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My First Annie20th Review
 

THE BEST ANNIE EVER
by Long John Silver
March 26, 1998

When I attended the Thursday March 26 production of Annie at the Civic Theatre in San Diego, CA, I expected to be somewhat disappointed with the production.

To begin with, the Civic is a large theatre with a small stage. The size, if I remember correctly from my days of performing at the Civic, is only 38’ by 26’. That’s usually enough room for a standard production, but not for one as lavish as Annie.

Second, the theatre itself is dead sound wise. The strongest singer would not be heard beyond the third row without a sound system to help, and even the sound system would not be adequate enough to handle the extreme range of voices in Annie. As it was, the sound system didn’t do justice to the talented voices in the cast.

Neither of these problems were the fault of the cast or crew, of course, but I was concerned that the production, no matter how well they prepared for these problems, would be an utter disappointment.

I needn’t have worried. Despite these deficiencies in the theatre and the massive cuts the writer(s) made in the script, this production was the best I have ever seen.

The scenery and set design was imaginative and incredible. The crew somehow managed to get all of the scenery and most of the props onto the tiny stage, although only four beds could fit on stage in the first scene. (There are supposed to be six, right?) It was lavish - far more so than I have ever seen in any play. The scenery in the original production was cleverly designed, with seamless scenery changes between scenes. This production had the added benefit of technological advances that were unheard of twenty years ago, and certain visual effects, like the falling snow outside of Warbucks’ living room opening the final scene, made the story far more lifelike. The results were marvelous.

Although many scenes have been cut and spliced in this production compared to the original, the writer(s) added a lot of flavor. Many scenes which did not exist in the original Annie but were put into the motion picture have been included in Annie20th, which added variety and made parts of the show unpredictable to original audiences. It was almost as if I were watching a completely different play. Almost.

And let’s not forget the actors. The actors in this production are among the best I have ever seen, and where the original Annie was static, with little or no input allowed from the players, the actors in Annie20th were allowed to put in a few personal touches, which added a delightful human quality to the entire show.

Conrad John Schuck played the best Oliver Warbucks I have ever seen. The role of Warbucks is a demanding one, because the actor has to portray so many different facets of the character. At the beginning of the play, Warbucks is a hard-hearted, ruthless, independent man who cares only about his billions. As the play unfolds, we expect to see another side of Warbucks: a vulnerable, unloved individual who realizes that he needs more than money to be happy. Most actors can portray one aspect or the other, and even Reid Shelton, considered by some to be the benchmark for this role, had difficulty playing the seemingly dual personality. But Schuck is able to portray both sides so effectively as to be completely believable.

Nine-year-old Brittny Kissinger was excellent in the title role. During the show, Kissinger padded some parts of the story, and didn’t live up to her full acting potential. She delivered, though, when her superior acting talents were required. The last scene of the first act, where Annie is reminded of her missing parents and rejects Warbucks, is the most demanding for Annie, for the character is required to portray a wide variety of emotions in a very short time. In every production I have ever seen, the actress playing Annie fudges the crying in this scene, and never adds that human touch. This was not the case with Brittny. She gave the truest performance I have ever seen in a child actor, with a professionalism that I have seen only in the best adult actors. Her voice was adequate for the part, but because of her acting talent she was, in my opinion, one of the best Annies ever. Her chemistry with Schuck was also something to behold. Watch out, Shirley Temple. You’ve got some competition.

Sally Struthers was hilarious as the mean headmistress of the Orphanage. While she had difficulty conveying the meanness of  the part of Miss Hannigan, her performance was adequate for the part. She didn’t quite bring out the full flavor, but her amusing antics on stage made her a delight to watch.

In Annie20th, the Orphans are on stage more than in the original script. This gave the entire show an added flavor, although some of the orphans had nothing specific to do during some scenes and fidgeted noticeably. To their credit, however, the Orphans played their parts nearly perfectly. I had expected Jamie Hughes to stand out as the novice of the lot, since several of the children, when faced with their new role, sometimes had a little difficulty in the past, but in this case I couldn’t tell the difference. Victoria Pontecorvo, who plays the littlest orphan, had a bit of trouble with the choreography in "Dressed Orphans", but she stuck with it, and earned the most applause of all of them.

The rest of the cast was great as well. Lisa Gunn played the businesslike Grace Farrell with style and - well - grace, and Raymond Thorne played a perfect FDR as only he can. Laurent Giroux looked truly sinister as Rooster, Miss Hannigan’s no-good brother, and he, Karen Byers-Blackwell (Lily), and Struthers made a performance of Easy Street that brought the house down.

I was very impressed with some of the new choreography used in Annie20th, especially in the Orphanage scenes. The actors worked with props and each other to make the show-stoppers, and thus the story, flow more smoothly.

There were, of course, the usual problems that any production might have. Alene Robertson (Mrs. Pugh) completely destroyed her line in “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here,” Struthers nearly lost her gray-haired wig in the “Easy Street” scene (a scary situation, since it happened at the beginning of the scene, while Gunn was still on stage) but managed to fix the problem discreetly before the dance number, and Kissinger lost her left Mary Jane shoe in the final scene, walking around the stage shoeless for three full minutes before she was able to sit down and put it back on. To their credit, however, they never appeared as if there was anything amiss. Now that’s professionalism for you.

In summary, I would recommend that anyone see this show if possible. You’ll be glad you did, as you will have a wonderful time. You might, however, want to see the show in a better theatre.