A violinist from Morton will be among the musicians playing in the pit orchestra when the hit touring Broadway musical “Anastasia” makes a stop this week at the Peoria Civic Center.
Adam Kujawa began playing the violin in sixth grade under the leadership of Pete Martin in the Morton school district. He said the district's excellent music programs were a starting point for his now-professional music career.
“And then I played all the way through junior high and then high school as well and continued on to go to college for it,” said Kujawa. “When I was in early parts of high school, I got really interested in other genres besides just classical music. So, that kind of bled into my college search.”
Kujawa attended Belmont University in Nashville and studied classical violin and commercial music. After graduating in 2019, he went on to receive his master's degree from Middle Tennessee State University. It was during his time in graduate school when the first opportunity to be a part of a Broadway touring show was presented.
“I saw a job posting that was looking for touring musicians to do a tour in Asia for ‘The Sound of Music’...right before the pandemic started. So ultimately, that tour was canceled...as things were starting to open back up, I got a call from the person that originally contacted me for that tour, and asked, ‘Do you want to do ‘Anastasia’ instead?’...So I really kind of lucked out with this one,” Kujawa said.
“Anastasia,” based on the 1997 animated film, explores the history behind what happened to Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov during the Russian revolution. The show is ultimately about self-discovery and defining yourself in the world.
The tour is part of the larger Broadway in Peoria series presented by Ameren Illinois. Kujawa said he already has performed in more than 100 cities on this tour alone.
“I've been with it since the beginning of the tour once it started back up after the pandemic. So almost a year and a half touring at this point…over 400 performances of the show,” said Kujawa.
With two performances in Peoria on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 11-12, Kujawa said he is super excited to be back home.
“My last performance at the Civic Center was the ILMEA All-State Orchestra back in 2015, so it's been quite a while since I've performed there, but very excited to be back. I have a lot of friends and family coming to see the show, a lot of former teachers, so really excited to play professionally for the people that really helped me get to this stage,” Kujawa explained.
Kujawa’s performance in Peoria on April 11 will mark his 450th show with the company. He said he has had some really incredible local teachers that have helped him reach this point, like Dave Getz and Pete Martin. Kristin Schmidt also is notable.
“I studied privately with Kristin Witzig, who's now Kristin Schmidt. She was based out of Morton…she really just encouraged me no matter what I wanted to do, and that was really great,” said Kujawa. “Especially since I played a lot of other styles of music, in addition to classical. Having the opportunity to play that and have supportive teachers was really incredible. Just that always pushed me, but always pushed me to do what I wanted to do,” he said.
When it comes to what makes “Anastasia” a must-see show for people in this region, Kujawa said it’s different from many other shows that are out there right now.
“We have this historical aspect, that it was a real rumor that, you know, Anastasia had escaped this revolution. So we have that, we have the nostalgia factor. The show is based on a couple of movies that had come out in the past…just incredible talent, dancing, singing, live show…it's a spectacle in every way,” he said.
Performances of “Anastasia” are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, April 11-12, at the Peoria Civic Center. You can get tickets here. The April 11 performance is a special kids night with buy-one, get-one tickets. For more information on that promotion, click here.
