By Molly Clifford, Staff Writer

When 54 students and six faculty members traveled to New York City to see the new Broadway musical Anastasia on Dec. 10, they enjoyed both an entertaining show and a history lesson all at once.

“The play was historical, educational and just downright beautiful,” said Faina Tarasyuk, the faculty advisor of the campus social life council, who was responsible for organizing the trip.

The play is set during the Russian Revolution, a time period that sophomores had just studied in their AP World History class. The main character, Grand Duchess Anastasia, is part of the Tsar family, and all of her family members but her are killed in the Revolution. Later, she does not remember that she is the Grand Duchess; she believes her name is Anya and that she is an orphan who woke up with amnesia. The play follows her journey of discovering her true self while staying true to historical events.

Students file into Broadway Theatre in New York City to see new Broadway musical Anastasia on Dec. 10. (Photo by Carolyn Litwin)

“After learning in history about the Russian Revolution, I was able to have a historical understanding of the time period before seeing the play,” sophomore Colleen Kelly said. “Then the play also helped me by adding a visual for all the things I learned and making the revolution more personal and memorable.”

As for the freshman class, this was their first Broadway trip with Trinity Hall. “I thought that it was a great trip all around, and I thought that it gave us another opportunity to bond as a community outside of school, which was really fun,” freshman Meredith Sheftel said.

The annual tradition of taking a trip to see a Broadway musical, along with lunch at the famous Ellen’s Stardust Diner before the show, started a few years back, but this year the show was even more relevant to many students because it integrated what they had learned in the classroom and made those history lessons more tangible.

“Every show we saw in the past few years was beautiful in its own way, and I’m looking forward to many more shows to see with the students at Trinity Hall,” Tarasyuk said.