Matthew Murphy
You wouldn’t believe it by seeing her on stage right now, but Little Orphan Annie turns 101 years old this year! Okay, the comic strip Little Orphan Annie turns 101, while the musical stage version of the show Annie turns 48. Still, she doesn’t look a day over eleven. The Broadway musical, winner of seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, ran for nearly six years and spawned such classic tunes as ‘It’s the Hard Knock Life’, ‘You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile’ and, of course, ‘Tomorrow’. It has been revived twice on Broadway (1997 and 2012), and has gone on tour several times, and been presented in theatres around the world. The current version of Annie, now at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, is the third leg of a tour which launched in 2022 … and this one has a little bit of interesting history to it. Of course we can’t forget the original 1982 musical motion picture based on the show — although a lot of people would like to forget it (but how can you with a cast that includes Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters and Anne Reinking?) — a 1999 Disney TV movie remake (with Kathy Bates, Alan Cumming, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth and Victor Garber), a 2014 theatrical film reimagining (Quvenzhané Wallis, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne), and the 2021 production of Annie Live! with Harry Connick Jr., Nicole Scherzinger, Tituss Burgess, Megan Hilty and Taraji P. Henson. There has certainly been an amazing amount of talent involved with these various productions of the show.
With the different iterations and changing of the story’s era, this version of Annie is true to the original production (although some songs seem to have been rearranged at the end of the second act) set during the sunnier days of … The Great Depression. This is certainly true to the original story but it will surely leave the kiddies in the audience wondering what a ‘Hooverville’ is and who is that old man in the wheelchair. But I digress. The story is familiar to anyone with any passing knowledge of the little girl with the red hair. Left at the orphanage run by the dastardly Miss Hannigan, Annie, always the optimist, keeps up the hope that her parents will return since they left her with a note and a locket as their promise to come back for her. Cut to eleven years later and they still haven’t shown up but Annie keeps looking toward tomorrow. While she waits — and runs away only to be returned — Grace Farrell, secretary to billionaire Oliver Warbucks, has come to collect an orphan to spend the Christmas holiday at the Warbucks mansion. Against Hannigan’s wishes, Grace selects Annie (who was in the room and endeared herself to Miss Farrell) and whisks her off to a fabulous life … at least for the next two weeks. Hannigan’s ne’er-do-well brother Rooster shows up with his hotel-monikered girlfriend Lily St. Regis, and after hearing that Warbucks is launching a search to find Annie’s parents, the three concoct a plan to have Rooster and Lily pose as the long-lost mom and dad, take Annie and, most importantly, get the $50,000 reward (and it’s very strongly suggested that Annie will not survive if this plan works — Yikes!). But will Warbucks, Farrell or Annie herself be able to see through the ruse, or will they have enough information at hand to ‘prove’ they are indeed Annie’s parents?
I personally have just a slight connection to Annie. I attended a performance during the third US tour in February 1980 at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore, and I worked at a movie theatre in 1982 showing the movie (and that is a disaster story for another time). Being familiar with this version of the show (the movie was also set in the Depression era), what truly surprised me was how emotional I got throughout the story. Anything set in the Depression era may seem a bit creaky to today’s audiences, but everything here just worked so well. The production, under the guidance of Jenn Thompson — who played orphan Pepper in the original Broadway production (there’s that little bit of history I mentioned) — totally transports the audience to 1933 NYC. The orphanage is appropriately grungy, as is the Hooverville (where the ‘bums’ live), while the Warbucks mansion is fancy but not overly opulent (except for Warbucks’ art collection which includes his newest acquisition, the Mona Lisa … which he isn’t all that keen on). Wilson Chin has done a marvelous job with the scenic design, Alejo Vietti’s costumes are completely appropriate, hair and wigs by Ashley Rae Callahan are skillfully attended to (turns out Annie isn’t a real red-head), and lighting design by Philip Rosenberg keeps the orphanage looking dingy while the mansion is brightly lit. Thompson and her crew really show some love for this show and it all comes together so well. And perhaps with her history with the show, Thompson is able to really find those emotional moments in the original script to tug on your heartstrings at just the right moment, or moments because I had to wipe my eyes a few times.
Matthew Murphy
Thompson also scores with the cast. Right off the bat, Maryland’s own Hazel Vogel is spectacular as Annie. She has the voice to belt out Annie’s signature tunes, but she also has the heart, the gumption, to bring Annie to life, never allowing the character’s constant sunny optimism to become cloying or over-the-top. She plays Annie as a girl who only sees the best in the world, even when she’s stuck with the worst at the orphanage. She handles Patricia Wilcox’s choreography with ease as well, but it’s her skill as an actress that makes the audience feel every emotion and connect with the child, allowing us to empathize with her, especially when she learns the truth about her parents. The movie certainly didn’t have that deep emotion to it and I can’t really remember the previous stage version I saw, but this one got me in all the feels and made me appreciate it even more thanks to Vogel’s wonderful performance.
Stefanie Londino really has a difficult role in Miss Hannigan (and if you ever saw the 1982 movie, Carol Burnett made an indelible impression) because she has to be a wretched human being who only sees the value in the orphans if they’re scrubbing the floors or doing laundry. She’s also apparently under the influence of whatever booze it is she’s swilling (bathtub gin?), but she has to be funny and non-threatening for the kids in the audience. Londino manages to balance all of Hannigan’s personality traits so that she’s a villain we love to hate, and she does a great job with what is probably the show’s funniest song, ‘Little Girls’. Christopher Swan is a wonderful Oliver Warbucks, a bit blustery and singularly business-minded when we, and Annie, first meet him, melting quickly to the girl’s charms. Some may say the love he feels for Annie happens a bit too quickly, but I see it as Annie making him suddenly realize he’s been missing something he never knew he was missing until he met her. Julia Nicole Hunter is very good as Grace, a woman who keeps the Warbucks home running like a well-oiled machine while also keeping Warbucks on track as well. She isn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with Hannigan, and she shows that she cares deeply about Annie. I only wish she had gotten her big ‘We Got Annie’ number from the original movie (an addition to the film that was not part of the show but it just give Grace her well-deserved moment). Rhett Guter and Isabella De Souza Moore are terrific as Rooster and Lily, needing to portray two different characters as the scheming couple who wants Annie for the money, and then convincingly playing her down-trodden ‘parents’. They and Londino also have a really great time with their ‘Easy Street’ number. Mark Woodard also makes for a very convincing FDR, and also has a couple of fun moments as well.
Of course, in addition to Vogel there are several more orphans played with natural perfection, great voices and expert dancing skills by Aria Valentina Aldea, Eva Lizette Carreon, Anna Dillon, Kylie Noelle Patterson, Olive Ross-Kline and Nora West. The ensembles players — Stephen Cerf, Anthony DaSilva, Alloria Frayser, Caroline Glazier, Melinda Parrett, Lawrence E. Street and Drew Tanabe — also sing and dance up a storm (Ryan Mulvaney stepped in at our performance for Joel Newsome as Drake, second in command at the mansion under Grace, and was excellent). A special shout out to Savannah Fisher, who brings the house down with her big moment in the ‘NYC’ number. She was amazing with a character aptly named ‘Star To Be’. Also kudos to the orchestra under the direction of Andrew David Sotomayor, presenting the music beautifully and managing to also make it sound era-appropriate instead of like an overly bombastic orchestra. And we can’t forget the dog Sandy, who shamelessly upstages anyone who happens to be on stage with him with his adorableness.
Everything in this production of Annie just worked so well that it may surprise many at how good the show actually is. Even with the specific era, Annie is timeless enough to be enjoyed by young and old alike and everyone in-between, bet your bottom dollar.
Annie runs about 2 hours 30 minutes with one intermission. Recommended for ages 6 and up.
Annie runs through January 12 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre. Other cities on the schedule include Indianapolis, San Francisco, Fresno, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and more. Visit the official website for more information. Use our Ticketmaster link to purchase tickets.
Annie on Tour
Check our Ticketmaster link for ticket availability.
Share this post
