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By Christopher P. Jacobs

Shows featuring kids and dogs are sure crowd-pleasers, so much that actors often dread having to share the spotlight with them. But the strong adult actors in the key roles of “Annie” hold their own against a talented cast of little girls in the Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre’s latest production.  “Annie” opened February 11 at the Empire Arts Center in Grand Forks, and continued at 7:30 nightly through Saturday, plus a 2:00 matinee on Sunday, both that weekend and Feb. 18 -21.

The optimistic story of a poor but plucky orphan girl and her dog who become adopted by a billionaire was a popular comic strip for decades after it first appeared in 1924, became a hit Broadway musical in 1977 and movie in 1982 (directed by John Huston, of all people). The stage show set its plot during the Great Depression of the 1930s and while it tried to poke fun at the original strip’s conservative ideology and celebrate FDR’s New Deal, “Annie’s” underlying political implications regain an uneasy timeliness in today’s economic climate.

The show’s basic message, apart from any left-wing or right-wing philosophies that might be construed, is really one of self-reliance, perseverance, and optimism – “the sun will come out, tomorrow.” And of course, it’s the singing and dancing that put over “Annie” as entertainment. Although the musical accompaniment is pre-recorded, all the singing is done live and with great energy, and the large cast (over 60 people) does an impressive amount of dancing, choreographed by Jenny Morris.

Little Ali Nicolai has a great personality and can belt out the timeless tunes like a veteran of musical theatre, with both fine pitch and interpretation. Michelle McCauley was excellent as Annie’s nemesis Miss Hannigan, her powerful singing voice complemented by perfect comic timing. Jon Jackson made an effective Daddy Warbucks, with a pleasant singing voice and an amiable portrayal of the character. Amanda Hill showed a lovely voice in the role of Warbucks’ assistant Grace Farrell, and was also a vocal coach for the show.

Chris Berg and Marjorie Morris had a lot of fun as the greedy co-conspirators with Miss Hannigan, although Berg is obviously better at comedy than at singing. Numerous others got the chance to take center stage at various times, most notably Doug Chavis as a singing radio announcer.

Two different dogs shared the role of “Sandy” on alternate nights, with one appearing in the background as the other performs with great discipline as Annie’s best friend. Two “teams” of orphans also split the half-dozen main orphan girls on alternate evenings.

Naturally the little girls (especially a couple of natural-born actors) sometimes threatened to upstage the adult actors when they’re on stage, but director Mary Lizakowski kept things moving and kept audience attention focused where it needed to be. An innovation of this production was the rental of several impressive New York City backdrops to simplify and enhance the set changes on the large Empire stage.

Overall, the GGFCT presentation of “Annie” was a highly entertaining night at the theatre and one more proof of how good home-grown talent can be.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 20th, 2010 at 8:38 pm and is filed under Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.