Being the very first Highschool in Utah to perform Anastasia, Davis high’s theater department is very anxious. Not only is the stage crew building the entire set from the ground up, but this show will also feature a live orchestra instead of the normally recorded soundtrack.

Set in the 1920s, a young woman named Anya sets out to discover who she really is. Finding some friends Dmitry and Vlad along the way, these three characters have to find ways to escape the dangerous Russian law in an attempt to flee to Paris, doing this in the hope to meet the Dowager Empress who is about to give up hope on ever finding her long lost granddaughter Anastasia.

Some of the talented actors in this musical include: Brynn Brady playing Anastasia/Anya, Kenzie Carter playing Dunya/Tatiana, McKenna Plowman playing Marfa, Nathan Peterson playing Vlad, John Morley playing Dmitry, and Annee Steck playing Dowager Empress.

While rehearsing for this show, these actors/actresses have found some parallels between the story that is being told and between our current reality, “In the show, the Romanovs royalty is overthrown by the army of the common people in our first or second number, this whole song is about the common people making fun of the government because the government is messing up their country and way of life. All of these commoners are talking about starting a revolution, but they themselves don’t know how to do any better.” McKenna elaborates.

“Anya is a very lost person, and she has Amnesia, she doesn’t know who she is and throughout the show she discovers herself. I feel that in high school, all of us are kind of lost and we’re all just trying to figure out who we are and I don’t think that Anya could have done it without Vlad and Dmitry. Really, this relates to how your friends can help you find out who you are.” Brynn explains.

According to Kevin Kinder, a critic in the fine arts department, the underlying message of this musical is “We can always change. But it’s what we believe that will be what others believe, too.”