Annie

Based on the popular comic strip ‘Little Orphan Annie’ by Harold Gray... ‘Annie the Musical’ has become a worldwide phenomenon winning seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.  The book and score by Thomas Meehan (Book), Charles Strouse (Music) and Martin Charnin (Lyrics), features some of the best loved musical theatre hits ever written including ‘Tomorrow’, ‘Maybe’ and ‘It’s a Hard-Knock Life’.

I’d heard so much about Chorley Youth Theatre, so with this being my first visit, anticipation was high...and I was not disappointed. I have said this many times before and I will no doubt say it many times again; there are occasions in life when we all think – “Oh I wish I was younger”, this was another of those occasions!  When you see talented young people, performing and enjoying themselves so much on stage – so envious!

A cast of twenty seven worked well together to make this a successful and entertaining production. So, it is difficult to select individuals without doing injustice to others, but, after saying that, I really do feel that I need to highlight the following for ‘stand out’ performances……

Libby Smith Hughes gave an assured performance as ‘Annie’. Characterisation was good, as was her renditions of some of the most iconic songs in theatre history ‘Maybe’ and ‘Tomorrow’.  Well done young lady.

Our orphans Rachel Moran as ‘Duffy, Myah Brookfield as ‘July’, Alice Bentham as ‘Pepper’, Ellie Brookfield as ‘Tessie’, Katie Jones as ‘Kate’ and Frankie Budge as ‘Molly’ supported Libby really well. ‘It’s a Hard Knock Life’ was ‘belted out with total confidence’ and was a ‘highlight’ for me.

If I could be so bold as to mention one thing and I hope I don’t offend anyone and it has nothing to do with the ability or the performance of the girls in the producton, because they did a great job...but the age range suggested for the orphan’s is six to thirteen; I would have like that to have been a little more evident. With all the orphans being about same size and looking around the same age..we lost some of the protective / innocent moments between say Annie and Molly, obviously this can only be achieved if the age range is available and I’m not sure it was!

‘Rooster and Lily’ were nicely played by Callan Grimshaw-Brown and Eadie Gosling respectively.  Both had good comic timing and along with Miss Hannigan gave a really good interpretation of the song ‘Easy Street’ which I always think looks an easy song to sing and deliver but it isn’t ...well done!

Macy Bromilow gave an assured performance of Oliver Warbuck’s butler ‘Drake’ as did Eddie Chandler portraying NBC Presenter ‘Bert Healy’, Charlie Kemp playing President Roosevelt and I loved the little cameo by Eva Bromilow playing ‘Harold Ickes’ ... the little dance moves during ‘Tomorrow’ was ‘spot on’ .... well done folks be proud! 

After highlighting the above, I do think there were three real ‘stand out’ performances: 

Liesl Cook looked totally comfortable and was superbly cast as the habitual drunk Miss Hannigan. She brought the character to life with facial expressions, body movements and with stage presence aplenty; loved her rendition of ‘Little Girls’, major highlight for me! Be ever so proud young lady!

Naomi Cook was the ‘perfect fit’ for the role of ‘Grace Farrell’, Oliver Warbuck’s Personal Secretary. Great diction, great stage presence; cool, calm and classy, yet ‘business like’ when needed! She had the ability to show Grace’s softer side, especially when dealing with Annie! Again - be ever so proud!

Lucas Burns as ‘Oliver (Daddy) Warbuck’s’, another superbly cast character, commanded the stage from his first entrance! Strong, confident, great characterisation; was able to show the changing persona of Warbuck’s; from the self-assured business man, to the awkward affectionate, to the ‘wanna be’ father figure’. ‘NYC’ and ‘I Don’t Need Anything But You’ again....highlights for me!  Well done young man, be proud.

What makes this company different; it’s not only YOUTH on stage...but YOUTH producing the show! I was fortunate, during the interval, to meet with first time Director Holly Petts. Holly has been with the society since the age of twelve and leaves later this year to commence a Theatre Degree at Chichester University along with Lucas Burns (Oliver Warbuck’s), who doubled up as Lead Male/Choreographer. Lucas created some cleverly devised routines that obviously played to the strength of the cast. Guys you should leave with so much pride...this was a great production...be proud! (Every success at University and when you get your first jobs in the West End...don’t forget I’m first on your ticket list!)  We also had Charlie Kemp (President Roosevelt) as Assistant Director; Hannah Borer (Cabinet Member) / Emma Manley (One of the Boylan Sisters) as Co-Producers - to you all – congrats!

Adults..’yes’ there were a few .... Paul Carr (Musical Director) did an amazing job with his eight piece orchestra.  Shaun McManus (Stage Manager/Set Builder and team) who ‘pushed and pulled’ the set around and kept the production moving at a good pace. ‘Costumes’ were great, in keeping with the era and enhanced the production (credit to ‘Charades’, Sandra Dickinson and Susan Kennedy) ‘Props’ were appropriate and used well (credit to Hannah Borer, Emma Manley and Ceire Edge). Lighting was great and again added to the production...we did have a few ‘quiet moments’ with the sound, but it didn’t detract at all from the show...(congrats to Technical Team)

It is always a privilege to be invited to see any production, but I feel especially privileged when asked to attend anything youth related.  Youth is the future; so, when you see talented, enthusiastic young people performing on stage, creating wonderful characters and entertaining those present, I really do feel privileged ...thank you so much for inviting my wife and I.. look forward to seeing your next production.

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