Optimism Doesn’t Grow Old with "Annie"

"Annie"

Music by Charles Strouse; lyrics by Martin Charnin; book by Thomas Meehan based on "Little Orphan Annie;" direction, Bob Fitch; choreography, Mary Jane Houdina; co-musical direction, Dan Rodriguez and Jeffrey P. Leonard; scenic design, Matt Rudman; lighting design, David Wilson; conductor, Jeffrey P. Leonard; costumes, Costume World Theatrical; Equity production stage manager, Karen Parlato

Cast in order of appearance: Molly, Lauren Weintraub; Pepper, Charlotte Horan; Duffy, Mei Lu Barnum; July, Madeleine Snow; Tessie, Jessica Bodner; Kate, Madison Kornbliet; Annie, Isabelle Miller; Sandy, Oliver; Miss Hannigan, Sally Struthers; Lt. Ward, R. Glen Michell; Grace Farrell, Sarah Pfisterer; Drake, Rich Allegretto; Oliver Warbucks, Terry Runnels; A Star to Be, Lauren Tempesta; Rooster Hannigan, Bob Fitch; Lily, Beverly Ward; Bert Healy, Christopher A. King; Fred McCracken, Jean-Alfred Chavier; F.D.R., Scott Wahle

Next Show: No, No, Nanette with Donna McKechnie, August 7-16, Reagle Players, Robinson Theatre, Waltham High School, 617 Lexington Street, Waltham, Mass.
Box Office: 781-891-5600 or www.reagleplayers.com

W.C. Fields warned, "Never work with children or animals." Well, the dynamic and downright irrepressible Sally Struthers has nothing to worry about when it comes to heeding that advice. Neither the 13 adorable girls playing orphans, nor a golden-coated, flop-eared terrier named Oliver can upstage her maniacally funny Miss Hannigan in the Reagle Players production of Annie that just ended its limited run in Waltham, Mass. As the hilariously addled caretaker of an orphanage full of feisty, freckle-faced, singing and dancing urchins, Struthers is a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown – and a completely sarcastic and frayed delight, to boot.

With a nervously blinking eye, twitching cheek, snapping fingers, and world-weary yet bombastic waddle, Struthers presides over the New York Municipal Orphanage and the entire Depression Era production like a shell shocked and hung over drill sergeant. She spews great comic venom when the annoyingly optimistic orphan Annie (the sweet faced and even sweeter voiced Isabelle Miller) is slated for adoption by billionaire Oliver Warbucks (a compassionate if not altogether blustery Terry Runnels). She's raunchy, racy, and desperately hot to trot when trying to seduce the laundry man, the police, or any other able bodied male who might give her the kind of romance her radio soap opera idol Helen Trent enjoys. Finally, when she delivers her show-stopping tour de force number "Little Girls" while tearing a Raggedy Ann doll limb from limb, she earns a thunderous ovation, along with a surprising measure of sympathy, despite her gleefully sadistic ways.

Directed by Broadway's original Rooster Bob Fitch, this Annie – to borrow one of Hannigans' epithets – "shines like the top of the Chrysler building." While the sets may be strictly summer stock and the ensemble full of non-equity locals, the spirit, energy, musical harmonies, and characterizations are so fresh and infectious that they breathe new life into bits that, after 31 years of practically non-stop productions, have become very familiar.

Little Lauren Weintraub as the bundle of dynamite Molly wrings every possible giggle and sigh from the audience with her spot on Miss Hannigan impressions during the orphans' exuberant "It's a Hard Knock Life" and "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile." Isabelle Miller, with an able assist from a very affectionate Oliver as Sandy, works her charms during a sincere "Tomorrow." Sarah Pfisterer as Warbucks' personal secretary Grace Farrell strikes just the right balance between competence and warmth as she emerges as the perfect surrogate mother to Annie. Her crystalline soprano is a highlight in the servant ensemble numbers "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" and "You Won't Be an Orphan for Long." As Warbucks, Terry Runnels is very affecting once he sheds the uncomfortably gruff businessman's exterior and wraps his rich baritone around the father-daughter love ballad "Something Was Missing."

Of course, the villains do a fair amount of the heavy lifting in the comedy department in Annie, and in this production, the trio of Struthers, Fitch reprising his role as her brother Rooster, and Beverly Ward as his girlfriend/accomplice Lily St. Regis (like the hotel) are world class champions. They are deliciously diabolical as they hatch their scheme to earn a $50,000 reward for finding Annie's parents, and their jazzy celebration of their anticipated high life, "Easy Street," is a knockout. When their plans are foiled by none other than the President of the United States himself, F.D.R. (an amiable Scott Wahle of local television news fame), they turn on each other like vipers.

The politics of the day (hitting eerily close to home as our uncertain economy has people tightening belts in ways reminiscent of the Great Depression) are played out in a very pointed "We'd Like to Thank You (Herbert Hoover)." Depicting once successful but now homeless indigents living in a cardboard Hooverville beneath the 59^th Street Bridge, the number gives the strong chorus of adults their opportunity to shine, singing with stinging sarcasm and biting humor.

This kind of gritty sentiment, however, along with the raucous shenanigans of the conspiring Hannigans, almost makes the de rigueur happy ending anti-climactic. With elections coming in November, though, I suppose we'd all welcome our own "New Deal for Christmas." Okay, Annie, can we hear that reprise of "Tomorrow" one more time?

PHOTOS: Sally Struthers as Miss Hannigan; Isabelle Miller as Annie with Oliver as Sandy; Sarah Pfisterer as Grace Farrell and Terry Runnels as Oliver Warbucks; Beverly Ward as Lily St. Regis, Sally Struthers, and Bob Fitch as Rooster Hannigan