Annie

39 young people (plus a four-legged friend) took to the stage and delivered Laura Pike’s great production of this well known and heart warming show. From the overture to the bows the auditorium was buzzing with the infectious energy displayed by the young actors supported by the 12 piece orchestra under the baton of Matthew Tosh. Lauren Jane Ritchie’s choreography was perfectly attuned to the music and executed perfectly especially in the ensemble numbers like “We’d Like To Thank You, Herbert Hoover” and “N.Y.C.”. Zoe Blair was excellent in the title role of Annie showing great confidence in her acting skills and with her good strong singing voice being shown in her renditions of “Tomorrow” and in the fun duet “I Don’t Need Anything But You” with Warbucks. Matthew Smith as Mr “Daddy” Warbucks was another who showed excellent acting skills as the character changes from hard-nosed business man to a loving father-figure under Annie’s influence. He had a good singing voice and the duet with Annie was delightful but one of the highlights for me was his heartfelt rendition of “Something Was Missing”. Joey Lang gave a confident and dignified performance as Warbucks secretary, running his business life and household with ease and her strong singing voice soaring through in the duet “You Won’t Be An Orphan For Long” with Warbucks. Anna Smith gave an outstanding performance as the gin-soaked orphanage manager Miss Hannigan with a great sense of comedy and her powerful singing voice was given full throttle in her rendition of “Little Girls” – to quote her young charges “We Love You Miss Hannigan!”. Adding much to the humour in the show was Max Gray, her wayward brother Rooster, and Mikayla Martin as Lily St Regis his dumb blonde-headed moll. Their song and dance number “Easy Street” with Miss Hannigan was a hoot. Annie’s main friends at the orphanage - played by Adley Crockett, Cora Strachan, Kayla Nicol, Monroe Menhinick, Sophia Reid and Molly-Rose Downie – worked well together and their renditions of “It’s A Hard Knock Life” and the mickey-take of “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile” were a delight. Strong support was given by Adam Dunnett (Bert Healy), Jenson Cowie (a deep voiced Franklin D Roosevelt) and Sean Findlay (Drake the Butler). A special mention must be made of Lira the Tibetan Terrier – the cutest and most well behaved Sandy I’ve seen in a long time! The set was kept simple allowing plenty of room for the ensemble numbers and the costuming was appropriate to the characters and era. Well done everyone you were deserving of the long applause and standing ovation received from the appreciative audience.

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