Fun for families hallmark of show

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), Oct 11, 2006

Byline: By Charlie Branley

Annie ( Sunderland Empire. Runs until Saturday, October 14

Annie is a story that needs no introduction. Most people know the story by now and if they don't know the story, they've definitely heard the songs.

The Sunderland Empire welcomes Annie at a very special time, for it has been exactly 30 years since Annie was first staged. So will it be a happy 30th birthday, or a bit of an anti-climax? Well, the night began very well with lots of excitement and humour; the mainstay of which being Miss Hannigan (Ruth Madoc) who was hilarious throughout.

Her light-hearted humour in the first act slowly evolved to show a more cunning, Machiavellian side in Act Two and the audience were captivated throughout.

It must also be said that Rooster Hannigan (Nik Stoter) and Lily St Regis (Jo Sherwood) played their parts in this evolution very well and their combined characters added a slight extra dimension to an otherwise simple play.

And it was this simplicity that proved to be the show's downfall last night.

The story has some strong issues and dark undercurrents bubbling underneath the surface but the production seemed to mostly bypass these issues and go straight to the happy-go-lucky side of things in the spirit of light-hearted, family fun ( which to me makes it a one-a-penny show.

Returning to a more positive note however, this family fun can still be enjoyed ( and enjoyed it was. The packed audience loved every minute of this lively production and revelled in its vibrancy.

One thing that I really did appreciate was that the singing quality of the orphans wasn't perfect, which actually added an extra level of humanity and realism to the show. After all, these are supposed to be orphan kids in 1930s Depression America. And the most notable orphan of all, Annie (Nicole Robinson) was superb last night. She really gave it her all and brought the character to life. This is one of those shows that if you are used to family theatre shows then you really are not missing anything. But if you are looking for that type of show then you will be hard-pressed to find a better one than this.