Review: Darn Tootin'! ANNIE Enchants and Delights at The Muny

You'd better gussy yourself up and get over to The Muny this week for the seven-time Tony Award-winning musical, Annie. This family show has it all - hope, heart, and a heaping helping of humanity, and Peyton Ella shines in the title role like the superstar she is.

It's 1933 in New York City. 11-year-old Annie (Peyton Ella), abandoned by her parents until they can afford to retrieve her, lives in a dismal orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan (Jennifer Simard). When Annie decides to run away and look for her parents, she meets Sandy the stray dog (Sunny), but is soon picked up by the police and returned to Miss Hannigan. Annie's luck changes however, when she is selected by personal secretary Grace Farrell (Britney Coleman) to spend the Christmas holiday with Grace's boss, billionaire Oliver Warbucks' (Christopher Sieber), and his household staff at his Fifth Avenue mansion. Despite Warbucks' initial disappointment that Annie is a girl, he, Grace, and the entire staff fall in love with the spirited youngster. Warbucks, who now can't imagine a life without Annie, decides to adopt Annie, until Annie reveals that her deepest wish is to reunite with her birth parents. So Warbucks, with the help of some influential friends, conducts a nationwide search, offering a hefty reward to anyone who can prove their identity as Annie's parents. This brings out a number of opportunists, including Miss Hannigan's scoundrel of a brother Rooster (Jon Rua) and his gold-digging lady Lily St. Regis (Holly Ann Butler), who promise to split the reward with Miss Hannigan. Meanwhile Annie charms not only Warbucks but also President Roosevelt (John Scherer), who is delighted by Annie's eternal optimism and promises a New Deal for the United States in the wake of the Great Depression. In the end, it is revealed that Annie's parents are deceased, so Daddy Warbucks and Annie declare their mutual adoration and Warbucks adopts both Annie and Sandy.

There are some lovely moments between Sieber and Ella, particularly during their dandy duet "I Don't Need Anything But You," and though Sieber plays Warbucks to be a tad more busy than annoyed, it works. Likewise, Simard plays Miss Hannigan as a bit scatterbrained and overworked rather than excessively unkind. In fact, she almost comes off as an absentminded goofball, as there is more than a bit of folly in her character. Simard was difficult to understand at times, particularly during numbers where her voice trilled, but her take on Miss Hannigan's character was a refreshing and curious choice. Ella's acting was strong and her singing voice steadfast. When we first met Annie and heard her sing "Maybe," the audience clapped in awe. This girl hits every key change with masterful precision. And leapin' lizards! Ella can belt like a pro too, as we first had the pleasure of hearing in "Tomorrow." The sunny big finish in this one will certainly make your heart swell.

Coleman is elegant as Grace Farrell. And Rua and Butler as Rooster and Lily make a dynamic comedic duo. Of course, Sunny the dog, a 7-year-old terrier mix who was adopted by Bill Berloni in 2012 for the Broadway revival of Annie just one day before she was to be put to sleep and has since starred in many Annie productions, garnered claps with each appearance, too.

The Muny Youth Ensemble is terrific in this as well, working with synchronicity, especially during an impressive kick line for "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile."

Scenic Designer Michael Schweikardt and Video Designer Rob Denton also knock it out of the park with this one, the screen projected cityscape images adding appropriate depth to a fully-dressed 3-D set that makes fabulous use of The Muny's turntable stage. The choreographed transformation to The Roxy in particular is magical with lights, screen, seats, and dancing feet, all working in concert to complete the transformation. There are some fun costume and prop surprises as well, the quirkiest of which is revealed during Miss Hannigan's "Little Girls."

This production feels grand - with a talented, robust cast. It's a feel-good show with minimal conflict, so get spiffed up and head on over to "Easy Street" for a few hours. You can bet your bottom dollar the entire family will have an outstanding time.

Annie, with a book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Martin Charnin, continues at The Muny through July 25. This production is directed by John Tartaglia, with choreography by Jessica Hartman, and music direction by Colin Welford.