Anastasia, Tour presented by Broadway in Boston at Citizens Bank Opera House, Boston, through August 28.www.broadwayinboston.com

Was the Grand Duchess of the Romanovs executed by the Bolsheviks? DNA tests indicate that Anastasia perished along with her entire family (except the Dowager Empress). Fact and forensics notwithstanding, her possible escape has become the inspiration for a kind of iconic tale of hope and redemption.

That tale has taken the form of a play, films and a Broadway musical (2017) collaborated on by the late great playwright Terrence McNally, composer Stephen Flaherty and lyricist Lynn Ahrens (all Tony Award winners for "Ragtime"). While the overlong show (two and one half hours) proves more entertaining once the title heroine and her compatriots reach Paris, a strong tour and a rich-voiced cast should more than satisfy fans of the 1997 animated version.

If the uneven McNally book also focuses on the efforts of con man friends Dmitry and Vlad to persuade the Dowager Empress that amnesiac Anya is actually her granddaughter, it does makes some interesting changes along the way. Where the villain of the animated film is cursing raised from the dead Rasputin, the treacherous royal advisor is gone here—intriguingly replaced by Bolshevik officer Gleb. The son of one of the guards tasked with assassinating the Romanovs, Gleb walks a tightrope of ambivalence regarding Anya. Although prepared to kill Anya should she prove to be a Romanov, he finds himself falling in love with her.

Of course that ambivalence will be fully tested after Anya, Dmitry and Vlad escape the officers pursuing them, arrive in Paris and come before the Dowager Empress. With the second act taking place in the City of Lights, the musical appealingly gives more attention to 1927 Paris after a weaker St. Petersburg-set first(1906,1907,1927). Choreographer Bill Burns provides Nicholas II—reviled by the Soviets—with an initial moment of sympathy as the tsar dances briefly with Little Anastasia and he does include Russian folk dance elements.

Even so, the show truly high steps in the second act-opening "Paris Holds the Key (To Your Heart)" and the anthem-like expatriate number "Land of Yesterday." A combination of comedy and romance enriches "The Countess and the Common Man." The musical also includes substantial well-danced sequences from "Swan Lake" during the "Quartet at the Ballet" number. Throughout the musical, Aaron Rhyne's exceptional projection design makes St. Petersburg and Paris scenes vivid—especially the dramatic first act train ride and the evocation of the Eiffel Tower. Someday there ought to be a Tony Award for projection design, and Rhyne should receive a retroactive one.

Also very evocative—under Sarah Hartmann's effective direction—is luminous Kyla Stone as Anastasia. Stone is touchingly vulnerable and idealistic as the identity-seeking heroine. Her strong rendition of the character's signature-like "In My Dreams" is very moving. Sam McLellan has all of Dmitri's determination—notably on "Everything to Win"—and his caring for Anya. Bryan Seastrom is winningly flamboyant as Vlad—particularly with comically sharp Madeline Raube as the Dowager's lady-in-waiting Countess Lily. Stepping in for Ben Edquist as Gleb, Brandon Delgado displays a deeply resonant voice that adds weight to a character not unlike Javert in "Les Miserables."

Is "Anastasia" a kind of poor man's "My Fair Lady" with the heroine meant to come across as a duchess? Does this very busy musical have a theatrical identity crisis? Shortcomings notwithstanding, the stellar cast and Rhyne's amazing projection make the tour of "Anastasia" as worthy as its heroine.