Annie

There was a time when a visit to the theatre would provide an escape from present day problems: headlines like “Shares and dollar fall on Wall Street” and Presidential  pronouncements, for example. This show takes us back to 1933, the time of the great depression and we find that things were little different then. There’s even a part for a President. In this case, it’s Roosevelt, apparently quite a likeable chap as Presidents go.

Having played the title role in “Matilda” last year, Emma Caricato seems to be making a habit of taking on eponymous roles and, as before, she made a complete success of the task.  As with her character here, she is still only 11 years old but oozes confidence in every moment of her performance.  Only Miss Hannigan at the orphanage fails to be captivated by her and even Sandy the dog (played by Winnie) doesn’t fail to obey her commands, although a fair amount of persuasion in the form of doggy treats seemed to be involved. Emma has an excellent singing voice, a lovely smile and it was good that her own hairstyle was not hidden under a wig to transform her into the usual redhead. She is, of course, supported by a group of ten orphans and, although they have fewer opportunities in which to display their talents, they too seemed to be enjoying every moment of their time on stage.

With all this young talent around, the adults had to be at their best in order to match their performances but they were equal to the task.  As the afore-mentioned Miss Hannigan,  Anna Graham left us in no doubt that her orphanage would have failed to impress any U.S. Education Secretary and her performance was sufficiently convincing to make us believe how she would have needed all her feminine charm to persuade any selection board to offer her the job.  In contrast, Emma-Louise Dawes as Grace made a delightful secretary for her employer, Oliver Warbucks, the Elon Musk of his day. Chris Wall gave a fine performance in this role so that his anxiety to adopt the orphan Annie came as a natural consequence of his time with her.  He too had the ear of his President, a part which Richard Naylor played with a charm that is missing from some of his successors. Willing to accept the advice of a young girl when she tells him that things will improve “tomorrow”, he still has sufficient authority to insist that members of his cabinet should follow suit.  The somewhat untrustworthy “Rooster” Hannigan (Luke Bailey) and his side-kick Lily (Claudia Denham) provided some humorous moments and their song “Easy Street” with Rooster’s sister provided a good contrast with the previous number “N.Y.C.” in which we saw some of New York’s better areas. Act Two begins with a scene in a radio station where we meet the stars of “The Hour of Smiles” programme, Bert Healey and the Boylan Sisters. Richard Hawley, Grace Knill, Linda Aikman and Morna Bunce assured us that we’re “never fully dressed without a smile” and made the most of their all-too-brief appearance with some excellent harmonies. A chorus appeared as Hooverville-ites in an early scene with dark, drab and appropriately depressing costumes, which contrasted with later scenes where they appeared as New York residents or members of the Warbucks staff, especially colourful in the finale promising “a new deal for Christmas”.   

An efficient stage crew handled the changes as we moved between the orphanage and the opulent Warbuck mansion and a seven-piece band provided good support.  School holidays enabled the company to stage a weekday matinee which will hopefully have increased takings and ensured that talk of financial problems stays in 1933.  And the production did ensure that for a couple of hours or so we did forget the problems of 2025 .         

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