Annie Jr

AKT created a very creditable and enjoyable version of this old favourite ‘Annie’.

The orphans who opened the show sang beautifully, lovely harmonies and well-balanced which gave a lovely platform on which to build the show. Niamh Turner who played ‘Molly’ stood out straight away as a natural performer who loved the stage and instantly gave me the confidence we were in for a great entertaining show.

Grace Lindley created a very natural and loveable ‘Annie’, an accomplished performance and seemingly effortless singing voice. Grace created fantastically the confident and cheeky nature that we remember as Annie. As the show progressed Grace became stronger in all ways and held the stage.

The scenery was effective and albeit minimalist worked very well and allowed focus to be on the young talent on stage. The sound quality was as always fantastic from Lea Royce and Ellie Perrier and every word and note could be heard crystal clear. Lighting was effective and again worked well for a youth show. Impressed that we saw no major scenery changes without realising, which created consistency and a good flow.

Phoebe Corley, appeared as Miss Hannigan and albeit appeared somewhat nervous to start with, as the show progressed, she started to really portray the unlikable character we remember as Miss Hannigan excellently. Phoebe sang beautiful and held an adult character well. The same can be said for Anna Bardsley who played Miss Farrell, she had the maturity and presence to let the audience forget she was a youth member playing a very sophisticated adult female, dressed in a beautiful outfit and carrying herself with a confident presence.

Rooster played by Matthew Shalliker not only nailed the quirky character on-point but managed to have me instantly gripped in dislike for the sleezy and manipulative character. The ‘easy street’ song scenes were both entertaining and created the dark undertones of orphan life.

Enters Mr. Warbucks…. WOW! What a character and comedian all in one. Theo held the audience in the palm of his hand and made the character very successfully his own. He had the most amazing confidence, charisma and most of all he made the audience immediately laugh with his facial expressions and his natural way of owning the stage. A small person with a huge presence! Well done, Theo.

The costumes struck me as beautiful, especially the scene where Annie meets Mr Warbucks in his home where we were presented with an array of colour and stand out outfits.

I cannot end this review without mentioning the very beautiful inclusion of sign language as a touching addition, this had some tears flowing in the audience and raised inclusivity wonderfully.

Many congratulations to the Director Lara Sydall, Deputy Director Lindsay Farnworth and the choreography team, who had obviously all worked hard as a team to bring to the stage such a polished and lovely production, with everyone enjoying themselves and knowing every line – no mean feat.

Thank you to every single person all who contributed to this production onstage, backstage and front of house on such a great production.

Thank you also for making me so welcome and for your generous hospitality.

Nicola Crompton-Hill

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