A developmental lab of a new stage version of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's animated musical Anastasia is planned for Pearl Studios. The lab will be produced by Stage Entertainment. According to an Equity casting notice, the project will take place this August, under the direction of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder's Darko Tresnjak.

In addition to Ahrens and Flaherty's music, the production will feature a book by their Ragtime collaborator, Tony winner Terrence McNally. McNally revealed in an exclusive interview with TheaterMania earlier this year that he would be working on a new project with his Ragtime team. Musical direction will be by Tom Murray.

The 1997 20th Century Fox film on which the stage musical will be based was directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. Inspired by the urban legend of the Grand Duchess of Anastasia, the story tells of Tsar Nicholas II's young daughter, the only survivor of her family's execution, who lived as a poor orphan until discovering her own secret past.

The film features the voices of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Kirsten Dunst, and Angela Lansbury.