Annie

Everyone in the whole world seems to have heard the story of ” Annie”, so it was up to Director Michael McCaw and his team to put their own unique stamp on this production. Stockport Plaza stage is a wide, high space to fill but has very little side stage space for scenery, etc therefore most productions have to be quite minimalistic. Taking this into account, Michael and his scenery design partner Dawn Leigh designed their own flat covers that had drawings of their interpretation of the Annie story upon them  - these looked very effective hanging down the fronts of the black flats at the sides of the stage. The orphanage at the start of the production was depicted very clearly by four very plain metal beds, lit by a solid icy blue light to enhance the feeling of cold. Miss Hannigan`s office was a desk, a chair, a filing cabinet and a radio. The props by Sarah McConnell and Matt Brindle were very fitting to the scenes and the cast all used them competently – even down to the doggie treats in Zara Bateson`s (Annie) hand for Sandy (Obi).  The sound by Tube Uk Ltd was good throughout with no gremlins or drops, all sound effects came in on time . The lighting plot designed by Ian Legate helped massively with the minimalistic stage to create specific feelings and  atmosphere – the cold blue over the four metal beds, the purple downlight over Daddy Warbucks in the radio show. Costumes by Janet Newcombe and her team were phenomenal. I believe everything was designed and made in house for this production - the orphans looked suitably ragged but also had some colour mixed in to stop the whole effect being too grey, sad and drab. Grace Farrell (Sarah Clarke) had luxurious fabrics, well cut dresses that simply flowed whereas Miss Hannigan (Sarah Thewlis) looked rough, cheap and brash. The ensemble in the Warbucks house all looked fantastic in their black and mustard/yellow - I dread to think how many metres of black ric-rac were used in these costumes but it certainly looked effective Bravo! Paul Lawton was the Musical Director in charge of knocking out any bad habits and bringing out the best from the cast performing all of these well known songs. He opened the show with attack and pace and continued this attack and pace right to the end, all the harmonies were solid and strong with a good blend to provide a rich sound, there were no jagged endings or dropped ends of words. The orchestra had a good balance under the vocals and sounded very put together, tight and slick.

Drake (John Harrison) said very little dialogue, but his body language and facial expressions shouted, he also fully committed to all the dance numbers. He drew my eye for all the right reasons and I look forward to seeing him in future productions. The orphans as a whole were a very well drilled team, they all delivered their dialogue with good pace and response. Projection was good and facial expressions were strong. Beth Moran as Duffy gave a solid, strong performance and kept up her energy throughout, when she was scrapping it definitely looked real. Sofia Elbahrawy ( Molly) the youngest performed with confidence , she had some good chemistry with Miss Hannigan (Sarah Thewlis). Sarah Thewlis is an absolute force of nature on stage so I was eager to see the combination of her and Director Michael McCaw`s interpretation of Miss Hannigan. I was not disappointed, she appeared in full force with a voice that could scratch glass! She was loud, brash,unkempt, confident and cold yet also allowed us glimpses of her softer side, she owned her stage from the moment she set foot on it. Sarah Clarke as Grace Farrell was a stunning counter balance to Sarah T.  She looked clean cut, beautiful, soft, coiffured hair ( yes, I know it was a wig – it was a beautiful wig) well spoken and also completely owned her stage – their characters were definitely two forces to be reckoned with, both ladies vocals were spot on.  Paul Allison as Warbucks more than held his own with both these characters, he was confident and comfortable in his stage space, pace was very good and while he connected with the audience he certainly didn`t play to the audience, he had some excellent chemistry on stage with Zara Bateson (Annie). Zara had a big job as a youth to own her own bit of stage with all these strong character adults but I can honestly say from the second she appeared she did, the only time she didn`t was when Sandy (Obi) sat so cutely with her during “Tomorrow” then it was shared. Zara showed us an Annie that was precious and sassy but not irritating and grating, here vocals were good and strong and she was certainly very confident both on her own and in bigger  musical numbers. Gary Jones as Rooster was paired with Kira Richardson as Lily , personally I didn`t feel that these two characters were quite as big as they should/could be beside  Sarah (Miss Hannigan), don`t get me wrong they did deliver a good performance with some great vocals it`s just me being niggly and picky.

“NYC” was one of my favourite musical ensemble numbers. The fast pace of the music allowed choreographer Tracy Harper`s imagination to go to town, there was constant movement on stage I almost didn`t know where to look which is exactly how Annie feels - so well done for managing to create that feeling.  Jessica Haslam as the star to be emoted all the youthful exuberance, excitement and naivity in her vocal and physical performance. Another strong standout was “I Think I`m Gonna Like It Here” the precision in the arm lines and tidy, neat  footwork were a wonderful juxtaposition against The Orphan`s ragged edged more street dance based movements  in “Hard Knock Life”. The whole show had some good pace, energy and attack .

Everyone in this production worked together as a team to get this from page to stage, so please don`t be offended if I haven`t specifically mentioned you – there are so many of you I would be here all day .   

Well done on your production of Annie. Both myself and my guest enjoyed the performance. I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

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