Jamestown Advanced Theatre Arts class to present 'Anastasia'

Jun. 22—JAMESTOWN — "Anastasia" comes to the stage at Jamestown High School next week, a musical production of the Advanced Theatre Arts class.

Performances are slated at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, June 27-28, in the JHS auditorium.

The musical is a stage version that came out in 2016, said Michael McIntyre, who co-directs the production with his wife, Cheryl. The book is by Terrence McNally with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.

"It was based upon the animated movie from the '90s that told the same story," Michael McIntyre said. "It's a fictional story of a young girl who may have survived the royal family's execution at the hands of those leading the Russian revolution back in the early 1900s ... So the story is of a couple of guys ... deciding they're going to collect a reward for locating any surviving member of that royal family and reuniting her with her grandma who is in exile in France.

"As they plan to try out young ladies for the role of the supposed survivor, it just coincidentally happens that they actually do find a young girl who is the survivor and reunite her with her grandmother," McIntyre said.

The musical includes some comedy but leans more toward drama, he said.

"The show is a little over two hours and it's appropriate for families," McIntyre said. "The original animated movie version had a strong appeal to kids. Some of the sort of 'ridiculous characters' that were in the movie are not included in this. This is ... kind of a more mature look at that same story but it's still designed for the entire family."

There are 37 people involved in the production, including a cast of 28 students ranging from those entering Jamestown Middle School through high school. McIntyre said several graduates of JHS are part of the orchestra.

"Part of what made the movie really successful back in the '90s was some really catchy tunes which were very much like Broadway tunes in themselves," McIntyre said.

He said a little bit of the movie music and many other "great" songs were added to the musical that opened on Broadway in 2017.

Four actors who play the principal roles in the production shared some insight on their characters.

Sophie Bratton plays Anya (Anastasia) and says "She is a very headstrong young woman who is trying to learn about who she really is and reconnect with her past and she goes through a lot of stuff to find out who she actually is."

Anya is fun to play because she has layers, Bratton said, from yelling one moment to being calm the next.

Daniel Nyland portrays Vlad Popov, one of two men looking to make money off a scam to find a woman to portray a member of the royal family after learning the exiled grandmother is offering a reward to be reunited with any possible surviving family members.

"Vlad's kind of a larger-than-life comic relief character, I'd say," Nyland said.

Popov is more gentleman than con artist "but he still definitely is a con artist," Nyland said.

The other con artist is Dmitry, portrayed by Ron Bingham, who says his character came up with the plan to get the money from the scam.

"He didn't have a good childhood," Bingham said of Dmitry. "He grew up on the streets of (St.) Petersburg and has always figured out how to fend for himself which is mostly just scamming other people on the streets."

Nick Huebner has the role of Gleb Vaganov, a member of the Bolshevik military who is part of the crackdown on anyone who doesn't fall in line with the new revolution.

"... he's made out as the sort of villain but really it's only the fact that what he's doing is — it just kind of goes against what the other three characters are doing," Huebner said.

Gleb finds out there are people pretending to be Anastasia and decides to track one of them down, trying to squash rumors there may be a survivor.

"And of course, being a musical, then the two who weren't intending to fall in love, Dmitry and Anya, do before the end and ... well, I won't give it away any farther than that," McIntyre said.

Rehearsals for the production began May 28. The Advanced Theatre Arts class goes beyond learning the lines of the musical and the songs.

"The program involves every student getting responsibility for involvement in off-stage areas as well as on-stage areas," McIntyre said. "The program is intended to try to give people some exposure to set construction, painting, costume selection and design. Also some experience in the public relations side of play promotion."

The McIntyres are in their 29th year leading the Advanced Theatre Arts class. Michael oversees stage direction, scene design and technical direction, while Cheryl oversees music direction, choreography and directs the orchestra.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children under high school age.

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What: "Anastasia"

When: Production: June 27-28, 7 p.m. at JHS.

Tickets: $7 adults, $5 for children, those under high school age.

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Cast: Sophie Bratton, Nick Huebner, Ron Bingham, Daniel Nyland, Ailey Schaffer, Grace Bilowith, Erin Henke, Siri Tweten, Mercy Snow, Libby Grimson, Parker Wallace, Aubrey Blackmore, Kaydence Kietzman, Shelby Dunwoody, Clay Bingham, Sarita San Miguel, Emma Hoke, Jaclyn Olson, Chloe Smith, Emily Trevithick, Atlas Hasbargen, Sheena Walters, Abby Boehm

Tech: Ash Wilson, Aiden Lorenz

Pit Orchestra: Amber Linz, Isaac Hasbargen, Paris McNear, Andy Dalbol, Alivia Hoke, Keane Roorda, Ryan Solinsky, Zach Holben, Kody Sagaser, Cheryl McIntyre

Directors: Michael and Cheryl McIntyre