‘Annie’ is one of musical theatre’s great shows and Wellington Operatic Society’s production gives a company of young performers a chance to display their skills, their energy and their unrestrained delight in being on stage. The exuberance of the orphans – there are two teams performing on alternate nights – and the audacious enthusiasm and vocal power of the two stars, Emily Sellick and Daisy Holloway who share the central role, will undoubtedly delight audiences. And alongside the youngsters, the company includes a whole troupe of OpSoc’s more senior regulars, all well-versed in the requirements of delivering a full-blooded musical.
The enduring popularity of ‘Annie’ comes, in part from the simplicity of the narrative. Based on the adventures of a comic strip character, Little Orphan Annie, it has all the qualities of a cartoon – clearly drawn ‘lines’, bright primary colours, simplified emotions expressed in punctuation marks and a very clear distinction between rights and wrongs. There are good guys and bad guys – and the good guys always win, eventually. And the ending will be happy.
OpSoc’s orphans are a delight. They may be poor, dirty and ragged – and they may not be angels – but they are feisty and resilient. They fight between themselves and against the casual cruel of the malign Miss Hannigan, delighting in the battles they win. They may be downtrodden and harshly treated but they are defiant and stoical, as the girls in the team performing at the dress rehearsal clearly presented, both physically and vocally.
Annie with her flame-red hair is their leader, their example in resistance and their comforter. This is such a demanding role for a young performer. There are big numbers to deliver, strength, tenderness, courage and determination to convey and, in one delightful scene, a small dog to handle. Annie is a heart-stealer and the two performers taking on this role will undoubtedly win the hearts of the whole audience. They both have bags of accomplishments as performers – including very genuine and very winning smiles.
Alison Jenkinson as Miss Hannigan is a caricature of malevolence. There are no limits to the pantomime nastiness of the role and the actor’s inebriated wobbliness, her expansively wild gestures and delightful gurning are soap-opera villainous. The actor is physically perfect for the role – being very tall – which allows her to loom over the small orphans like a wielded stick.
In vivid contrast, Tracy Skinner’s Grace Farrell is completely endearing. Tracy presents the character’s refined gentleness with masterful skill and calm confidence. If this Grace Farrell was to tackle Brexit she would have the whole thing sorted in a trice – and make people love her as well. Her surprise when her boss, Oliver Warbucks, actually notices that she is beautiful, gracious, effective and warm was delightful as was her tenderness with Annie.
David Duthie as billionaire powerbroker Oliver Warbucks is large, expansive – and nice. Whilst being presented in his deeds as the epitome of power and privilege, the character just happens to have a heart of gold as well as lots of it to spend. Whilst his easy access to President Roosevelt is a clichéd interpretation of the positive relationship between money and the Oval Office, here it serves its purpose. Duthie is a very able actor with a smooth voice and relaxed stage presence and, in this role, he is suitably gracious and very effective in his tenderness for Annie.
‘Rooster’ Hannigan and Lily St Regis are gifts for actors. They are dastardly low-life gold diggers, and creepy too. John Skittrell and Holly Knowles seem to relish the opportunities that the roles provide and their delivery of ‘Easy Street’ in both acts is very accomplished.
Chris Barrett as Franklin D Roosevelt is presented with the challenge of credibility. The wheelchair is the easy bit, as is conveying the President’s despair at 1930s economic woes and the threat of WW2. But his reeducation in the power of optimism by Annie and the ‘lightbulb moment’ which signals his vision of the New Deal is, arguably, a stretch too far, although the strength of the actor’s voice and vocal backing of his ‘Cabinet’ gives the White House songs real weight and value.
Elsewhere, the cast is filled with performers who know their jobs. Maids, Warbucks’ extensive team of flunkies, the undernourished underclass in Hooverville and the tourists and citizens thronging New York streets and subways are all choreographed to convey appropriate and well-constructed images and, of course, they deliver the chorus numbers with the company’s characteristic panache.
In terms of direction Alice Luke has managed a demanding task well. Initially assigned as choreographer for the show, she took over as Director from Nancy Powell-Brace who had to withdraw for personal reasons. Alice is no stranger to performance but this is her first show as Director – and it’s a very big show to handle. Her choreography is excellent – both varied and sharp visually and her placement of characters in groups through different phases of the music is fine. Most of the narrative scenes are well-constructed, although the Oval Office setting is quite curious and awkward. Roosevelt hidden behind a large radio on a massive desk – on which Annie is perched – is less than effective for the audience. There are some awkward moments too in the Radio Show scene, although the choreography of the Boylan Sisters’ routine is splendid.
Musical Director Andrew Curtis has lots of music to deliver – and much of it with young performers whose numbers have to be carefully and sympathetically managed. His direction is skilful and considerate, both of his big band of musicians and the actors. Issues of timing will doubtless be overcome during the run.
Stephanie Colman, who costumes the show, has devoted a great deal of attention to authenticity – and it shows. Her research, detailed in the programme, into appropriate 1930s clothing for the whole social spectrum of characters from orphans to POTUS represented gives a clear sense of the period. Two striking examples of the attention to detail is her presentation of the characters in the NBC Radio studio and the crisp military quality of Lt Ward’s uniform. It might be argued that the stylised costuming – including bowler hats and no jackets – of the White House Cabinet scene are inconsistent with the realism of the rest of the costumes but there will be those who disagree. Overall, the costuming is exceptional in quality and range.
Providing settings for this show, extending as they do from an orphanage to a sumptuous mansion, downtown Hooverville, the streets of New York and the White House, often consume big budgets. Here, with limited resources, the orphanage scenes work well (or is it that poverty is cheap to create?) with stiff wooden beds and bad wallpainting, and there’s effective use of a tab of Brooklyn Bridge for the streets of New York. The humbleness of Hooverville is conveyed with a shabby hut, a brazier and good lighting but the opulence of Warbucks’ mansion is underachieved – the painted ‘wallpaper’ a bit more shock than flock. Equally, the use of trucks for Miss Hannigan’s office is a bit clunky and the Oval Office is unnecessarily overdressed. One nitpicking detail – apart from Miss Hannigan’s enthusiastic work on a poor orphan’s head – is the absence of phone cords. Are ‘mobile’ phones entirely historically accurate?
Lighting should be mentioned: throughout it is exact and sympathetic to the quality of each setting.
OpSoc’s ‘Annie’ is admirable in its ambitions. The whole company should be praised for taking on a difficult and demanding musical – which largely succeeds. The weeks and months of rehearsal, admirable commitment and the musical and theatrical abilities of all involved deliver, yet again, a fine production to the stage of The Wellesley and that should draw full appreciation from audiences.
Performances are from Tuesday 7 May to Saturday 11 May at 7.30pm with a matinee performance on Saturday 11 May at 2.30pm. Tickets online from wwwticketsource.co.uk/wellingtonartscentre, by phone on 0844 997 9000 or from Odette’s Tea Room, High Street, Wellington.