ANASTASIA Producers Respond to 'Without Merit' Lawsuit

According to an article in the New York Post, French playwright Jean-Etienne de Becdelievre has accused the producers of the upcoming Anastasia musical of plagiarizing material from the 1952 Marcelle Maurette play titled "Anastasia."

The producers have issued an official statement below:

"Plaintiff's case is wholly without merit. While the works may start with the basic idea of the historical story of the real-life Anastasia Romanov, copyright law does not protect ideas or historical facts. Moreover, the works involved are not similar: the Broadway production has a different plot, different characters, and different settings, not to mention the numerous songs that appear in the Broadway musical that do not appear in Plaintiff's straight play. We are particularly disappointed about the filing as the production went out of its way to explain these myriad differences to Mr. Becdelievre to resolve the issue. We look forward to responding to the claims in court."

The new musical, Anastasia, is set to open on Broadway on April 24, 2017 at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street).

The new musical reunites the Tony Award-winning writers of the Broadway classic Ragtime: book writer Terrence McNally, composer Stephen Flaherty, and lyricist Lynn Ahrens. Anastasia features direction by Darko Tresnjak, Tony Award winner for Best Direction of a Musical for A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.

The creative team also includes Peggy Hickey (Choreography), Alexander Dodge(Set Design), Linda Cho (Costume Design), Donald Holder (Lighting Design), Peter Hylenski (Sound Design), Aaron Rhyne (Projection Design), Charles LaPointe(Hair/Wig Design), Thomas Murray (Music Supervision & Direction), Doug Besterman(Orchestrations), casting by Telsey + Company/Craig Burns, CSA. Eric Cornell(Rocky, Small Mouth Sounds) serves as Executive Producer.

The musical recently completed a sold-out, record breaking world premiere engagement at Hartford Stage in CT.

From the creators of the Broadway classic RAGTIME comes a new musical about a brave young woman attempting to discover the mystery of her past, Anastasia.

Inspired by the Twentieth Century Fox Motion Pictures, Anastasia is a romantic, adventure-filled musical that takes audiences from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the euphoria of Paris in the 1920s, all set to a lush score from the Tony Award®-winning team of Terrence McNally (book), Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics). Darko Tresnjak, a Tony Award winner for Best Direction of a Musical for A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, helms the production.

ANASTASIA features beloved songs from the 1997 film, including Ahrens and Flaherty's Oscar-nominated "Journey to the Past," as well as an entirely new score from the Tony Award-winning team.

For the original New York Post article, click here.