Annie Jr

I was delighted to cover for a colleague at this, for me , new society to see a group of 5 to 15 year olds perform Annie Jr. in the impressive facilities of Hummersknott Academy in Darlington. I was even more delighted once the production started. You could tell from the opening scene that these youngsters were impressive. So impressive that the society had to double cast the majority of the roles to accommodate the talent on show.

I saw the talented ‘Team Easy Street’ cast. Apologies that we weren’t able to see both sets as I’m sure they would have been equally impressive.
Set was provided by a collection of ‘pop up’ banners that made up the orphanage; New York scenes; and Warbucks mansion.
Sound was provided by Tyne audio that played the backing tracks that the cast were performing along to and, after an initial 5 minutes of audio overcoming performers, the balance was adjusted accordingly and was impressive throughout.

Being a ‘junior’ version of the show certain scenes were written out and numbers curtailed but this didn’t detract from the wonderful spectacle on display.

‘Annie’ played by Zoe Hardy (without the trademark ginger wig which sometimes makes the show look a little contrived) was excellent both vocally and dramatically as she was the born leader of the orphan girls she resided with, each with their own characters ‘July’ (Esme Barker); 'Tessie' (Holly Neal);  ‘Duffy’ (Holly Wake); ‘Kate’ (Freya Thompson); ‘Pepper’ (Ellie Lofts); and the iconic ‘Molly’ – always a favourite for her cuteness and one liners (Aisla Cole).
Zoe (as Annie) stole the show throughout albeit she was almost upstaged by ‘Sandy’ the dog played by Ellie Wake as she harmonised to the words of ‘Tomorrow’ in dog like woofs – a nice touch.

Making up the trio of less than salubrious characters was ‘Miss Hannigan’ (Molly Skinner) whose booming, yet tuneful, voice shone out and her acting of disinterested demeanour very believable. Her brother ‘Rooster’ and his partner ‘Lily’ were played by Amelia Hooper and Freya Warren respectively and came into their own in the superb ‘Easy Street’

The Warbucks household comprised of ‘Daddy Warbucks’ (Will Coulter) and ‘Grace’ (Faith Small) who played the concerned, empathetic and loveable characters extremely well.

Many smaller roles contributed to the excellence of the production, ‘Bundles/President’ (Freddie Dale); ‘Drake/Bert Healey’ (Seth Cohen); ‘Star to Be’ (Holly Wake) – I loved the cinema usherettes shining their torches at her mimicking the ‘spotlight of her future’. With a cast of thirty plus it is difficult to mention everyone, including alternate casting, but as each took part in both performances so I’ll just say that everyone played their roles wonderfully and led to the overall aspect of what was a magnificent production

Choreography was excellent with the youngsters showing their flexibility with high kicks, ‘tumbling’, and overall stage presence.

A very impressive production that was very easy on the eyes and ears…
Oh did I not mention, this impressive spectacle was achieved in just six days of rehearsal from book to stage – I’m impressed so should be the youngsters and adults of HC Vocal & Performance Academy

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