Annie

Although it’s set in Depression-hit America in the 1930s I always get a feel-good reaction when I see this show, and this production created the same impression.  As usual with this society an enthusiastic and hard-working cast gave a week of full houses something to go home happy about.

The casting was well balanced and, in a way, no-one really stood out and I found this a good thing.  On the night we saw the show Annie was played by Molly Leck and she certainly belted out her numbers and acted confidently.  Ellie Crosby also played the part during the week.  Molly was well backed up by a further eight orphans who gave us a good performances of Hard Knock Life and You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile and they certainly weren’t fond of Miss Hannigan!

Mike Sheldon was a strong Warbucks and formed a good relationship with Annie, and also Grace Farrell who was very well performed by Victoria Mitchell.  I thought that she also had a nice relationship with Annie and she cemented the threesome very well.  I should also note the impressive performance by Warbucks of Why Should I Change a Thing? which, in my experience, is rarely performed and is a really tricky number.

Miss Hannigan was played by Maggie Davies and I enjoyed her portrayal with Little Girls being particularly powerful. 

In the supporting cast Bob Downing was an enjoyable Roosevelt, Stefan Jefferson and Caroline Ibbetson took the roles of Rooster Hannigan and Lily St Regis and I thought that John Allanach’s very English butler, Drake, was excellent and he showed some super timing.  The cabinet scene was well performed as was that in the radio station.  However, I felt that the Hooverville-ites were a bit too happy in We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover – they should probably have been a bit angrier and not looked quite so tidy!

In terms of the set, this year the society utilised their live-screening equipment and projected images onto the back screen, providing views and scenes in keeping with the era.  The only problem with that is that the images also projected onto the cast at times.

However, that did not detract at all from the overall performance level, which was something the society should be pleased with.

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