Sacred Heart High School performed 'Annie The Musical' at the Smith-Cotton Jr. High School on Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22. I remember  watching the movie a lot as a kid in the early 1980s, and it was great to get the chance to see the production on stage for the first time.

The musical followed along with the movie pretty well, but there were some additional scenes in there. I have to admit, my favorite was the first three songs are "Maybe," "It's the Hard Knock Life," and "Tomorrow."  Annie is the main singer, and Casey Chappel did a great job of portraying the 11-year-old redhead.

I had a fond place for the orphans portrayed by Sacred Heart Elementary Students. I could not figure out the girl who said, "Oh My Goodness", but in the movie, she was one of my favorites, and that stood true in the musical.

The musical did have a differences than the movie. If you've seen the movie, you know Daddy Warbucks is a Republican and President Roosevelt is a Democrat and they poke fun at that in the movie. In the musical, there is a great scene where Annie is looking for her parents and she stumbles upon a homeless area, where they break into song with the Hooverites and thank Herbert Hoover for putting them on the streets and into Hooverville.

One of my favorite scenes came up in Act I when Annie came across the dog, Sandy. I wondered how the dog would do on stage, and Chester Kees did everything on cue, a very well-trained dog. My other favorite scene was in Act II, with the NBC Radio Studio at 30 Rockerfeller Center and the Orphanage. This is where they reprise old time radio and do the whole scene live. The actor portraying Bert Healy, Michael Hohne, did a fantastic job as the old radio host. What really got the crowd going was The Boylan Sisters, who were Debbie Bolin, Gloria Close, Kathy Wissman and Jan Bahner, and they brought the crowd to their feet after singing, "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile."

There are so many in this cast who I felt did amazing. Daddy Warbucks was portrayed by Ari Jacks, Grace Farrell portrayed by Mary Fischer. Those two worked well on the stage together, especially in the walk to the movie scene. Virginia Vanegas did great as the leader of the orphanage, Miss Hannigan. Lots of the rest of the cast did duel roles, and that is tough to pull off, but they did it.

This was a fun adaptation and Music Director, Darrin Hartmann and Stage Director, Jan Bahner did a great job with the ensemble and main cast. I thank them for bringing this musical to life again and bringing me back to my youth. I hope you enjoy some of the photos.

 

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