Annie

Annie is the ultimate ‘feel good’ musical, done well it feels like comforting hot chocolate on a cold night, done badly it feels like an overdose of cheap chocolate… sickly.  This was performed beautifully.                                                                                            No attempt was made to modernize (renovate) change (revolutionise) this well known, well loved story of comic strip ‘little orphan Annie’. It was played straight… straight to the heart.

The fresh, clean and attractive set built by the society allowed for excellent pace. Congratulations to the back stage team who effortlessly and soundlessly changed sets quickly and smoothly.  Any scene changes were covered by the clever use of slides…old still photographs and some comic writing which also showed the progression of the story, on a large screen. I liked this touch very much. The costumes were excellent, period in fashion and worn well by the entire cast. The picture created when Annie came into the Christmas scene in her red dress was perfect!  Lighting was attractive and showed everyone to advantage. There were some clever directorial touches… cutting some of the dance music gave pace and fluidity to several scenes and making the growing affection between Grace Farrell (Clare Hunter) and Warbucks (Les Morley) more obvious… it worked for me! The choreography (there was considerably less than I remember) was well designed, particularly in Hard Knock Life, Easy Street and I Don’t Need Anything but You. The band was great, from the wonderful opening notes of the overture… till the finale… not a note or tempo amiss, very well done. This was terrific cast with exceptional performances from Warbucks, Grace Farrell and of course ‘Annie’. This Annie was performed by Freya Perrins who warmed your heart, sang, danced and acted her heart out and was a delight. I understand that the ‘other Annie’ (Sophie Adams) was equally as good so congratulations to both of them. The remainder of the principals were very well cast with a special mention to Miss Hannigan, Rooster and Lily St. Regis (the dumb hotel, how I love that line), they performed Easy Street with style and panache.

The company was talented with excellent singing and cameo portrayals, the upstaging and ‘ham’ performance from Drake (Darren Crockett) was pure pleasure!  

This was a well directed, charming piece of traditional musical theatre which delighted the audience, certainly put ‘bums on seats’ and gave excellent opportunities for many of this talented cast to shine. Thank you for inviting me, I loved it!

Well done W-s-M… yet another engaging and attractive show. Thank you once again for your kind hospitality.

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