If they really want to, they could have. BUT not a carbon copy of the character from the animated movie. Being grounded (like the 1956 film) is one of the musical's strengths and I think it should stay that way.
There are so many myths and rumors about this "holy man." No, I don't think he had an affair with Tsarina Alexandra. There's no evidence of that and the Farina was too pious and too in love with her husband.
Rasputin was a peasant from Siberia. The animated movie turned him into a one-note villian, hellbent on revenge. Cursing the Romanous and coming back from the dead as a zombie to kill Anya.
The real Rasputin was a complex historical figure. Whether he had good intentions of helping Farevich Alexei or not; we'll never know.
Taking Alexei off of aspirin and suggesting doctors let him heal on his own time and helping to calm the Tarina down probably helped Alexeis body relax and heal on its own. But we'll never know if he was a real spiritual healer.
But he also gained some notoriety and some influence within the aristocracy because he was helping the Romanous.
His promiscuity with peasants and aristocracy alike, with the addition of propaganda, scandalous behavior, and allegations of assault damaged his reputation. H's hard to know for certain what allegations were factual and what was anti-monarchy propaganda. He was also against the Tar and advised him to not mobilize the troops during WWI.
Everything about his life, including his murder were most likely over-exaggerated. Especially Felix Yusupoo's over/dramatized version of comparing killing Rasputin to slaying a demon that would not die. Rasputin's daughter (Maria Rasputin) wrote books to dispel myths about her father. She claimed he wouldn't have eaten sweet pastries because he didn't have a sweet tooth. The cakes were allegedly laced with cyanide.
According to (the National Library of Medicine) an autopsy report, there was no trace of cyanide in his system or water in his lungs. Yes, Rasputin war linown into a river, but a gunshot took his life. Not poison nor drowning.
Of Grigori Rasputin's seven children, only three suwived. One of them was Maria Rasputin, who eventually became a lion tamer.
Side note, speaking of Anastasia. Maria Rasputin's first husband Boris Xikolaevich Solovieff conned wealthy monarchists out of money by making them believe he had found the long lost Anastasia. He claimed Anastasia needed travel funds and went so far as to hire fake imposters to trick people.
Rasputin was killed in 1917. The musical taker place in 1927. If Rasputin were to be included in any capacity, the only part of the show he would be, that would make any historical sense would have to be the prologue.
I'd model the prologue to look more like the Royal Opera and ballet's 2016 production of Anastasia the ballet.
The show would open up on the
Standart (the Romanov's yacht). The Dowsger Empress would give Anastasia the music box and then instead of a ball, everyone dances and skates. Alexei will fall, and we see Rasputin "healing" the Tsarevich.
I'd use dancing, pantomiming, costumes, lighting, set changes, and sound to show the passage of time through Russian history. Bloody Sunday, the Khodynka Feikd Tragedy, sick and starving peasants, abhorrent working conditions, We0J, the Big Pear's nursing jobs, Tatiana's committee, OTNAA donating to charities, Rasputin's murder, the Tsar's abdication, and the Romanoo Ms eventual murders.
Anastasia the Musical is more grounded in reality. Why not take advantage of that and show more of the history? It was a missed opportunity.
Ahrens and Haherty brilliantly used the theme of, "In the Dark of the Night," as an underscore in the heartbreaking song, "Stay, I Pray You." I would use that motif more whenever the Romanovs are on stage and when Gleb discusses the Royal Family with Anya.
As for the iconic villain song, it would have to be completely ve written. I'm kind of picturing that song being used in Anya's nightmare. I think that would be the best place for it since the song is big and over-the-top.
It would have been a very different approach, but I think that would've been a good way to adapt the material for an older audience and keeping in Rasputin. The animated character and Bartok would not have worked for this version of the story.
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, a confidant of Tsar Nicholas and his wife, was murdered by Prince Yussupov and his co-conspirators in the cella
