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Stars of Tomorrow Musical Productions |
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Still from The Production: Click on Thumbnail for a Larger Image |
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Thursday May 19, 2011 Annie, the Musical: Stars of Tomorrow Musical Productions and McDonald's Feel Good Production Hits the Mark by Brian Hay The casting in this production is excellent. Richard Teskey portrays the formal nature of the warm hearted 'Oliver Warbucks' beautifully. He also has an excellent baritone voice that suits the musical material given to the character well. Catherine Soulliere has a lovely voice. She gives depth to the role of 'Grace Farrell by giving a balanced portrayal of the character's sweet nature and keen intelligence. The ooze was practically dripping off Lee Highgate as 'Rooster' slunk around the stage. Moulan Bourke did a great job of projecting 'dumb while showing the 'smarts' of 'Lily St. Regis'. Marney Austin steals many of the scenes she appears in. Her portrayal of the abusive alcoholic 'Miss Hannigan' is brilliant. Her comic timing is excellent and she belts out the songs beautifully. As 'Annie' Lauren Miller has more time on stage than any other character. She stays in character consistently. Her timing was consistently strong and her delivery always sounded spontaneous. The material she sang placed enormous demands on her singing range and mostly, she was up to it. She also followed the orchestra well. The chemistry between her and Richard Teskey was a thing of beauty. Looking at these two made it easy to believe that Annie and Oliver Warbucks loved each other deeply. This is all even more amazing when one learns she's only ten years old. Under the baton of musical Director Dan Sonier the orchestra was beyond reproach. Early segments of instrumental music featured some lovely and expressive work from violinist Caitlin Mason. Val Schmidt's keyboard work was prominent for much of the show. There were some delicious passages played by flautist Tessa Catton and clarinetist Frank Brennan. Percussionist Harlin Braichet did an excellent job of keeping the beat and of moving slightly ahead of it to send cues when needed. The importance of that can't be overstated. That facet, as much or more than any other, keeps the level of energy in the playing of the music high. Walt Farr's design was comprised of a backdrop with a railing, a cityscape, a few mobile staircases and a chandelier that was raised or lowered as necessary. For use as the orphanage the stairs were set at opposing corners. For use as the city and other locales they were rotated. For use as the mansion they brought together and placed centrally. Props, selected by the team of Rita Viscount, Marc Arsenault and Walt Farr, were used fill out the appearance off the various locales in the story. The lighting designed by Brian Austin Jr. and Brian Little kept attention focused properly. When the city needed to be seen the backdrop was lit while other areas were darkened slightly. When the mansion was in use much of the lighting was directed at the props central to that set. The characters were always highlighted well. The wardrobe, primarily designed by Norma Wenning, captured the look of the era perfectly. Stage Manager Ethel Crossman and her team had the scene transitions flowing smoothly. There were a few problems with the audio though. It wasn't balanced properly at one point when a character was singing from the rear of the stage. There was another point when a character's singing had a considerable echo behind it. The speaker at the South wing of the stage gave off several bursts of static. These were minor glitches though and will likely be negated very quickly. The people involved with this production obviously care too much about it to do otherwise. Even the smaller parts of it had great attention to detail lavished upon them. Goldy McPhee and Amy Mayea were strong in the parts of 'Sandy' and the 'Star to Be'. Many people (far too many to name here) did great jobs with an array of small roles. Their following of spoken cues was generally good. Their following of physical cues in both the stage action and the dance numbers was good. The tap number, which was choreographed by Shirley Schram, was done especially well given the ages of many in the group. Their singing both their work in the ensemble parts and as soloists was strong. 'Annie' is a "feel good" piece but it's not one that has to apologize for being blindly optimistic. Writer Thomas Meehan freely draws attention to the bleakness the era and to some of the exploitation that proliferated rampantly as a result. He makes no bones about showing that orphanages were used as sweatshops. He repeatedly points to Roosevelt's New Deal as a source of hope for the average man. The contrast created between the hopelessness of many of the characters and the ray of sunshine a simple act of compassion can generate sends the simple message that where there's heart, there's hope. It's a message the material and the music of Charles Strouse embraces and it creates the magic of 'Annie'. There's a lot of discipline and hard work involved in an undertaking of this magnitude but a love and joy went into making it as well. Director and Choreographer Holly Mayea has done a stunning job of bringing that magic to the stage of the Imperial Theatre. She assembled the people she believed were right for the jobs, worked with them, and obviously, let them do what she brought them in to do. It works, beautifully in fact. This performance took place at the Imperial Theatre in Sarnia Ontario on Wednesday May 18, 2011. The production runs through to May 21, 2011 with a matinee performance on Saturday May 21, 2011. This review was written to convey an impression of what it was like to be there. This line acts as a spacer. |
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Richard Teskey and Lauren Miller in 'Annie' Imperial Theatre: |
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