Reviewed by Paul Treasure
Christmas came early to Pinjarra this year with Murray Music & Drama’s youth production of Annie Jr. This is a slick and enjoyable production that belies the relative youth and inexperience of those involved. Director Rp van der Westhuizen, choreographer Connie Wetherilt, and vocal director Jordyn Gallop have marshalled a cast of 30-odd young performers and given us a condensed version of this classic musical that is actually one of the better amateur versions of this show that this reviewer has seen.
In the iconic role of Annie, Violette Russo brings an intelligence and vibrancy to the role not often seen. It is all too common with very popular musicals like this one for performers to fall into the habit of mimicking previous performances. There was little concern with this young trooper, who showed that she both understood the character and understood the effect the character’s eternal optimism has on all the other characters onstage. She sells her solo songs with confidence and assuredness and powers through the role as a good Annie needs to. Henry Hayes is surprising in his role as Oliver Warbucks. As a wealthy industrialist, Warbucks is often played very stiff and a bit unyielding, but this young man makes the interesting and extremely rewarding choice to drop the stiffness whenever Annie is onstage. In these moments he uses his height to his advantage and becomes playful and excited like a large puppy. This acting choice gives Warbucks more of an inner life than is normally played and also helps to amplify the effect Annie has on everyone around her. The significant height difference between them is well utilised and adds to the charm and comedy of their friendship that can often be missing in other productions. Claudia Fiamini as Grace added well to the trio. She sang beautifully, and had great characterisation, adding to the sense that Grace is the character who is really in control.
The horde of Annie’s fellow orphans (Alisha Coleman, Minerva Orellana, Stephanie Fahl, Eilidh Mckay and Isla Russo) were as full of life and chaotic energy as you could possibly hope. Each of them gives us well-defined and well-acted characters. They added enthusiasm to every scene that they were in, especially in their knockout rendition of It’s a Hard Knock Life. The role of Molly, the youngest of the orphans, is a gift to any young actress with the courage to grab the role and run with it. Lacey McCormack excels in the role with her impeccable comic timing and her willingness to really take the role by its horns.
If I have one complaint about this reduced version of the script, it is that the characters who seem to be most shortchanged by the cuts are the trio of Miss Hannigan, Rooster and Lily. Emily Ranford, Darien Peckover, and Ellissa Murday were delightfully wicked in their roles. Their trio number Easy Street showed a lot of potential as they acted and sang their hearts out, never dropping their hilarious characters for a moment. It was a number that left us wanting more from them, but we were unfairly denied the opportunity to see what these three could have done with more stage time.
The rest of the ensemble was equally impressive, with all the bit characters fully realised and all the chorus numbers strongly sung and well danced. A special mention must go to Halle McDonald as Annie’s dog Sandy, incredibly cute in her few scenes, and stealing the audience’s heart as she barked along to Annie in Tomorrow.
The production crew should feel especially proud of what an impressive production they have managed to produce. If this dedicated and talented group of young performers is any indication of the up-and-coming generation, then Murray Music & Drama can feel very secure in their future.
Reviewer Note: Tickets for this review were provided by the theatre company.
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