Crowd-pleasing production of the orphan-loving musical 'Annie' is only a ticket away
When it comes to comfort food, the occasional tasty surprise is always welcome, but for the most part we want what's worked for us before.
"Annie," the endlessly tuneful and familiar musical about the irrespressible title orphan who rides from rags to riches on a wave of luck and pluck, is essentially the theatrical version of comfort food, and Opera House Theatre Co. is opening its summer season with a brisk, crowd-pleasing rendition of the buoyant show. It runs through July 6 at Thalian Hall in downtown Wilmington.
Under the direction of Carson Hobbs, whose punchy choreography adds life to the musical's many production numbers, "Annie" is as diverting and satisfying as a summer beach read, maybe even more so.
The 1977 musical, later made into a 1982 film, is based on Harold Gray's "Little Orphan Annie" comic strip, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. The story starts with 11-year-old Annie (Gigi Beckett) living a hard-knock life in a Depression-era, New York City orphanage and follows her unlikely arc as she lands in the lap of luxury, becoming the ward of business magnate Oliver Warbucks (Matthew Stocke), a ruthless businessman whose emotional core is activated by Annie's charm and moxie.
Beckett has a big, clear voice and a winning stage presence as Annie, and while she effortlessly evokes emotion with her performance of the tear-jerking ballad "Maybe," in which Annie wistfully pictures the parents who left her at the orphange when she was a baby, she occasionally rushes her lines. Stocke is a serviceable Warbucks, believably brusque yet caring, with a polished dome that shines like the top of the Chrysler building, while Katie Mahn is the picture of unflappable professionalism as Warbucks' assistant, Grace, who also becomes Annie's champion.
As Miss Hannigan, the kid-hating, over-it warden of the orphanage where Annie starts the show, recent Wilmington transplant Jennifer Frankel brings the chops that made her a veteran of eight Broadway productions, showing off her pipes on her big number, "Little Girls," and kicking up her heels Rockettes-style during the jazzy "Easy Street," when her reprobate brother Rooster (Brett Sicola) and his moll (Cassandra McAlister) express a desire for easy money that later entangles Annie in their scheme.
The young actresses playing Annie's fellow orphans are fantastic, and they absolutely crush both the in-your-face cuteness of "Hard Knock Life" and the swinging lilt of "Fully Dressed." The ensemble comes strong as well, with Cole Monroe lots of playful fun as both Warbucks' butler Drake and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's uptight cabinet secretary Harold Ickes; Alex Gallo as the earnest FDR, whose official duties can wait while he helps hunt down an orphan's parents; and Jason Aycock as radio announcer Bert Healy, bringing the smarm in the midst of a scene depicting a sound-effects-laden radio broadcast that doesn't quite come off.
David Casteneda's crisp lighting design isn't flashy but it pops anyway, music director Denice Hopper's band is on-point and Dori Nason's costumes encompass both Hooverville rags and high society threads.
One probably shouldn't review "Annie" without mentioning its famously indelible ballad "Tomorrow," which both Beckett and the cast deliver more than once with bombastic aplomb.
As a concept, tomorrow is kind of tricky because you can never really enjoy it, only look forward to (or dread) it. Ironically, "Annie" is all about reveling in the moment and letting its time-honored songs and story line wash over you, and there's no better place in Wilmington to kick back, relax and forget about tomorrow (while enjoying "Tomorrow") than Thalian Hall.
Want to go?
What: "Annie," with music by Charles Strouse, book by Thomas Meehan and lyrics by Martin Charnin. Presented by Opera House Theatre Co.
When: 7:30 p.m. June 27-29 and July 5-6, 2 p.m. June 29-30 and July 6-7
Where: Thalian Hall, 310 Chestnut St., Wilmington
Info: Tickets at 910-632-2285 or ThalianHall.org.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Theater review: Opera House's 'Annie' at Thalian Hall in Wilmington
