behaviors, which means it was always, at least partly, theater.

"Once Upon a December" (Anya, Ensemble)

The Scene:

Memory breaks through the present. The staging leans into a waltz atmosphere, with the world briefly turning elegant and unreal. The lighting tends toward silvery nostalgia, as if the past has its own color temperature.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric is a haunting that sounds like a lullaby. It romanticizes what was lost, then quietly admits the cost: she is in love with a version of herself she cannot verify.

"Journey to the Past" (Anya)

The Scene:

Act I finale. Anya stands at a threshold, choosing motion over paralysis. The number is typically staged with forward-facing resolve, the space widening as if the world is finally granting her a horizon.

Lyrical Meaning:

It’s an anthem built from verbs: go, find, learn, remember. The lyric isn’t asking for a miracle. It’s declaring that she will survive the search, even if the answer hurts.

"Close the Door" (Dowager Empress)

The Scene:

Paris, Act II. A private room, a private grief. The Dowager controls the space like a fortress, shutting out noise and possibility. Lighting is often concentrated and domestic, built for a face that refuses to soften.

Lyrical Meaning:

This is trauma as policy. The lyric doesn’t just say she’s in pain. It shows how pain turns into rules, how love gets rationed to avoid disappointment.

"In a Crowd of Thousands" (Dmitry, Anya)

The Scene:

A romantic pause in public space. People move around them while they lock into each other. The staging often creates a corridor of focus, as if the crowd becomes scenery and the two of them become the only text.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric treats recognition as revelation. It’s also Dmitry’s pivot point: the scam begins to collapse because he’s seeing a person, not a role.

"Quartet at the Ballet" (Anya, Dmitry, Dowager Empress, Gleb)

The Scene:

At the ballet, elegance as pressure. Music and manners become surveillance. The lighting feels formal and glittering, but the emotional temperature drops because every character is trapped inside what they must pretend.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric is four private monologues stacked on the same moment. Everyone wants something different, and nobody can say it cleanly. It’s the show’s clearest proof that identity here is a performance staged under threat.

Live Updates

In 2025-2026, “Anastasia” is actively touring in new markets rather than sitting as a closed Broadway property. Australia is the biggest headline: the production has an official Australian site and an announced run at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre from 20 December 2025 through 20 February 2026, with published ticket ranges from $69.90 to $255.85. The Australian cast list is also public, led by Georgina Hopson (Anya), Robert Tripolino (Dmitry), Joshua Robson (Gleb), Rodney Dobson (Vlad), Rhonda Burchmore (Countess Lily), and Nancye Hayes (Dowager Empress). The schedule extends beyond Melbourne, with touring stops promoted for Perth (from March 2026), Sydney (from April 2026), and Adelaide (from August 2026), and accessibility performances are being built into the calendar, including an Auslan-interpreted performance listed for February 2026 in Melbourne.

For producers and schools, the show’s evergreen life is licensing. Concord Theatricals holds worldwide licensing rights and has made the title available for school productions in North America, which is why you keep seeing “Anastasia” pop up in youth and regional programming even when a major tour isn’t in your city.

Notes & Trivia

• The stage musical includes a mix of retained film songs and a large slate of new numbers; the creators and director have said the stage version is structurally a new piece rather than a simple transfer.
• The supernatural Rasputin plotline from the animated film is removed for the stage, replaced by the Bolshevik officer Gleb to shift the conflict into political danger and moral pressure.
• Ahrens has described building Gleb’s psychology with a generational backstory, including the idea that his father participated in the Romanov executions.
• “Journey to the Past” is the Act I closer in the Broadway song sequence, staged as Anya’s public choice to leave and search.
• The U.S. tour and some international productions altered portions of the Act II sequence, including swapping “Crossing a Bridge” for a different reprise structure in some versions.
• Design has been a constant talking point. Some critics praised the lush costume language, while others called out a projection-heavy aesthetic that can flatten the world into screens.
• The original Broadway cast recording was released by Broadway Records on June 9, 2017.

Reception

In 2017, the critical split was clear: many liked the score and the visual gloss, while questioning the show’s dramatic weight and its relationship to the real history it borrows. Years later, that argument has only sharpened. The 2025 Australian premiere reviews show how contemporary audiences are less willing to accept a romanticized Romanov frame without friction. When the writing tries to make revolution feel like scenery, critics notice. When the lyrics focus on personal survival, audiences still respond, because that part is honest.

A few great performances can’t save a musical that fudges history and narrative stakes in service of sentiment and sparkle.

A star-studded “Anastasia” sacrifices historical bite for a paint-by-numbers story.

Technical Info

• Title: Anastasia
• Year: 2017 (Broadway opening); premiered in Hartford in 2016 before Broadway
• Type: Stage musical adapted from the 1997 animated film
• Book: Terrence McNally
• Music: Stephen Flaherty
• Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens
• Director: Darko Tresnjak
• Selected notable placements: “A Rumor in St. Petersburg” early Act I; “Journey to the Past” Act I finale; “Close the Door” early Act II; “Quartet at the Ballet” mid Act II
• Label / album status: Original Broadway Cast Recording on Broadway Records, released June 9, 2017
• Availability: Widely available on major music platforms; physical releases via Broadway Records storefront
• Licensing: Worldwide theatrical licensing and rentals through Concord Theatricals; school licensing announced for North America
• 2025-2026 activity: Major Australian premiere and tour schedule (Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide) with public ticketing pages and cast listings

FAQ

Is “Anastasia” based on the real Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov?

It borrows the legend, not the verified history. The musical is adapted from the 1997 animated film and uses the survival myth as its engine, then builds a fictional con-artist plot around it.

Why did the stage musical remove Rasputin?

The creators replaced the supernatural villain with Gleb, a Bolshevik officer, to ground the danger in political reality and give the story a different moral pressure.

Where does “Journey to the Past” happen in the show?

In the Broadway sequence, it lands as the Act I finale, staged as Anya’s decision to leave St. Petersburg and pursue the truth about her identity.

Is there an official cast album?

Yes. The Original Broadway Cast Recording was released by Broadway Records on June 9, 2017.

Is “Anastasia” touring in 2025-2026?

Yes in Australia, with a Melbourne season (Dec 2025 to Feb 2026) and announced touring stops that extend into 2026, supported by official ticketing and cast pages.

Key Contributors

Name	Role	Contribution
Lynn Ahrens	Lyricist	Writes the show’s central vocabulary of longing, memory, and self-invention; shaped new material for Gleb’s ideological threat.
Stephen Flaherty	Composer	Balances waltz-driven nostalgia with Broadway drive; reworked film themes for stage architecture.
Terrence McNally	Book writer	Reframed the animated film into a stage con narrative and created the political antagonist structure.
Darko Tresnjak	Director	Led the Broadway staging and shaped the show’s pacing between spectacle and chase-thriller tension.
Linda Cho	Costume designer	Built the production’s visual identity through period silhouettes and transformation-driven wardrobe storytelling.
Donald Holder	Lighting designer	Created the show’s shift from palace warmth to revolutionary cold and Parisian glow, emphasizing memory versus reality.
Aaron Rhone	Projection designer	Defined a screen-forward scenic language that many reviews cite as central to the show’s look and debates about its texture.
Georgina Hopson	Performer	Leads the 2025-2026 Australian cast as Anya, anchoring a new major-market premiere and national tour.
Nancye Hayes	Performer	Plays the Dowager Empress in Australia, bringing weight to “Close the Door” and the show’s moral reckoning.

Sources: Official Anastasia trailer (YouTube), Wikipedia, Playbill, The Interval, Concord Theatricals, Broadway Records, The Guardian, The Australian, Time Out Federation Square, Ticketek, Anastasia the Musical Australia (official site).