Review: La Mirada Theatre’s ‘Anastasia’ Delivers a Grand Journey Worth Taking

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment have punctuated their record-breaking 2025-26 season with an enchanting sign-off, delivering an Anastasia that not only bests the national tour which came through L.A. in October 2019, but features arguably personal-best performances by many of its principal cast members.

That distinction stems not from a reinvention of the material, but from the confidence with which this production embraces its strengths. Inspired by Marcelle Maurette’s play, as adapted by Guy Bolton, and later reworked into a stage musical by playwright Terrence McNally, composer Stephen Flaherty, and lyricist Lynn Ahrens, Anastasia has always occupied an unusual space between history, folklore, romance, and fairy tale.

The musical derives its fictionalized what-if retelling from the very real history surrounding the Romanov family’s execution in 1918 entwined with the enduring legend that the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, may have secretly survived. The stage adaptation also pragmatically strips much of the animated film’s supernatural fantasy in favor of a more grounded story about identity, recollection, and belonging. Under Parker Esse’s highly focused direction and choreography, those themes emerge with spellbinding significance.

The story follows Anya, an impecunious young woman sweeping streets in post-revolutionary Russia suffering from amnesia. When two enterprising schemers, Dmitry and Vlad, identify her as a potential candidate to impersonate the long-lost Anastasia for financial gain — specifically the reward being offered by Anastasia’s Paris-exiled grandmother, the Dowager Empress — a multi-country odyssey begins that stretches from Saint Petersburg to Paris. Yet what starts as a calculated deception gradually evolves into something far more complex as Anya’s memories begin surfacing and those around her are forced to consider whether the impossible may in fact be true.

The production rises and falls on the shoulders of its leading lady, and Lena Ceja, making her La Mirada debut, proves more than equal to the challenge. From her earliest moments navigating an uncertain existence, Ceja establishes a character whose sincerity is infallible. Every expression feels truthful, and every hesitation to deceive resonates meaningfully. Even when circumstances encourage Anya to participate in Dmitry’s increasingly elaborate plan, Ceja never loses sight of the persona’s innate decency.

Vocally, Ceja is exceptional, striking awe with a belt that wallops even seasoned theatergoers. “A Secret She Kept” becomes a showcase for her emotional accessibility, while the Act-I closer “Journey to the Past” earns its thunderous ovation through sheer conviction rather than merely vocal excess. Ceja’s voice possesses both crystalline tone and bountiful force, but what distinguishes her performance is her ability to invite audiences into Anya’s world. By the time the musical reaches its peaks in Act II, viewers are fully invested in her search not simply for royal lineage, but for self-understanding.

Opposite her, Dillon Klena delivers an almost startlingly natural turn as Dmitry. What could easily become a stock romantic lead instead emerges as a fully realized young man, with an intriguing edge, caught between street-smartened survival instincts and unexpected vulnerability. Klena charts Dmitry’s transformation with precision, showing how Anya gradually alters his character’s once-cynical worldview.

His singing is equally impressive. Numbers such as “My Petersburg” reveal a performer capable of navigating demanding vocal terrain with apparent ease, while his dialogue work remains sharp and grounded. Perhaps most importantly, Klena and Ceja generate the kind of chemistry that cannot be manufactured. Their scenes together possess an organic warmth that makes the romance feel earned through ups and downs, and audience reactions throughout suggest just how engrossed viewers become in their connection.

Peyton Crim brings buoyancy and impeccable comic timing to Vladimir “Vlad” Popov, the former aristocrat whose optimism remains intact despite the upheaval surrounding him. Crim understands intuitively when to lean into humor and when to reveal the deeper affection motivating Vlad’s support of Anya. Much of that success stems from his pairing with Sarah Wolter’s Countess Lily, the lady-in-waiting to the Dowager Empress.

Wolter sweeps onto the stage with confidence, glamour, and just enough play-hard-to-get mischief to keep everyone around her slightly off balance. Her reunion with Vlad generates some of the evening’s biggest laughs, particularly during “The Countess and the Common Man,” where both performers expertly weaponize flirtation, resistance, and anticipation. Their push-and-pull dynamic and magnetic physicality produce wave after wave of laughter before culminating in exactly the payoff audiences hope for.

As Gleb Vaganov, Richard Bermudez supplies the production with a formidable dramatic counterweight. The Soviet officer tasked with pursuing Anya could easily become a one-dimensional antagonist, but Bermudez locates the uncertainty lurking beneath Gleb’s ideological commitment to the revolutionary cause. His performance is driven by an ever-present tension between inherited obligation and personal conscience, allowing audiences to understand the character even when disagreeing with his choices.

The role’s vocal demands are considerable, and Bermudez meets them with authority. His rich instrument carries both a bellowing punch and fragility, notably during moments of internal conflict. It is a captivating performance that surpasses even his tour-de-force portrayal of Don Quixote/Miguel de Cervantes in Musical Theatre West’s Man of La Mancha earlier this year, revealing yet another dimension of his considerable breadth as a performer.

Much of the emotional resonance of the production, however, belongs to Suzanna Guzmán’s Dowager Empress. Guzmán offers tremendous dignity to a woman whose grief has calcified into guarded skepticism after years of disappointment and false hope. Her eventual scenes opposite Ceja rank among the musical’s most affecting exchanges because Guzmán refuses easy sentimentality. The longing, reluctance, and finally acceptance emoted through the part give the reunion scene so much poignancy that some tears may be shed. Much as she did as Abuela Claudia in MTW’s In the Heights, Guzmán earns respect through her veteran presence and unadulterated passion.

Among the ensemble, Michael Deni deserves special recognition for inhabiting multiple roles with discrete characterizations, ensuring that each appearance feels fresh rather than repetitive. Elayne Cowden, sharing her role with Annabelle Bergold, provides an endearing young Anastasia whose innocence immediately establishes the stakes of the story.

Particular praise is also owed to the performers featured during the “Quartet at the Ballet” Swan Lake sequence. The superlatively polished Rasha Willes Samaha as Odette, the tremendously athletic Anton Harrison LaMon as Prince Siegfried, and the impressively agile Kyle Vaughn as Von Rothbart execute the ballet with such refinement that, for several minutes, one could easily forget they are watching a musical rather than a dedicated dance production.

Esse’s direction demonstrates a keen understanding of pacing and visual storytelling. The production never lingers too long in any one location or mood, moving fluidly between romance, comedy, suspense, and spectacle. His choreography proves equally effective. “Learn to Do It” bursts with personality and seamless movement among Anya, Dmitry, and Vlad; the train sequence maintains a sense of forward momentum; and the aforementioned ballet successfully intertwines narrative development with kinetic grace. Even a brief Cossack-inspired dance early in the second act injects fresh energy into the proceedings.

The visual presentation consistently exceeds expectations. Andrew Hammer’s original set design, paired with Aaron Rhyne’s projections, creates an expansive world that shifts between imperial grandeur and post-revolution hardship. The combination conveys a scale typically associated with touring Broadway productions while maintaining an intimacy tailor-made for La Mirada.

Furthermore, Ricky Laurie’s costumes vividly contrast poverty and privilege, dressing aristocrats in sumptuous elegance while never losing sight of the harsher realities facing the proletariat. Jennifer Edwards’ lighting design bathes scenes in inviting warmth one moment and chilling austerity the next, while Josh Bessom’s sound design ensures Ryan O’Connell’s excellent orchestra is bolstered with sonorous pomp and oomph. Kaitlin Yagen’s hair, wig, and makeup work further enriches the period atmosphere.

What ultimately separates this Anastasia is its ability to balance pageantry with the humanity of its characters. Beneath the lavish costumes, soaring melodies, and overarching romance lies a story about people searching for pieces of themselves that history attempted to expunge. La Mirada Theatre and McCoy Rigby Entertainment have assembled a company that has absorbed that prevailing truth, conveying it with consummate consistency. As a finale to a historic season, it is difficult to imagine a more fitting choice for a musical before Little Shop of Horrors kickstarts the 2026-27 campaign in the fall.

Cover image caption: Left to right are Dillon Klena and Lena Ceja in the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment production of Anastasia at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in La Mirada, CA. Photo is by Jason Niedle.

For tickets and further information to La Mirada Theatre and McCoy Rigby Entertainment’s production of Anastasia, which runs through Sunday, June 28th, visit lamiradatheatre.com.