ANNIE | STAGE REVIEW
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Tue 20 Aug
Well, what a revelation Craig Revel Horwood was in this production as Annie’s Mrs Hannigan! Not only did he perfect the gnarly, drunken anger of the despicable spinster, he looked fabulous doing it, as he sashayed across the stage in full dramatic effect. For those of you who don’t know – where have you been? – Annie is set during the Depression in 1930s New York and follows the fortunes of Annie herself, an orphan searching for her parents, who by luck gets picked to spend two weeks with a billionaire. Except, of course, this doesn’t run smoothly.
The opening stage set depicts the orphanage brilliantly: metal beds lined up with grubby orphans toiling away as Mrs Hannigan berates and picks on them. The first belter It’s A Hard Knock Life, pretty much sets the tone for the entire production – sharp, in your face and nonstop.
Annie was played by the teeny Mia Lakha on this night and she was a little dynamite, with a set of lungs to match. Overall, a belting performance. The scenes with her and the other orphans were great: tight performances and brilliant choreography which, despite their youth and diminutive sizes saw them keep the energy going until the end.
As the story develops, moving into the second act and the relationship with Annie and her new benefactor Daddy Warbucks (played by the excellent Alex Bourne), the story takes on a magical quality – from the epic 1930s-style sets and costumes, to the shift in tone and the beautiful Something Was Missing sung by Daddy Warbuck. Sentimentality aside, the cast and production was pitched at the right level, with just the right amount of schmaltzy dialogue and a hefty dose of buffoonery and comedy. Adults clearly enjoyed the show as much as the hundreds of girls decked out in Annie costumes singing their hearts out.
words ANTONIA LEVAY