I went to Annie expecting to be annoyed. But I was less irritated than I thought I'd be
Annie ★★★★
Princess Theatre, Until October 26
As usual, I went to Annie the musical expecting to be annoyed.
Let's face it: the high-wattage optimism of the plucky preteen heroine would be delusional in almost anyone else. It's so insanely irrepressible it bewitches rough-sleepers into frolicking about carefree, melts the heart of a billionaire industrialist, and even inspires Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the Oval Office, shepherding America towards global economic supremacy.
Not bad going for an eleven-year-old orphan.
The truth is, though, that despite the silliness of it all, I'm typically less irritated than I think I'll be, and the juvenile cast always plays an outsized role in winning me over. There's nothing little about the talents of the little girls in this show. Isabella Hayden was terrific as Annie on opening night, in a starring role shared over the season with Dakota Chanel and Lilleth McIntosh.
Hayden brought the sunshine with her wherever she went, whether she was belting out the signature earworm Tomorrow with a dog in tow, knocking about among fellow orphans – all singing their hearts out and dancing in athletic synchrony – during It's A Hard Knock Life, or holding her own in duet opposite Anthony Warlow's 'Daddy' Warbucks.
Warlow has of course played Warbucks on Broadway. Gruff, briskly sketched comedy and Warlow's still-marvellous voice make for a magnetic performance, though the creepiness of a plutocrat temporarily housing an orphan in his mansion to improve his public image? Well, it leaves a weird aftertaste, especially given the current trajectory of US politics. Just look at who they're calling 'daddy' over there now.
Anyone allergic to toxic positivity will find its true antidote, however, in the show's cynical villains.
Debra Krizak as Miss Hannigan, the alcoholic head of the orphanage, gives a performance that everyone will love to hate, adding vaudevillian charm and a dash of slapstick to the mix when she teams up with her con artist brother Rooster (Keanu Gonzalez), and his partner in crime Lily (Mackenzie Dunn), to swindle Warbucks.
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