Annie

~~In order to produce a good “Annie” you have to have a great little girl to play the leading role, she has to be able to learn lines, not be fazed by a large audience watching her, and be able to sing, dance and also be able to do all these convincingly. Well Encore need not have any worries when they decided to give this part to 10 year old Libby Pawson, she was superb, not only could she sing, dance, act and be convincing but she could do it all with a very large smile on her face.
Libby’s acting skills came into its own when working with Max, the dog played by….. Max, the dog, he was a lovely little West Highland White, or at least he looked like one and I apologise to Max if I have got his breed wrong, who wasn’t too sure about coming on to the stage and leaving the comfort of a gentlemen who was holding him. Libby, however, was able to show her talents when with a little encouragement of some treats from her pocket she enticed him to go with her.
Libby was only one of a group of talented youngsters in this show and when they were on stage they all gave very convincing performances, especially 7 year old Felicity Mitson who played Molly who I am sure will be playing “Annie” in the not too distant future.
All in all there were 26 little girls playing the orphans plus Libby as Annie who all deserved Oscars for their performances, well done kids.
I have seen Annie several times and I have to say all too often Miss Hannigan is played rolling around the stage as if she is much too drunk to do anything, well in this production Eleanor Aldous was much more subtle and although yes everyone knew she was a lush she was not rolling around incapable let alone control a bunch of unruly orphans. Eleanor was able to bring everything out of this character especially the humour which is sometimes lost in the drunkenness.
As Miss Hannigan’s accomplices we have Rooster Hannigan played by Dale Vaughan, Dale was able to get every ounce out of this part and it was good to see someone who could also dance which is not always the case when performing Easy Street. Dale was able to perform this with ease and was joined by Sarah Clarkson as Lily St. Regis who again was able to perform this to give a very professional performance of this number.
The role of Grace Farrell calls for someone who can be very “motherly” towards Annie but also at the same time needs to be very professional as Oliver Warbuck’s Secretary, Clair Heins was exactly this and was able to give a great performance not only as the secretary but also with her singing and dancing skills.
When little Annie meets Oliver, Daddy Warbucks, he comes over as a very unfriendly, pompous man who could quite easily scare Annie away. Andrew Sheppard was perfect in this part, initially being the pompous business man but then becoming this very warm fatherly figure who Annie loves and indeed wants him to be the father she never had and this shows none more so than when they sing “Together at Last” right at the end of the show.
I have to mention the set of this show, something which I do not always talk about but here we had a very ingenious set which although was very simple was also very complex at the same time, all the beds fitted neatly into the staging as did all the chairs and other bits and pieces used throughout the show. The scene changes very extremely slick performed by the cast themselves to a solitary clarinetist who entered the stage at each scene change, a very inventive idea.
The orchestra under the baton of Sarah Crowley proved to be a great asset to this show, unlike many they actually supported the actors on stage and did not drown them out during any numbers.
Congratulations to all involved on a superb production.  

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