[NEohioPAL] Berko review: ANNIE @ Beck Center

[Roy Berko]

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ANNIE lights up Beck Center for the holidays

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

This is the time of year that theatres are looking for productions to
attract large audiences in order to bring some extra money into the
coffers.  BECK, for a number of years did BEAUTY AND THE BEAST for their
holiday show.  This year they opened the classic ANNIE.

The show gives us cute orphans, a dog, a hysterical orphanage director,
con-men, a billionaire, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Christmas.  And,
yes, lots of memorable songs including Tomorrow, Hard Knock Life, Little
Girls, I  Think I’m Going to Like it Here, N.Y.C., Fully Dressed, and I
Don’t Need Anything Else But You.

ANNIE, with book by Thomas Meehan and lyrics by Martin Charnin, is based on
Harold Gray’s LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE comic strip.  The strip debuted in 1924,
became a radio show in 1930, films in 1932 and 1938, and a Broadway musical
in 1997.  It  was reprised this year and is running parallel to the Beck
production.   The comic strip was cancelled in June of 2010.  During its
run, Annie, her dog Sandy, and Daddy Warbucks, her adopted father, targeted
organized labor, the New Deal and communism.

ANNIE, the musical, centers on eleven year-old Annie who was left at the
Municipal Girls Orphanage in New York by her depression-poor parents.  The
orphanage is run by the alcoholic Mrs. Hannigan.  Annie longs for the
return of her parents.  She runs away, saves a dog (Sandy) from the animal
warden, is caught by the police, is returned to the orphanage, is taken to
the home of billionaire Oliver Warbucks for a Christmas visit, the two
develop a loving relationship, she has a scare when her “real” parents show
up, but, as happens in all good musicals about kids, a dog and
billionaires, live happily ever after.

For the show to work requires an adorable Annie who can sing, dance and
act, a cast who can play comic strip characters with realism so they become
caricatures the audience can identify, love and laugh with.  Fortunately,
the Beck production, under the guidance of Scott Spence, is blessed with
the performers who can pull it off.

Anna Barrett has a nice singing voice, dances and moves well and is totally
natural as Annie.  Giovannna Layne is adorable as Molly, one of the
orphans.  Elisee Pakiela, Jade McGee, Maggie Devine, Erin Eisner, and
Natalie Welch all are cute as the other orphans.

Lenne Snively has a wonderful time playing Mrs. Hannigan, as does the
audience watching her.  Matthew Ryan Thompson is overly farcical as, but
his dancing and showmanship compensates for it. Molly Huey is fine as the
airheaded Lily St. Regis, Rooster’s sidekick.

Cilgamesh Taggett is picture perfect as Daddy Warbucks.  Caitlin Elizabeth
Reilly sings well and gives the right air to Grace, Warbucks’ assistant.
Leslie Feagan does a nice FDR imitation.

It’s hard to determine who got more “ewes’ and “ahs”, the orphans or
Buckley Collier, the well trained dog portraying Sandy.

The highlight of the show is the dancing.  Choreographer Martin Céspedes
integrates tap, probation era steps, stylized hand moves and air punches to
accent Charles Strouse’s jazzy music.  The well conceived Easy Street and
Hard Knock Life each stop the show and demand reprises.

Larry Goodpaster’s band well interprets the music.

The only flaw in the proceedings is the problematic Mackey Theatre sound
system.  The squeals and pops, along with the unbalanced microphones, was
extremely distracting.   The theatre should either invest in a new sound
system if that’s the issue or teach the sound technicians how to use the
equipment.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: As corny and overdone as ANNIE is, with a good
performance it delights. With its tuneful music, strong cast and super
choreography, Beck’s production makes for a fine night at the theatre.

ANNIE is scheduled to run through January 6, 2012 at Beck Center for the
Arts.  For tickets and information call 216-521-2540 or go to
http://www.beckcenter.org

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