Anastasia

Anastasia drew me in because it lives between history and myth. It is a story about memory, imagination, and the courage to believe in something greater than what the world allows us to see. Rather than asking only what happened, I was interested in what we choose to hold onto, what we choose to believe, and how hope shapes who we become. The same story reveals different truths depending on where we stand in our own lives. What once felt like fantasy can become longing. What once felt simple becomes beautifully complex.

Our production was designed to feel like memory unfolding. The music box became the central metaphor, holding childhood, imagination, wonder, and the hope of what could be. The Music Box Dancers carried the audience between moments of memory and reality, shaping the emotional landscape of Anya's journey as her past slowly resurfaced. Every design choice sought to create a world that felt both nostalgic and grounding, allowing the audience to experience the story as something familiar, yet constantly shifting.

At its heart, this production became an invitation to trust. It asks us to believe in love, purpose, and the unseen even when certainty feels impossible. That idea mirrored both our season theme of A Shared Purpose and our school's call to humility, asking every student to look beyond themselves and contribute their gifts in service of something larger. My hope was that audiences would leave reminded that some of life's greatest journeys are not about discovering where we came from, but finding the courage to believe where we are being called next.