[NEohioPAL]PD Review:Beck's Annie is Just the Ticket

Tue Dec 10 20:27:05 PST 2002

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------_=_NextPart_001_01C2A084.2A643A90
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV=3D"Content-Type" CONTENT=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<META NAME=3D"Generator" CONTENT=3D"MS Exchange Server version =
6.0.6249.1">
<TITLE>PD Review:Beck's Annie is Just the Ticket</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->

<P ALIGN=3DCENTER><FONT FACE=3D"Arial" SIZE=3D2 COLOR=3D"#000000">
<IMG SRC=3D"No%20AttachName" alt=3D"ole0.bmp"></FONT><BR>
<B></B><B><FONT SIZE=3D4 FACE=3D"arial">Arts and Events =
News</FONT></B><BR>
<FONT FACE=3D"Arial" SIZE=3D2 COLOR=3D"#000000">
<IMG SRC=3D"No%20AttachName-1" alt=3D"ole1.bmp"></FONT></P>

<P><B><FONT SIZE=3D4 FACE=3D"ARIAL">No question about it: 'Annie' =
production passes the litmus test for a successful show</FONT> </B>

<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"ARIAL">12/10/02</FONT>

<BR><B><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"ARIAL">James Damico</FONT></B><FONT =
SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"ARIAL"><BR>
Special to The Plain Dealer</FONT>

A couple of major question marks for =
any production of "Annie" are how resoundingly the title =
performer will belt out all those reprises of "Tomorrow" and =
how professionally the pooch playing Sandy will behave.

Happily, Beck Center's Heather Farr =
displays a pair of brass lungs, and Juno, a Golden Lab making her stage =
debut, is clearly a born trouper.

Beck has revived last year's hit =
presentation of "Annie" with the aim of making it an annual =
holiday event. And it just might work. The show is undemanding and =
simple enough (even simpler than the comic strip that inspired it), with =
minimal story, tuneful songs and - apart from Depression-era references =
only senior citizens and historians will appreciate (New Deal? =
Hoovervilles? Bernard Baruch?) - a mix that is kid-friendly.

A sizable Saturday night contingent of =
youngsters seemed happily engrossed throughout the lengthy evening. =

The musical's plot is as bare-boned as =
a post-Thanksgiving turkey. In 1930s Manhattan, gazillionaire Daddy =
Warbucks rescues Annie by chance from Miss Hannigan's Dickensian =
orphanage and employs the FBI and - leapin' lizards! - President =
Franklin D. Roosevelt to make a futile search for the child's parents. =
After foiling some more Hannigan shenanigans, Warbucks adopts Annie, =
assuring her and her orphanage pals all the comforts of a Fifth Avenue =
mansion and a happy ending.

Though occasionally seeming to operate =
on autopilot, director Kevin Joseph Kelly and choreographer Monica =
Olejko have cooked up a pair of show-stopping numbers.

Tiny but terrific McKenna Klodnick =
leads a quintet of hoofing orphans in the rousing "Fully =
Dressed." "Easy Street," a low-down hymn to the bad life =
that is shamelessly encored, features the slinky Betsy Kahl, the slimy =
Curtis Young (fast becoming the area's Villain You Love to Hate) and =
Molly McGinnis as hag Hannigan.

McGinnis has fun kidding the role and =
reveals a surprisingly solid singing voice, but, please, this lady is =
way too gorgeous to be playing frumps.

Farr makes a most sympathetic and able =
Annie, though perhaps nearing retirement age for the part. Dana Hart is =
a nigh-perfect Warbucks - cue ball-headed, ramrod-rumped and melting to =
Annie only enough to prove he's human and no sentimental slob. =

In the large cast, Tiffany Gates shines =
as Warbucks' secretary; John Lynch is an awfully skinny FDR; Terrence =
Kelly butles amusingly; and any number of the hard-working moppets are =
impressive.

Don McBride's sets and Jeffrey Smart's =
costumes are cartoony and colorful, and Heidi Herczeg's nine-piece =
orchestra makes a big, bright sound.

For those seeking a holiday outing for =
the entire family that's wholesomely festive without a lot of preaching =
about it, this "Annie" might be just the ticket.

Damico is a free-lance writer in =
Cleveland.

</BODY>
</HTML>
------_=_NextPart_001_01C2A084.2A643A90
Content-Type: image/bmp;
	name="ole0.bmp"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Description: ole0.bmp
Content-Location: No%20AttachName

Qk0+AAAAAAAAADoAAAAoAAAAAQAAAAEAAAABAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAAAAAAAAA////
AAAAAAA=

------_=_NextPart_001_01C2A084.2A643A90
Content-Type: image/bmp;
	name="ole1.bmp"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Description: ole1.bmp
Content-Location: No%20AttachName-1

Qk0+AAAAAAAAADoAAAAoAAAAAQAAAAEAAAABAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAAAAAAAAA////
AAAAAAA=

------_=_NextPart_001_01C2A084.2A643A90--