Annie

A bewildered, stage-shy dog, a winsome eleven year old, a Cruella Deville look-alike plus at least two well-known musical numbers - Tomorrow and Your`re never Fully dressed Without a Smile - and there you have the key ingredients for a gripping evening`s entertainment viz Annie.

Although Trinity Theatre produced this show some years ago, with different actors it seemed like a new production.

The set in particular was noteworthy.  Two enormous manually revolving walls - yes, walls not just flats - which covered almost all the different locations. For these we have to thank the construction crew, headed by Alex Quilter, a man of many talents. Indeed, his name pops up throughout - Co-director, Technical and Set Design, Musical Director and even a surprisingly, as an announcer in an all too brief appearance on stage during the radio sequence in act two.

Young Mia Topping treated us to a charming performance as orphan Annie who eventually finds a home with Daddy Warbucks, the stalwart Paul Stevens;  Dave Stradling as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, surprised us with his vocal talent but honours must surely go to Becky Giakoumelos, the highly unpleasant matron of the orphanage, Miss Hannigan. Her striking good looks only added to the nastiness, being in such contrast to what one would expect from such an apparently lovely person. Not only did she rant and rave with gusto but her fluid movements and flounces on an off stage made her performance memorable.

The chorus of orphans was delightful and although it seems invidious to single out any one of them, there was none-the-less a small young lady in pigtails who stood out - Ava Andrews? She spoke up clearly, articulated the words of songs so that one could lip-read them and generally acted with knowledge of what was required. Well done.

And the dog.  Now Trinity is renowned for its seemingly endless supply of canines and on this occasion we were treated to two. The small, stage-shy one already mentioned but also a really diminutive Chihuahua who looked more like a prop than a real animal. Where do they find such gems?

Once again, an orchestra which was aware of the singers and didn`t try to overpower them with their enthusiasm. Thank you, Alex Quilter.

The costumes were, as usual with Liz Santer at the helm, totally appropriate for the period. The projections too were eye-catching, in particular those for the radio sequence and the street scenes.

Adults and children alike must have enjoyed the evening`s entertainment and hopefully will spread the word so that the auditorium is full on subsequent performances.

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