ABSTRACT the Story of Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova Has Been
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ABSTRACT Title of Thesis: “THE BIGGEST CON IN HISTORY”: AMERICAN MYTH-MAKING IN THE STAGE AND SCREEN ADAPTATIONS OF ANASTASIA Jennifer E. Weyman, Master of Arts, 2018 Thesis Directed By: Associate Professor Olga Haldey, Division of Musicology and Ethnomusicology The story of Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova has been engrained in the American imagination for nearly a century. This tale has often been told on stage and screen, depicting Anastasia and her most famous impersonator: Anna Anderson. The adaptation of Anna and Anastasia’s tale that has made the most lasting impact is the 1951 French play, Anastasia, by Marcelle Maurette, and its 1954 English translation by Guy Bolton. Four more adaptations have followed that progenitor play: the 1956 film, Anastasia; the 1965 operetta, Anya; the 1997 animated film, Anastasia; and the 2017 musical, Anastasia. These five artistic adaptations evolved from one another, navigating their own history alongside changing American values. This thesis situates each production within American sociopolitics of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, revealing how each production is far more indicative of American ideals than Russian history, particularly with regards to immigration, foreign policy, and feminism. “THE BIGGEST CON IN HISTORY”: AMERICAN MYTH-MAKING IN THE STAGE AND SCREEN ADAPTATIONS OF ANASTASIA by Jennifer E. Weyman Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2018 Advisory Committee: Associate Professor Olga Haldey, Chair Associate Professor Patrick Warfield Assistant Professor William Robin © Copyright by Jennifer E. Weyman 2018 Acknowledgements This project would not have been possible without the constant support and understanding of Dr. Olga Haldey, who has endured nearly a year of my work on nothing but Anastasia. I’d also like to thank Dr. William Robin, both for serving on my committee and for allowing me to first embark on this project through the lens of public musicology. In addition, thanks to Dr. Patrick Warfield for bringing an incredibly helpful perspective and a keen editor’s eye to this project. I am also incredibly grateful to Karen Wahl for her constant advice no matter the hour. Thanks are also in order for Leanne Repko and Jessica Estepa for the way they share their unwavering passion for musical theater with me. This project owes special gratitude to Chase Maggiano for his connections in the arts world, and the current production team of Anastasia at Tom Kirdahy Productions, particularly Sally Cade Holmes. Finally, I’d like to thank my mother, whose constant motivation has aided me in all moments of my life. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................... iii List of Figures .............................................................................................................. iv Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review and Methodology ................................................................................... 4 Source Materials for the Anastasia Adaptations ............................................................... 13 Limitations and Terminology ............................................................................................ 15 Outline of Chapters ........................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 1: “Spare Me My Family History!”: Anastasia the Tale ............................... 19 The White Russians .............................................................................................. 23 The Nobles and the Monarchists ........................................................................... 29 Anna Anderson ..................................................................................................... 31 The Evolving Anastasia Adaptations .................................................................... 33 Chapter 2: “I’ll Bless My Homeland ‘til I Die”: Anastasia the Immigrant ................ 46 Long-Distance Nationalism .................................................................................. 48 Homeland Nostalgia and the “Myth of Return” ................................................... 56 “Homeward” and “Homeland” ............................................................................. 62 The Great American Melting Pot .......................................................................... 70 Chapter 3: “Everything’s in Red”: Anastasia the Victim ........................................... 72 The “Acute” Cold War .......................................................................................... 74 The 1997 Film: Reinventing the Villain ............................................................... 79 The 2017 Musical: The Russian Enemy Reforged ............................................... 83 Chapter 4: “Men are Such Babies”: Anastasia the Woman ........................................ 82 The Bolshevik “New Woman” ............................................................................. 91 Fairy Tale Feminism ............................................................................................. 97 Anastasia as Aurora .................................................................................................... 98 Anastasia as Cinderella ............................................................................................. 101 Anastasia as Odette ................................................................................................... 106 Anastasia as…Anastasia? ......................................................................................... 112 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 114 Appendix I ................................................................................................................ 117 Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 120 iii List of Figures Fig. 1: Anya overlooking St. Petersburg, screenshot from Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, dir. Anastasia, 1997; Los Angelas, CA: Twentieth Century Fox Animation Studios, 2005, DVD .................................................................................................................. 56 Fig. 2: Christy Altomare in Anastasia, Photo by Joan Marcus, 2016, Published by the Hartford Stage ............................................................................................................. 56 Fig. 3: “Homeward” ......................................................................................................... 63 Fig. 4: Rachmaninov’s Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5 ............................................. 64 Fig. 5: “In the Dark of the Night” .................................................................................... 67 Fig. 6: “Stay I Pray You” ................................................................................................. 67 Fig. 7: “Let God Arise” .................................................................................................... 81 Fig. 8: Adolf Strakhov, Emancipated Woman – Build Socialism!, 1926, Lithograph on paper, The David King Collection, Tate ..................................................................... 93 Fig. 9 Grigorii Mikhailovich Shegal, Down with Kitchen Slavery!, Russia Soviet Union 1931, Poster, Wikipedia Commons ............................................................................. 93 Fig. 10 Evolution of Anya’s Costumes, screenshots from Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, dir. Anastasia, 1997; Los Angelas, CA: Twentieth Century Fox Animation Studios, 2005, DVD ................................................................................................................ 104 iv Introduction “Goodbye. Don’t forget me. Many kisses from us all to you my darling. Your A.”1 - Anastasia Nikolaevna to tutor Sydney Gibbes, August 1917 On July 17, 1918, Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, fourth daughter to former Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, carried her dog, Jimmy, in her arms as she and the entire Romanov family descended the cellar steps to the basement of the Impatiev House. For nearly two months they had been imprisoned in Yekaterinburg, having spent the last year under house arrest, first in the Alexander Palace, then Tobolsk, and then Yekaterinburg. On that July evening, the family had been woken in the middle of the night and told that they were being moved to a new location. Yet, as the family discovered in a matter of moments, that was a lie. After half an hour of firing, stabbing, and screaming, the smoke that filled the basement finally settled to reveal that the execution was complete. Anastasia had crouched against the wall beside her sister Maria, clutching Jimmy, when multiple bullets had ended her life. She was only seventeen years old.2 On February 27, 1920, Fräulein Unbekannt ("Miss Unknown") leapt into the Landwehrkanal in Berlin to end her life. Refusing to give details of who she was and where she came from, rumors began to circulate regarding her injuries, her bearing,