Annie At The Stratford Festival
Let’s put aside the many ironies of Canada’s premier theatrical company staging a musical that features a New York City billionaire who not only claims to be the world’s most successful businessman but who has the ear of the president. Instead let’s talk about Annie, the musical destined to become this year’s mega-hit at the Stratford Festival.
Annie sports music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin. Thomas Meehan handled the book. It premiered in 1976 at the Goodspeed Opera House in my home state and went on to great success on Broadway and beyond; it is revived constantly.
Based on a now forgotten but once immensely popular comic strip, the show tells the tale of the eponymous Annie, incarcerated in a Dickensian orphanage overseen by the evil Miss Hannigan. Annie cherishes one half of a locket given her by the parents who gave her up so that when they were able to reclaim her she could sure they were, in fact, her parents.
Her fortunes begin to look brighter when she is chosen to spend two weeks over Christmas with the benevolent billionaire Oliver, later “Daddy,” Warbucks, who (no spoiler alert needed here) is smitten with her and wishes to adopt her.
But Annie is dead set on finding her real parents. Crushed but ever gallant, Daddy Warbucks mounts a campaign to find them, only to be beset by fraudsters.
Truth be told (my truth, at least), Annie is not the world’s greatest musical. It is saccharine, sentimental, and packed with all manner of artificial sweeteners. And, like a Twinkie, it will probably live forever.
That’s not to say that it doesn’t have its good points. In the song “Tomorrow” Annie has a tuneful and enduring anthem, which every audience member will know by heart by the time they leave the theatre. It features a squadron of adorable little girls, a villainess straight out of a pantomime, and ample opportunities for a gifted director/choreographer. In the right hands it can provide a good deal of entertainment.
Fortunately, this revival of Annie is in the hands of Stratford’s resident musical genius, Donna Feore and her choreography is the true star of the show. Nowhere is this more obvious than in her deployment of the dance corps at the Municipal Orphanage. Feore has found a bunch of gifted young tumblers and dancers and those familiar with her signature moves will see them endearingly recreated by this prepubescent troupe. It’s altogether captivating. If only they had more than two numbers!
That’s not to say that the older members of what has to be the best corps de ballet in any musical company north of the Poutine Curtain are falling down on the job. Feore has found seemingly innumerable ways to take advantage of their high-octane talents.
Of course, Feore also directs and she has the ability to spin pure comic gold out of seemingly simple lines like “Aw, gee.”
Her touch is apparent in Annie’s principal cast. Dan Chameroy as Daddy Warbucks and Jennifer Rider-Shaw as his secretary Grace are spot on. (Did the creators think of getting them hooked up by the end of the show and then discard the idea?)
Laura Condlln is comic bliss as Miss Hannigan. She chews the scenery, the projections, and the props and does it all with supreme mastery.
Feore was fortunate to find Harper Rae Asch for her Annie. She is pert, pretty, and poised and already in possession of a substantial belt. Feore has prepared her for a career, should she want one.
Some nice work, too, in smaller roles from Mark Uhre as Rooster Hannigan, who gets to show off his considerable chops as an eccentric dancer and Henry Firmston in the even smaller role of a radio show host. Uhre and Firmston, by the way, played the Bottom brothers in last season’s Something Rotten!
As always there is commendable work from the creative side. Sets (Michael Gianfrancesco), lights (Kimberley Purtell), projections (Sean Nieuwenhuis), and musical direction (Laura Burton) are all first rate.
My major complaint was the fact that the show has been miked to well past an inch of its life. That’s perhaps a necessary evil when wee children have to sing, talk, and be heard in a large house, but the Shrill-o-Meter seems to have been turned up to eleven. The effect is like fingernails on a blackboard, just not so soothing. The adults fare better. Perhaps sound designer Haley Parcher will be able to smooth out the kinks as the run proceeds.
Annie continues at the Festival Theatre through November 2, 2025, unless it is extended, which is well within the realm of probability. For more information and to purchase tickets visit the Stratford Festival website.
Footnote: This is the first major revival of which I am aware that doesn’t feature a completely bald Daddy Warbucks. Dan Chameroy is well coiffed. Not that it matters, but I found myself curious as how that particular artistic choice was made. Of course, it’s doubtful that any of the kids who come to this show, and probably many of their parents, will have any memories of the original comic strip, so why bother. Still, I can’t imagine that there weren’t discussions. We’ll never know.
Footnote: Perhaps because of the ironies alluded to earlier, the producers have chosen to open the show with the Canadian national anthem, which was greeted with a rousing round of applause.
Footnote: What with all the gender swapping going on in the theatre these days, could it be time to give Annie the same treatment? Call it . . . Arnie!
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