The sun will come out tomorrow, which can only mean that Annie the Musical has arrived at the Alexandra Theatre Birmingham.
Set in 1930s New York during The Great Depression, a bleak time which saw one in every three workers unemployed, a young but brave Annie is forced to live a life of misery and torment at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage. Determined to find her real parents, her luck changes when she is chosen to spend Christmas at the residence of famous billionaire, Oliver Warbucks. However, spiteful Miss Hannigan has other ideas and hatches a plan to spoil Annie’s quest to search for her true family.
For me, this was a stand-out musical and I think that what captivated my attention was the creativity. Director Nikolai Foster has led the production while creating a show full of energy. Choreographer Nick Winston managed to incorporate tap dancing into this show, which I think was a genius move, as it's not something we see in many musical productions. I also loved the choreography for the It’s The Hard-Knock Life, the young performers remained in character throughout, and it was cheeky and fun. The dancers lit the stage up in the more exuberant numbers, especially in their brightly coloured costumes, with warm shades of pink and red emanating off the stage. It was a good contrast to the dark colours reflected in the scenery to highlight the Great Depression.
Annie for many is a very well-known, much-loved musical. I had never been too sure, but I was pleasantly surprised. Although at times I found that the New York accents were a little bit off, sometimes slipping during dialogue. They may say never to work with children or animals, but this production manages to do both very successfully. There were so many children in the audience tonight, absolutely enchanted by this musical, laughing, and gasping in all the right places.
For me, the star of the show was Craig Revel-Horwood as Miss Hannigan. He played the part brilliantly. It allowed him to showcase all his talents, as he is a brilliant performer and mesmerising to watch. The whole cast was wonderful and did a great job at juggling multiple roles. All the young performers in this production were very talented and had a maturity beyond their years. In tonight's performance, the role of Arnie was played by Zoe Akinyosade, and Sandy the dog by Lily.
With its Tony Award-winning book and score, featuring the unforgettable songs It’s The Hard-Knock Life, Easy Street, I Don’t Need Anything But You and Tomorrow, you can bet your bottom dollar that you’ll love it!
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