Annie

Last week I had the rare delight of seeing a small star appear in the universe!  She is 10 years old, her name is Ellie Rayward and she convinced me that ‘Orphan Annie’ really did exist.  She stole my heart and that of all the audience in a remarkably moving performance carrying all the cast into her world.  This in no way belittles the excellent performances of everyone involved, the great choreography, clever orchestration and very innovative direction with smooth scene changes and lighting which enhanced the show at all times.  Tony Lee gave an exceptionally good portrayal of ‘Daddy Warbucks’ as the hard headed business man who was completely won over by the moving experience of meeting and falling under the spell of one very enchanting small girl.  Lorna Heppell as Grace Farrell was the ideal foil for his performance being gentle but business like.  On the other side of the scales were Miss Hannigan (Heather Kemeys), Rooster (Tom Payne) and Lily St Regis (Katie Wood) who brought the whole stage alight with their musical numbers, especially “Easy Street”.  They were all exceedingly well cast as the ‘baddies’ adding spice to the story line.  All the other principals gave convincing performances and the chorus supported them well dancing and singing with enthusiasm.  The team of children performing on the evening that I attended were fun to watch, acting and reacting with plenty of energy and little Molly showed great potential for the future. 

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