FILM
The villain, Rasputin is based on a Russian psychic of the same name. He is a ghost who once put a curse on the Romanov family. Since Anya was able to escape her family's assassination, his goal was to kill her as well.
Majority of the film is centered on their journey to Paris, but they are only actually in Paris during the last third of the film.
"Journey to the Past" is sung at around the start of the film.
It is shown that Dmitry helped save the young Anastasia and her grandmother escape through a secret passageway during the Russian Revolution where the rest of the Romanovs were killed.
SIMILARITIES
Since the musical is based off the film, the general plot and most storylines are more or less the same.
Six (6) of the songs/tracks from the original movie were retained. (Not including Prologue/Reprises) They are as follows:
- A Rumor in St. Petersburg
- Journey to the Past
- Once Upon a December
- Learn to Do It
- Paris Holds the Key (To Your Heart)
- Meant To Be
STAGE / BROADWAY
Since it is a stage production, many new songs were added to replace some of the dialogue in the movie. A few examples are the songs "We'll Go From There" and "In My Dreams".
The villain in the stage production is a Soviet general named Gleb Vaganov, who is tasked to kill Anya, despite having feelings for her. His father was one of the guards responsible for the assassination of the Romanov family.
Act 1 is set in Russia while Act 2 is set in Paris. At the end of Act 2, Anya sings "Journey to the Past" as they arrive in Paris.
The secret passage plot was removed, but Dmitry's character is given more of a backstory, as seen in the song "My Petersburg".