“Annie”
Book by Thomas Meehan; music by Charles Strouse; lyrics by Martin Charnin; directed by Martin Charnin; musical direction by Keith Levenson; original Broadway musical staging by Peter Gennaro; choreography by Liza Gennaro; set design by Ming Cho Lee; original costume design by Theoni V. Aldredge; additional costumes designed by Jimm Halliday; lighting design by Ken Billington; sound design by Peter Hylenski

Featured cast in order of appearance:
Molly, Amanda Balon
Pepper, Brittany Portman
Duffy, Jocelyn Chmielewski
July, Taylor Bright
Tessie, Casey Whyland
Kate, Delaney Moro
Annie, Marissa O’Donnell
Miss Hannigan, Alene Robertson
Sandy, Lola
Grace Farrell, Elizabeth Broadhurst
Oliver Warbucks, Conrad John Schuck
Star to Be, Monica L. Patton
Rooster Hannigan, Scott Willis
Lily St. Regis, Julie Cardia
Bert Healy, Christopher Vettel
F.D.R., Allan Baker

Performances: Now through June 25 at The Opera House in Boston
Tickets: Available through Ticketmaster at 617-931-2787 or www.ticketmaster.com, or at www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com

The best feel good musical of the past 30 years is back on tour and as bright as ever. Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin’s much beloved “Annie” is once again warming the hearts of theater goers, currently at the magnificent Opera House in Boston, thanks to skillful direction and a solid cast.

Director Martin Charnin, who also helmed the original Broadway production, has brought us a more intimate and less comic book “Annie” this time around. Led by the wonderful Conrad John Schuck as Daddy Warbucks, the current tour’s characters are more real and multi-dimensional than in versions past, making the Depression more palpable, the villains more sinister, and the orphaned children more vulnerable beneath their toughened veneer. This more heartfelt approach to the rags to riches story of Little Orphan Annie puts the deepening relationship between Annie and her baldpated benefactor front and center where it belongs. The plot twists that threaten to prevent Warbucks from adopting Annie evoke sighs from even the most cynical theatergoer, and their ultimate union as a family at the end elicits unreserved smiles and approving cheers.

Marissa O’Donnell is a delight as Annie, balancing her ragamuffin survivor spirit with equal doses of charm, wit, wisdom, and wishing. She demonstrates a winning ease and excellent comic timing that make her the equal of any of the more seasoned actors on stage. Her voice is strong and sweet – almost delicate in the lovely opening number, “Maybe,” which expresses her hope that her parents will one day come back for her, and then powerfully motivating in her reprise of the show’s signature anthem, “Tomorrow,” sung to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his despondent White House staff.

As the billionaire Warbucks, Schuck is pure perfection. He gives us an initially tough Republican businessman whose long-buried tender heart eventually melts as Annie’s indomitable optimism helps him realize there is more to life than money. His growing love for Annie is thoroughly endearing and humorously combines with a self-conscious befuddlement that surfaces every time he tries to figure out what to say or how to act around a child, especially a girl. His singing and dancing in “N.Y.C.” is a burst of unabashed exuberance, a torrent of pent up joy that Annie has somehow magically unleashed. His “Something Was Missing” is a gentle ballad that reveals his lifelong loneliness, and his song and dance duet with Annie, “I Don’t Need Anything But You,” is a fun-loving vaudeville that celebrates their mutual adoration.

Elizabeth Broadhurst as Warbucks’ loyal personal secretary Grace Farrell is quite charming. She is smart, efficient, and professional, but also warm and keenly perceptive. She is a maternal-like protector for Annie, and her growing fondness for the new Warbucks that Annie sparks has her comically fighting the urge to be affectionate at times. She sings beautifully, leading the ensemble of mansion staffers in the rousing “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here,” “You Won’t Be an Orphan for Long,” and the title song, “Annie.” Plus she shows some spunk of her own when confronting the villainous trio of Hannigan, Hannigan and St. Regis.

As Miss Hannigan, the orphanage mistress from hell, Alene Robertson is more miserable than monstrous. Her comedy is more deadpan than diabolical, and you can almost – almost – have sympathy for her as she pines away for love (and lust) while listening to romances on the radio. While she seemed a bit low key in her diatribe against her annoying charges, “Little Girls,” she came to life in her glide down “Easy Street” with the kinetic Scott Willis as her slimy brother Rooster and the appropriately vapid Julie Cardia as the sturdily built Lily St. Regis (like the hotel).

Allan Baker as F.D.R. turns what could be a one-dimensional imitation into a delightfully understated send-up of the fireside president as Santa Claus in “A New Deal for Christmas.” Monica L. Patton as the Star to Be shows just how she plans to take Broadway by storm in her solo segment of “N.Y.C.” The sextet of mischievous moppets inhabiting the New York Municipal Orphanage – Amanda Balon, Brittany Portman, Jocelyn Chmielewski, Casey Whyland, and Delaney Moro – combine street smarts with aching hearts to ignite their production numbers, “It’s a Hard Knock Life” and “You’re Never Fully Dressed without a Smile.” And even Lola as Annie’s faithful furry companion, Sandy, earns sympathetic moans and rounds of applause for her affecting portrayal of a mutt in search of a loving home.

Keith Levenson’s smart orchestrations perfectly capture the tunes and tone of the 1930s. The 15-piece band is rich sounding and never over amplified, and mercifully absent of synthesizers. Costumes by Theoni V. Aldredge and Jimm Halliday evoke the period and illustrate the wide disparity between the haves and the have nots, and Ming Cho Lee’s inventive sets mark the sharp contrast between the slums of the poor and the mansions of the rich. Dingy, slanted walls and oppressive, tilted ceilings give an ominous edge to life in the orphanage and in the Hooverville of homeless people living under the bridge, while sweeping staircases, vaulted windows, and magnificent paneled halls show the splendor enjoyed and taken for granted by the privileged few.

“Annie” is a great show for the entire family. If only the White House of 2006 were a stop on her heartwarming tour.

Annie Photo Captions

1. Annie (Marissa O’Donnell) and Sandy (Lola). Photo credit: Chris Bennion.
2. Annie (Marissa O’Donnell) and Daddy Warbucks (Conrad John Schuck). Photo credit: Chris Bennion.
3. Miss Hannigan (Alene Robertson). Photo credit: Chris Bennion.
4. The Orphans in the national tour of Annie. Photo credit: Chris Bennion.