Theater Review: CCTC/HJT’s ‘Annie’ a Great Way to Kick Off Holiday Season

 Smiling comes easy to singing kids, and the Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre boosts the fun with impressive adult performances in the Broadway musical “Annie” based on the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie” (book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charin). 

 As comfy as a return to your childhood home, this production succeeds on many levels. Annie’s story is set during the 1930s, the Great Depression, just before World War II. Interestingly, some of the political overtures mirror our world today. Director Nick Cearley shows a glimpse of both worlds in that era: the opulent rich and the struggling poor both entertaining us along the way. It sure helps that Strouse and Charin’s songs are catchy and memorable. 

Annie and her fellow orphan girls are living the “Hard Knock Life” with the nasty Miss Hannigan. Annie (Phoebe Murray Schuessler) dreams of her parents who abandoned her as a baby 11 years before, and when she sings of her hopes in “Maybe,” there’s not a dry eye in the house. The young performer also nails the poignantly optimistic anthem “Tomorrow.” As little orphan Annie, Schuessler tugs at your heart strings more than once with her emotion-filled singing and a definitively wise twinkle in her eye. She shares the role with Sylvie Weimer. What a treat to see a real dog as Sandy (Handsome Rain), Annie’s dog. He’s adorable and very obedient. 

Annie insists she’s not an orphan like the others (Maya Nava, Ella Froeschner, Fiona Mooney, Gemma MacBride, Piper Taylor, Alma Alcantara, Paulina Villejo, Rachel Marchio, Ciara Cannon and Niamhi Dunton) and that her parents are coming back for her one day. These young ladies were all phenomenal, singing, dancing and exerting some pretty strong comedic chops, too. 

Eventually Annie’s escapades lead her to get noticed by Grace (Rachel Walman), who works for billionaire Oliver Warbucks (Bill Weimer). Warbucks wants to bring an orphan to his home for the Christmas holidays and Grace chooses the precocious Annie. At the Warbucks mansion, she wins over the entire household (Shiloh Pabst, Elizabeth Dunton, Samantha Walker, Katy Taylor, Kelly Martin, Halley Steinmetz, Finnigan Conlin and Tyler Gula) and even Warbucks himself. Through Warbucks’ connections, she meets the President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Jane Staab), and charms him, too. 

 If you enjoy Miss Hannigan’s (Rebecca Riley) “Little Girls” (and we all did), you’re going to love “Easy Street” with Rooster Hannigan (Ian Hamilton) and Lilly St. Regis (Gianna Casale). All three (Riley, Hamilton and Casale) are over-the-top hilarious! Rooster is played by Jon Cornet later in the run. Chelsea Brown’s choreography shines here and in the orphan girls’ numbers. 

 Richard Archer’s creative set design, enhanced by Matt Kohler’s sound and lighting, easily switches from orphanage to the streets of New York to Warbuck's mansion and more. There are many costume changes as the ensemble switches from role to role (Warbucks’ servants, homeless street folks, radio performers, tourists and more), and of course you’ll see Annie’s signature red and white dress eventually. Credit for all of these is given to Robin McLaughlin, Molly Davul and Karen Milkey. There’s a hidden band that projects like an orchestra. They are musical director Ben Colgan (piano), Hannah Chung (flute and clarinet), Mason Ellsasser (bass), and Brady Smith (drums), with Robert Wilder and Malcolm Granger filling in on some shows. Laura Froeschner (stage manager and light board operator), Kate Mooney (soundboard operator) and Alex Ingraham (backstage crew) did their job superbly. 

 The show is about two hours with a 15 minute intermission, an easy sit for most families because the show is fast-paced and full of joyful songs. The curtain call begins with the orphan girls, so the standing ovation and the wahoos began as soon as that call began at the performance I attended. What a great show! Grab tickets today!