Annie at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre

I went back to the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre last night to see a delightful production of the musical Annie under the stars and it was a lot of fun. An irrepressible orphan named Annie (Adaline Strong) lives at an orphanage run by the cruel and bitter Miss Hannigan (Brandi Washburn) during the Great Depression. She is determined to find the parents who abandoned her as a baby when she is selected by Grace Farrell (Karen Milne) to spend Christmas with her boss, the billionaire Oliver Warbucks (Chad Taylor). Annie asks Warbucks to help her find her parents and he offers a large reward to convince them to come forward. Meanwhile, Miss Hannigan devises a plan to have her brother Rooster (Doug Kaufman) and his girlfriend Lily St. Regis (Lauren Hodges) pose as Annie's parents to claim the reward. With the help of President Roosevelt (Drew Christensen) and the FBI, the plot is eventually exposed and Annie finds a permanent home with Daddy Warbucks. I really loved all of the young actors in the cast because their performances are so heartwarming and enthusiastic and I especially enjoyed watching one of the youngest orphans on stage because she was concentrating so hard on the choreography for "Hard Knock Life" and "Fully Dressed" (this is adorable and it made me smile). Strong is an appealing Annie and her rendition of "Tomorrow" is very stirring. She also has a great rapport with Taylor and I loved her interactions with him in "Something Was Missing," particularly when they clap their hands together because it is so playful. The adults in the show also do a great job because both Taylor and Milne have beautiful voices in "I Don't Need Anything But You," Washburn is a hoot in "Little Girls," and she, Kaufman, and Hodges give a hilarious rendition of "Easy Street." I laughed out loud over the antics of Burt Healy (Erik Schaumann) and the lovely Boylan Sisters (Lauren Hodges, Elizabeth Kelson, and Paige Wood) during the radio broadcast (the special effects are so funny to watch). I was very impressed by the elaborate set featuring a backdrop of the New York skyline which slides open to become the Warbucks mansion with pillars, windows, and a curved staircase.  The doors of various buildings very cleverly open and rotate to become Miss Hannigan's office in the orphanage and an interior room of the Warbucks mansion. The period costumes are a lot of fun and I specifically liked the differentiation between the lower and upper classes. This is an entertaining show for the whole family (there were a lot of children in the audience and those around me were absolutely riveted) and I especially recommend it for the young performers who sing and dance their hearts out. It runs at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through July 19 (go here for tickets).

Note:  A special shout out goes to Maui for being an incredibly well-behaved Sandy!