Maggie Christine rehearses a song. Charmain Z. Brackett/Augusta Good News
Maggie Christine rehearses a song. Charmain Z. Brackett/Augusta Good News

‘Anastasia’ brings 80th season home for Augusta Players

Maggie Christine fell in love with the music of “Anastasia” her senior year of high school when she started listening to the soundtrack. By college, it had become such a part of her that she chose one of the songs for her junior recital.

May 9-11 with the Augusta Players, Christine takes the stage as Anya in “Anastasia” at the Imperial Theatre.

“This is one of my dream roles,” she said.

The story of a Russian girl who might be a princess was the subject of a 1997 animated feature and translated to the stage in 2016.

Christina DeCarlo (left) works with actors during a recent rehearsal for “Anastasia.” Charmain Z. Brackett/Augusta Good News

The team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty created the score Christine adored. The duo also wrote the music for productions such as “Seussical: The Musical” and “Ragtime.”

With little dialogue, the music is the main vehicle that drives the story in this show, and Christine’s favorite “Once Upon a December” is threaded throughout the show.

Although the story is set 100 years ago and is about a Russian girl who doesn’t know if she just might be a long-lost princess, it has elements that modern audiences can relate to, she said.

“She’s not just finding out if she’s the lost princess, she’s finding out who she is, she’s finding her friends and her own journey. Everyone has that in life,” she said.

And Anya is also “finding home” which is the theme of the Augusta Players’ 80th season. The main stage season closes with “Anastasia.”

After 80 nomadic seasons, the Augusta Players moved into a permanent home last month. Read more about that here.

“I think really special as we’ve moved into our new building that we’re doing a show and story about looking to your past to find a greater future, and I think that’s a really great way to sum up where the AP is right now,” said Christina DeCarlo, who is directing the show.  

For tickets, go here.

Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.

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