The Garden Theatre’s
delightful production of “Annie” moves the Christmas spirit into high gear.
You might have forgotten that Christmas looms large in the musical “Annie,” and who could blame you — distracted by perky orphans and an adorable dog, after all. The show, onstage in a delightful production at Garden Theatre in Winter Garden, boasts a Christmas finale.
So maybe the spirit of the season — sugar plums and ho, ho, ho, and all that — is why the Garden’s production, directed by Steve MacKinnon, feels a little too bright. Don’t misunderstand me, though: This is a swell telling of the tale of the comic-strip moppet who wins the heart of “richer than Midas” Daddy Warbucks.
Spencer Morrow’s oldschool choreography lifts the lesser-known songs (“Hooverville”) and makes the favorites sparkle anew — “Hard Knock Life” uses cleaning rags and orphanage cots to great effect. A.J. Garcia’s costumes fit each character — from the youngest orphaned ragamuffin to blowsy Miss Hannigan — to a T. And the cast sounds spectacular on the ensemble numbers (MacKinnon is also musical director).
But get ready to put coal in my stocking because I really wanted darker villains. On the other hand, what they lacked in menace they made up with comic relief.
As Miss Hannigan, the boozy orphanage manager who’s never far from her next swig of “medicine,” Cami Miller makes great use of a throaty chuckle and a nasty hissing vocal tone — and goes full comic throttle on her signature song, “Little Girls.” Partner in crime Blake Aburn, as conman Rooster, displays great physicality, and his sing-song, wheedling voice justly earns laughs.
Grace Flaherty, as bimbo Lily St. Regis, is a natural scene stealer, who makes her greedy character pop far more than her sparse dialogue generally allows. All the mugging, though, blunts these characters’ viciousness.
Daddy Warbucks also loses some of his edge. Shonn McCloud has a gorgeous singing voice and he’s a delight to watch with his assistant Grace (Tricia Jane Wiles, very good) and Annie. But his opening scenes, as a tough businessman shocked to find a young girl in his home, don’t play as aggressively as they should. It’s not as moving when his heart melts, because it didn’t seem that hard to begin with.
As for the title character, seventh-grader Lyla Tsiokos has plenty of charisma — and that classic “Annie” belt for the rousing “Tomorrow.” Her fellow orphans show similar cheery stage presence.
But who earned the biggest crowd reaction at a recent matinee? That would be Joey Ahlert — the golden retriever who plays Sandy. Sorry, girls: It’s a hard-knock life.