Australia’s Cody Simpson making Broadway debut

Gold Coast hailed Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Cody Simpson is making his debut on Broadway next month.

He takes over the male lead role of Dmitri from Zach Adkins in the musical Anastasia.

The musical, based on the 1997 animated film, has been staged on Broadway since April 2017 through a number of cast changes.

The film is about Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, the youngest daughter of Russia’s Czar Nicholas II whom legend says escaped the mass execution of her family by the Bolsheviks in 1918 during the Russian revolution.

Many years later, she tries to find some trace of her family by enlisting the help of two con men who wish to take advantage of her similarities to the lost princess.

Writer Terrence McNally said of the tale, “It’s a wonderful mystery, fairy tale, romance.

“It’s the most modern story I could think of. It’s the search for identity, roots, family connection.

“What mysteries lie in our lineage? That’s why it continues to speak to people.”

In a video message to fans from New York, Simpson reveals he begins the role on November 29.

The Anastasia musical has yielded the hit song Journey To The Past which earned Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty an Oscar nomination, as well as one for the entire score.