Annie

There was a large and expectant crowd waiting in the foyer at The Dormston Mill Theatre, made up with a lot of what appeared to be “Annie”-obsessed girls all eagerly anticipating a thrilling evening of seeing what seemed to be their favourite show.  Various pockets of snatches of “Hard Knock Life” and “Tomorrow” kept filtering around the room as they waited for the door to open.  West Bromwich operatic Society Youth are going to have to be at the top of their game in order to please what could be a highly knowledgeable and potentially critical set of young theatre goers who already had high expectations of their evening out.

I am glad to say that there was no need for anyone to worry as right from the first strains of the familiar tunes of the overture, the audience were there to enjoy every second.  The story of “Annie” is, by now, is musical theatre circles.  The little orphan firmly holds onto the belief that the parents that left her at the orphanage will be back for her and those hopes give her the strength to help others.  Ayda Whitehouse had the daunting task of portraying the heroine of our story and she met the challenge head on and achieved it beautifully.  The scene for the whole musical is set with Ayda’s moving version of “Maybe” which she sings to Molly, adoringly played by Robyn Harrison.  The audience were spellbound.

“Annie’s” fellow orphans – Holly Edwards as “Duffy”, Isabelle Butt as “Pepper”, Eliza Flavell as “July”, Ettie Bailey as Oh My Goodness! “Tessie” and Elsie Hogan as “Kate” all developed beautifully portrayed characters that the audience took to their hearts and along with other Orphanage residents gave a spirited rendition of “Hard Knock Life”.

Life cannot all be peachy and this was proven by Honor Whitehouse’s ‘Miss Hannigan’ (in real life ‘Annie’s’ sister!) who perfectly captured the sheer hatred and annoyance of having to put up with aggravating and young girls whose only aim in life was to get on her nerves, suitably demonstrated in the very well delivered “Little Girls”.  As in all good musicals, around the corner came good fortune in the form of Grace Farrell, played with suitable efficiency by Lola Wooldridge who has come on behalf of billionaire “Oliver Warbucks” who wants to show his benevolence by taking in an orphan for Christmas. “Annie” manages to get herself chosen and a new chapter in her life opens up. “Annie” manages to win over the hearts of the Warbucks household including the butler, ‘Drake’, played with suitable aloofness by Jack Mullen-Hughes and the darling ‘Mrs Pugh’ played with warmth by Isabella Hale – all presided over confidently by Jordan O’Brian as ‘Oliver Warbucks’ who geniality is preceded by a feeling of nervousness as to what he has let himself in for!

Wherever money comes into play, there will always be some dubious character willing to take advantage not far behind.  In this case it is ‘Miss Hannigan’s’ no-good brother ‘Rooster’, played with great relish by Freddie Wetherall who managed to mix both the deviousness and the comedy out of this great role with great aplomb and the audience both loved and hated him in equal measure.  He his aided (well shall we say accompanied) by his slightly dim girlfriend, ‘Lily St Regis’ lovingly brought to life by Imogen Jeffs. All featuring superbly in “Easy Street” – a winner with the audience.

“Annie” affords the opportunity for lots of minor characters to show off their talents which they did with great flair as well as the opportunity to feature in some great numbers under the musical direction Dan Hardy with choreography by Clare Flavell including “I think I’m Going to Like it Here”, “NYC” and “A New Deal for Christmas”.  A lovely piece was the radio broadcast sequence executed brilliantly by Oscar Wetherall’s “Bert Heeley”, Dougie Goule’s ‘Wacky’ ventriloquist and the lovely Boylan Sisters of Grace Boden, Isabella Hale, Beth Higgitt, Grace Paskin and Casey Pugh.

It would be churlish to describe “Annie” as a one song show but the song that features in the minds of everyone when you mention the musical is “Tomorrow” and it features twice in the musical and on both occasions to great effect. Ayda’s solo version tugged at the heartstrings and the President’s cabinet version led by Nathan Thevar-Ward’s ‘Roosevelt’ uplifted everyone’s hearts with a feeling of great hope for the future.

Emma Wetherall’s production was a joy to watch and a testament to the sheer brilliance and hard work of an amazing team.  Congratulations to all.

My thanks to everyone at WBOS Youtheatre for your kind invitation and your hospitality.

 

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