The smash Broadway musical (and subsequent hit movie) “Annie”- with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, book by Thomas Meehan – opens at the Three Notch Theatre in Lexington Park this week. Performances run from July 27 through August 12 on Thursday, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 3:30 p.m.
You might want to get your tickets early (by calling 301-737-5447 or by contacting www.newtowneplayers.org) because this show has potential “sell-out” stamped all over it!
The familiar depression-era rags-to-riches story of “little orphan Annie” is still relevant in today’s world with its subtle – and sometimes not-so-subtle – commentary on political and economic issues along with its enduring optimistic outlook.
Act I opens with the haunting notes of the solo trumpet (played by Amanda Ansalvish) introducing a snippet of the iconic song “Tomorrow.” The orchestra joins in for the rousing overture as eight orphans take their places on sleeping mats in the half-light. The overture is followed by a spirited fight among the girls which comes to an end shortly after the red-headed Annie (Lauren Heibel) makes her first entrance, calming her little friend Molly in the poignant ballad “Maybe,” in which she displays her youthful, natural, soprano voice and excellent diction.
It isn’t long before Julie Fox as Miss Hannigan breaks up this temporarily tranquil scene as she resumes terrorizing the orphans in her care. Then, Jennifer Morgan as Molly takes a turn at scene-stealing while the girls sing “It’s a Hard Knock Life.”
As Annie once again makes her escape from the orphanage in a never-ending effort to find her real parents (she’s wearing her half of the locket they’d left with her 10 years ago) she meets up with another scene-stealer – Shiloh (a four-footed newcomer to the Three Notch stage) as the dog, Sandy. Her rendition of “Tomorrow” does not disappoint; she and Sandy strike a picture-perfect pose after successfully convincing a police officer that Sandy is, indeed, her dog and not a stray.
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