Veronica Stern set out from Pelham five years ago to be a star in the musical theater. She’s already achieving that goal. Stern, a Pelham Memorial High School class of 2017 graduate, is set to portray lead character Anya in the North American tour of Broadway’s “Anastasia.”

After graduating from PMHS, Stern went on to study musical theater at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, graduating in 2021. While studying, she was named a Top 10 Contestant in the Give My Regards National Talent Search by Spot-On Arts Academy. 

“‘Anastasia’ is the story of a woman searching for her identity and is full of mystery and wonder, adventure and romance,” Stern told the Boston Herald in an interview Sunday. “I grew up with princesses and grew up wanting to play one on stage, but Anastasia is so unique because she stands by herself in a way that a lot of (film and theater) princesses don’t. It’s important to tell a story like this in 2022.”

In the musical, Anya is an amnesiac orphan seeking her royal roots in Paris of the 1920s after the fall of the Russian aristocracy.

“I love Golden Age musicals,” Stern said in the Boston Herald interview. “I grew up watching them. I watched ‘West Side Story’ a million times, and ‘Guys & Dolls.’ A lot of contemporary musicals have you belt really high like in rock ‘n’ roll. Those can be really cool, but ‘Anastasia’ is very unique because it is a contemporary musical but it has such a Golden Age feel to it.”

Stern’s run as Anya will begin in Boston on Aug. 23 in the show’s second week in that city. The production will travel to more than 50 cities across North America.