September 27, 2007
Charming ‘Annie’ visits Clay Center
By Bob Schwarz
Staff writer
Good triumphed over evil and charmingly so when Broadway in Charleston brought “Annie” to the Clay Center
Wednesday night.
Based on the “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip, this Charles Strouse-Martin Charnin musical, with book by Thomas
Meehan, is a peppy, well-constructed crowd-pleaser.
Amanda Balon made an energetic and appealing Annie, the tough kid in the orphanage who believes that tomorrow
will bring a better day.
David Barton was superb as Oliver Warbucks, the tough-talking self-made billionaire with the soft heart for little
Annie.
Like the comic strip, the musical is drawn with broad caricatured strokes. The orphan girls stand in the open
doorway of their orphanage and take some deep breaths before the cruel Miss Hannigan chases them back. “All
right, that’s all the fresh air you get for a month,” Miss Hannigan tells them.
When Annie arrives at the Warbucks mansion for her two-week Christmas holiday stay, Warbuck’s secretary asks
Annie what she would like to do first.
“The floors,” answers Annie, grabbing a handy mop. “Then I’ll do the windows.”
There are some charming moments in this well-thought-out show: Annie cheering up President Franklin Roosevelt in
the White House and the stuffy Harold Ickes becoming the broad-gesturing enthusiastic as he takes a refrain of
Annie’s “Tomorrow;” also, the wonderful interaction between the evil Miss Hannigan and her con man brother
Rooster and his female sidekick Regis.
Sent our way by Jam Theatricals, the current production had wonderful scenery as the sets changed from the
orphanage to the White House to the street to Warbuck’s mansion. A most impressive moment was when snow
began falling outside the window-enclosed domed rotunda of the Warbuck mansion.
I have seen “Annie” several times before, and it stands up well. That doesn’t keep me from wishing that the title role
was written for a short 13-or-14-year-old with a sweeter voice than the raspy, shrill one that this musical imposes on
a 10-year-old.
These might seem like minor points, but Miss Hannigan had an overly deep speaking voice in the opening scene,
and at times her makeup makes her look clownlike. Her character is sufficiently exaggerated without pushing it over
the edge.
To contact staff writer Bob Schwarz, use e-mail or call 348-1249
Charming ‘Annie’ visits Clay Center
By Bob Schwarz
Staff writer
Good triumphed over evil and charmingly so when Broadway in Charleston brought “Annie” to the Clay Center
Wednesday night.
Based on the “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip, this Charles Strouse-Martin Charnin musical, with book by Thomas
Meehan, is a peppy, well-constructed crowd-pleaser.
Amanda Balon made an energetic and appealing Annie, the tough kid in the orphanage who believes that tomorrow
will bring a better day.
David Barton was superb as Oliver Warbucks, the tough-talking self-made billionaire with the soft heart for little
Annie.
Like the comic strip, the musical is drawn with broad caricatured strokes. The orphan girls stand in the open
doorway of their orphanage and take some deep breaths before the cruel Miss Hannigan chases them back. “All
right, that’s all the fresh air you get for a month,” Miss Hannigan tells them.
When Annie arrives at the Warbucks mansion for her two-week Christmas holiday stay, Warbuck’s secretary asks
Annie what she would like to do first.
“The floors,” answers Annie, grabbing a handy mop. “Then I’ll do the windows.”
There are some charming moments in this well-thought-out show: Annie cheering up President Franklin Roosevelt in
the White House and the stuffy Harold Ickes becoming the broad-gesturing enthusiastic as he takes a refrain of
Annie’s “Tomorrow;” also, the wonderful interaction between the evil Miss Hannigan and her con man brother
Rooster and his female sidekick Regis.
Sent our way by Jam Theatricals, the current production had wonderful scenery as the sets changed from the
orphanage to the White House to the street to Warbuck’s mansion. A most impressive moment was when snow
began falling outside the window-enclosed domed rotunda of the Warbuck mansion.
I have seen “Annie” several times before, and it stands up well. That doesn’t keep me from wishing that the title role
was written for a short 13-or-14-year-old with a sweeter voice than the raspy, shrill one that this musical imposes on
a 10-year-old.
These might seem like minor points, but Miss Hannigan had an overly deep speaking voice in the opening scene,
and at times her makeup makes her look clownlike. Her character is sufficiently exaggerated without pushing it over
the edge.
To contact staff writer Bob Schwarz, use e-mail or call 348-1249
