First performed in 1976, Annie was based on a 1920s comic strip and adapted for the stage by Thomas Meehan on the book, with music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics provided by Martin Charnin. In its 47 years, it has become a perennial favourite with tours throughout the UK every few years and this version directed by Nikolai Foster keeps the charm and love everyone remembers alive.
Leading the cast (of adults) is the aforementioned Craig Revel Horwood as the cruel Miss Hannigan, keeper of the orphanage where little Annie and her friends have found themselves. Revel-Horwood is clearly having fun in the role of Hannigan, but at times he lacks the energy of his young counterparts. He also does have a habit of drifting out of his US accent into his native Australian. It is, yes, an entertaining performance, but much of that is driven directly by the character than Revel-Horwood. It is, however a professional performance throughout, and he does show quite a turn for singing that you might not totally expect.
Upstaging him though are the fabulous young performers at the centre of the story. All of the young roles are played by three different groups of youngsters and at this performance Harlie Barthram played Annie and Molly was played by Chloe Angiama. Both are captivating and gain the adoration of the audience.
Barthram is enthralling and for a performer so young, has immense assurance on stage, be it with many cast members, or just purely the only one in the limelight. Her renditions of classics such as Maybe and Tomorrow are excellent. Also, her companion in many early first-act scenes also gives her the task of working with the, albeit, fabulously well-behaved dog Amber playing Sandy. Amber delights the audience on many occasions throughout the show and performs her role with aplomb, so deserves all those treats.
All of the young cast are brilliant in their highly charged characters and on the night the must-named group of young ladies were Jessica Rodgers as Tessie, Myla Park as Kate, Maisie MacMahon as Pepper, Gabriella Harris-Sullivan as July and Janai Bartlett as Duffy. When on stage they were the draw of the audience, but their star moment was in the brilliantly performed song, and routine, that accompanied It's the Hard Knock Life. Also, their thrill of performing is epitomised at curtain call where they simply relish the whole thing and don't want to leave the stage.
Amelia Adam is a delight as Warbucks' "assistant" and with all her stunningly performed numbers, proves that, very likely, she is the very best singer within the cast. Finally of mention in the cast is a cuddly performance from David Burrows as, of all people, Franklin Roosevelt, an unlikely character within the story perhaps, but also, with the White House rendition of Tomorrow, maybe part of one of the most fun and entertaining scenes in the show.
Choreography from Nick Winston is topnotch, utilising the very best of the skills of the ensemble to bring to the stage some brilliant routines. Meanwhile, Colin Richmond's curious set design of jigsaw pieces perhaps cleverly merges the story of children at play with the weaving puzzle that is Annie's search for her parents.
Annie is a brilliant evening of entertainment, never losing the charm with the passing of the years and is perhaps one of the best introductions to musical theatre for children that is out there. An authentic, quality musical, that leaves the audience both buoyant on heading home and with an earworm or two in mind, and this has both and therefore presents itself as a superb evening at the theatre.
A fabulous feel-good four-star show!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
