Annie

Perhaps it’s a coincidence but since opening night almost a week ago and the company singing about the sun coming out tomorrow, there’s been a distinct improvement in the weather. When, during a warm welcome by their President, Geoff Turner (incidentally, my predecessor in this role with NODA) and co-chair, Sarah Foster, I learned that she is a bit of of an expert in climate change, I feel there can be little doubt about such a connection.   

This is, of course, a happy show; as Paul Laidlaw says in his programme note, “if ever a musical deserved the appellation ‘feel-good’” it’s this. Even the villains provide more in the way of amusement than any great threat to the well-being of others and the story and some cheerful songs combine to overcome any sadness resulting from its setting in the great depression of 1933.  The cast clearly enjoyed the opportunity to entertain us in this lovely venue, in what is Martyn Knight’s 22nd and final production with them, a lengthy and successful career which has earned him an honorary life membership.

Seizing that opportunity most effectively were the eight orphans and Annie herself, the Yellow team and Hattie Wells on the night I attended.  They all gave extremely confident performances, tackling their every move with great skill.  The way in which Annie’s relationship with Warbucks visibly grew as the show progressed was impressive, yet entirely credible.      Neil Wood in the latter role had the chance to show another side after playing a few less likeable characters (e.g. Sweeney Todd, Peron) and his transformation from a rather grumpy billionaire into the sort of person every orphan would want as an adoptive father was also quite plausible, especially when confronted with Annie’s rather forceful personality.  The two of them worked well together.  Sarah Craggs as Warbucks’s secretary, Grace, displayed all the charm and efficiency her character would need in order to keep her employer in order.

Although Warbucks has some amusing lines, (e.g. “what do Democrats eat?”) it’s from the rather less likeable characters that much of the amusement comes.  The role of Miss Hannigan can sometimes be over-played with too much emphasis on a drinking habit, cigarette-end forever dangling from her lips, etc. but Annabel van Griethuysen’s performance had less of this, enabling her to express her personality in a rather more subtle manner.  Her song “Little Girls”, in which she lists the shortcomings of the youngsters in her charge and, indeed, young females in general was very well-delivered.  Similarly, her brother, Rooster and his side-kick Lily, can also come over as caricatures but the performances of Martin Lay and Chloe Jones were again pitched perfectly. Their trio “Easy Street” was well performed.

The second act opens with another song with a message (“You’re never fully dressed without a smile”) delivered as if in a radio broadcast (“The Hour of Smiles”) by Bert Healy and the Boylan Sisters. Richard Weatherill made the most of his opportunity to impress as Bert, whilst the sisters combined effectively despite varying in height to the extent that          Clare Meadley as Connie needed to stand on a stool so that the harmony could justify the description “close”. Rhian Wells, in real-life the mother of tonight’s Annie and another of the orphans, and Pascha Turnbull made up the trio, the latter, as Ronnie Boylan, keen not to lose time on her knitting whilst awaiting her cue to sing.  It’s 50 years since John Hall joined this company and it was a pleasure to see him here as President Roosevelt, another with whom Annie strikes up a good relationship.  Paul Hudson is another with a long association (30 years in various roles, including that of Treasurer) and made an efficient leader (Drake, the butler) of Warbucks’s household. Other members of the cast appeared as his staff or as residents of New York, always costumed appropriately.  There was a colourful finale in “A new deal for Christmas” in a lovely set for the Warbucks residence.  There is, of course, a vital part for a dog, again shared over the total of 12 performances and Golden Labrador, Primrose, appeared at the performance I attended, quick to answer Annie’s call at a crucial part of the story.

It’s 25 years since the company’s last production of this show and Marketing Officer Chloe Chapman reflected on it in the programme. She had tracked down one of the Annies who had many happy memories of it all, whilst noting how some of this year’s cast had also appeared in 2001, not least of whom was the stool-carrying Boylan sister, faced with the same challenge then.

So it’s farewell to director Martyn Knight who has given us so many fine productions in York, this being no exception, and we wish him well.             

  

 

               

 

             

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