Winston-Salem Journal Review - "Annie"

'Annie' brings 'magic time' to the stage'
By: LYNN FELDER | Special correspondent
Published: November 06, 2011

Annie and Sandy

It may be a "Hard-Knock Life" out there in the world, but the audience at the opening night of Twin City Stage's production of "Annie" was on "Easy Street" Friday night.

Annie and the 11 other orphan girls set a high standard of performance in the first scene with "Maybe" (Annie's solo) and "Hard-Knock Life" (a great production number). They proceed from there to fairly run away with the show, and there's plenty to run away with: Benji Starcher's choreography is exuberant; Bland Wade's gold-and-sepia-toned sets are elegant; Justin Hall's 1930s-style costumes are pitch-perfect.

The orchestra, under the talented leadership of Margaret B. Gallagher, often sounds much fuller than its 10 pieces, and the singing is fine throughout.

Anytime the girls are on stage, it's magic time, and the same goes for the orphanage supervisor Miss Hannigan, played with wicked relish by Peggie Kaan. Miss Hannigan, one of the juiciest roles in the repertoire, loves booze as much as she hates "Little Girls." Kaan rips into her role, stomping and reeling about with one sock up and one sock down as she hectors her charges and bemoans her fate.

Hooverville

But the orphans are far too plucky to seem like victims. Annie, well-played by Beatrice Howell, 11, and the littlest orphan, Molly, played by the effervescent Isabella Ellis, lead the others in numerous assaults on poor Miss Hannigan's dubious dignity.

The villains and the heroes are pretty clear-cut in "Annie," but director Steven LaCosse stays away from comic-book characterizations and lets his actors develop real personalities.

LaCosse's opera-director hand can be seen in some wonderful ensemble staging and in his collaboration with choreographer Starcher: "I Think I'm Going To Like It Here," the number when the servants welcome Annie to her new (maybe) home; and "NYC," when Daddy Warbucks (Ken Kennedy) and his secretary Grace (the graceful Miriam Davie) take Annie out on the town.

Many of the 32 cast members play multiple roles and perform amazing feats of quick-costume change. Mark Pirolo does a fine turn as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Joshua Gerry as Rooster Hannigan (Miss Hannigan's ne'er-do-well brother) and Mary Lea Williams as his girlfriend, Lily, are deliciously sleazy and fun to watch. Drake, Warbucks' butler, played by Miles Stanley, has a grand sonorous voice.

And there's something just irresistible about a little red-haired girl standing on a desk in the Oval Office advising FDR and his Cabinet to believe in "Tomorrow."

Act I is a little long, and the energy dropped a tad before intermission, but things picked up fast in Act II. In fact, there are too many wonderful moments in this show to note them all here. Suffice it to say, it's a show that's so full of love and optimism that you will likely leave the theater feeling a whole lot of both.