'Annie' Tour Talent Topples Tacky

Tomorrow was today. At least it was at the Broward Center where a 30^th Anniversary tour of the Tony winning Best Musical, ANNIE, opened to a sparsely packed house.

ANNIE is a good musical. It is not now, nor has it ever been, one of the greats. Charles Strouse's score for ANNIE (with lyrics by director Martin Charnin) is very good. It is eons above the abysmal tunes he provided for APPLAUSE, but it is also no where near the dizzying heights he reached with his score for BYE, BYE, BIRDIE. ANNIE contains the wonderful anthem "Tomorrow," as well as some outstanding show songs such as "Easy Street," "It's The Hard Knock Life," "Maybe," and "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile."

The jewel in the crown of this ANNIE tour is Marissa O'Donnell as the title character. I saw the original Broadway production of ANNIE in 1977 about a week after it opened. In 1977 Andrea McArdle was great as Annie. I am delighted to report that in 2006, Marissa O'Donnell matched that greatness and perhaps even trumped Ms. McArdle in the acting chops department. Her performance is exactly what one wishes for as Annie. The "Tomorrow" scene, staged with lovely simplicity, features only Annie and her newly adopted dog Sandy onstage. Marissa O'Donnell's beautiful and powerful voice, as well as her very touching interaction with Sandy, delivered the goose bumps and perhaps some misty eyes, expected of the "Tomorrow" scene.

Did I enjoy this production of ANNIE? Yes and no. For this reviewer, feelings of crassness and cheapness emanated from the stage far too often this evening. I found most of the crassness from Alene Robertson's Miss Hannigan. She is an excellent singer, a fully proficient actress and she moves well. However, her Hannigan is just too slow and dreary and simply did not work for me. I wish she had "let loose" more and found the zaniness within Miss Hannigan. I had the gift of seeing Dorothy Loudon's Tony winning performance as Miss Hannigan. Loudon stole the show from Annie, "Tomorrow," the orphans and the dog. Alene Robertson is in no danger of stealing this show.

The cheapness came from the seemingly small ensemble and the production design. Ming Cho Lee designed the sets for this production, which we might call "Annie of the Scrims." It is acceptable at times. In the mansion of billionaire Daddy Warbucks, it is embarrassingly awful. At tonight's performance, the set design exceeded awful.

Have Mr. Lee or director Charnin or this production's supervisors not seen the show or are they simply brain dead? Conrad John Schuck (formerly known as John Schuck) is "starred" in this production as Warbucks. A huge painting of Conrad John Schuck as Warbucks is the centerpiece of the billionaire mansion. Unfortunately, Mr. Schuck has been sidelined with an illness for several weeks and Warbucks is being played by David Chernault. So we have up there Mr. Chernault playing Warbucks in front of a giant sized painting of Conrad John Schuck as Warbucks! This was beyond distracting. Frankly, it was shocking. What were the people behind this show thinking? Why would they create a set piece, featuring the likeness of an actor, with no backup plan in the event the performer is unable to go on? There was clearly enough time to have Mr. Chernault's name printed in the Playbill as opposed to Mr. Schuck being listed as playing Warbucks. This team of "professionals" thought it was okay for Chernault to play Warbucks in front of a picture of Schuck as Warbucks? Did they think the audience would not notice or find it odd or distracting? This was lame, sloppy, lazy and highly unprofessional. Perhaps the production team can contact an elementary school student who can tell them how to replace the Schuck as Warbucks painting with something appropriate by the next performance. Sorry folks, but this was the height of theatrical sloppiness.

On a much more positive note, David Chernault is a fine Warbucks. His pleasant singing voice and sincere acting make his Daddy Warbucks quite touching. The lovely Elizabeth Broadhurst is a beautiful voiced Grace. Her performance as Warbuck's assistant and Annie's guardian angel is absolutely winning. The other orphans? Each and every one is a smashing prodigy. Under Charnin's direction and executing Liza Gennaro's choreography, they seem to light up the entire theater every time they appear.

I must make mention of Monica L. Patton's fabulous moment as "Star to Be." It is a wonderfully, showy spot in the "N.Y.C." number and Ms. Patton grabs the gold.

ANNIE has an excellent overture. Tonight the orchestra was beautifully conducted and the overture itself did indeed provide musical theater chills. Some orchestrations have changed, for the better, since the 1977 production. Most notably, "We'd Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover," has actually turned into a most pleasant number in the show. Simply listen to the Original Cast Recording of ANNIE to see how dreadful this number used to sound.

This is an ANNIE to see for the outstanding performance of its title star and the delights of the performances of the other "orphans." And oh yes, of course mention must be made of Sandy. According to production notes, Sandy is played by Lola. I hope that whatever Lola wants, Lola gets. This precious dog was simply heartbreaking as Sandy. I will remember this production of ANNIE for Marissa O'Donnell's Annie and Lola's Sandy. Perhaps, that's the way it should be.

ANNIE closes at the Broward Center October 15 and plays the Kravis in Palm Beach October 17-22.