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</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><font face="Verdana">An Artful Fostering of Hope<o:p></o:p></font></b></div><div>
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><font face="Verdana">By Tom Wachunas<o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><o:p><font face="Verdana"> </font></o:p></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It’s not just
about a ‘good production’ anymore. It can’t be.” So wrote Jonathan Tisevich
back in 2010, when he directed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Annie </i>at
the Canton Players Guild Theatre. His program notes at the time expressed his
hope that the production would somehow move theatre goers toward making a
difference in the lives of marginalized children in the real world.<o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tisevich is back
in the director’s seat for this current run<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">,
</i>and once again shares that same hope, demonstrating a remarkable giftedness
in eliciting palpable sincerity, believability, and generally unflagging energy
from his cast. While consistently sustaining the story’s spunky child-appeal, his
directing lets the story rise above the platitudes of a musical comic strip.
This <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Annie</i> exudes a very adult moral
urgency. Yes, the mood often waxes sentimental, but strongly dosed throughout
with bittersweet relevance.<o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That mood is
established from the outset by Annie, played by Brianna Swinford, and her 16
orphan cohorts. Swinford’s rendering of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maybe
</i>(a duet with Bella Gambone as the orphan Molly), wherein she<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>imagines what her parents might be
doing and prays for them to return, is achingly wistful. Throughout the
evening, her impressive singing is infused with tonal purity and warmth. Her
performance of the iconic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tomorrow </i>is
charming, mellow and airy rather than show-biz brassy. Additionally, she brings
to her character a wholly disarming blend of tomboyish pragmatism and
indefatigable optimism.<o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it’s a
similarly infectious, sizzling gusto that informs all the orphans’
performances, starting with their fierce, electrifying communal romp through <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hard Knock Life. </i>The adorable
second-grader, Bella Gambone, is practically a show unto herself, particularly
when as she apes the booze-gulping orphanage supervisor, Miss Hannigan, played
by Trisha Joy Fites.<o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fites’ portrait of
Hannigan is a fairly riveting study of blatant self-absorption - at once a
darkly humorous caricature of inebriated swagger and a sociopathic reality. Her
malevolence is especially chilling in her brooding performance of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Little Girls.</i> <o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, Jason
Green is outright hilarious, in a scary sort of way, as Miss Hannigan’s con
artist/ jailbird brother, Rooster. And Taylor Scott is deliciously animated in
her role of Lily, Rooster’s ditzy girlfriend, imbuing the character with
vaudevillian verve.<o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Oliver “Daddy”
Warbucks, Jay Sigler projects an endearing awkwardness in his early time with
Annie, which progressively blossoms into real affection. His singing seems
tentative and lacks the relatively soaring technical finesse that Heidi
Swinford brings to her lovely portrayal of Grace, Warbuck’s assistant. That
said, Sigler nonetheless embodies the convincing authenticity of a man
anxiously courting new possibilities, a man embracing both self-awareness and
selflessness. He tenderly communicates as much during the second act when he
sings <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something Was Missing</i>.<o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One example of
effectively nuanced direction here comes at the end of Act I, after Warbucks
has announced his intention to locate Annie’s parents at any cost, thus
sacrificing his desire to adopt her. While the ensemble singing throughout most
of the evening is certainly zestful enough, the energy in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You Won’t Be an Orphan for</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Long
</i>is distinctly understated. Even as the words of the song ostensibly express
joyous optimism, the mood is an ironically solemn, subdued conveyance of sorrow
at the possibility of Annie’s departure. <o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And once again, the Players Guild employs the
tried and true pairing of vivacious choreography by Michael Lawrence Akers with
the jazzy ebullience of the live orchestra directed by Steve Parsons. It’s a
winning combination that thrusts the nostalgic musical spirit of the 1930s into
fresh, sparkling relief. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end, I was
reminded that Warbucks’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">real</i> wealth
isn’t to be found in his bank balance. It is rather in the overflow of his
genuinely caring heart - a willingness to answer a child’s hope. <o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seen in that
light, and in these times so saturated with intractable cynicism and despair,
maybe the most efficacious take-away from this <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>uplifting work of musical theatre<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>is the hope that life could indeed
imitate art. <o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Annie, </i>at the Players Guild Theatre, 1001
Market Avenue North, Canton. Performances THROUGH SEPTEMBER 29, at 8 p.m.
Fridays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets $25 adults, $23 seniors, $19 for
17 and younger. To order, visit </font><a href="http://www.playersguildtheatre.com/"><font face="Verdana">www.playersguildtheatre.com</font></a><font face="Verdana">
or call 330-453-7617.<o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font face="Verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For other
commentaries by Tom Wachunas on the performing and visual arts in the greater
Canton area, visit ARTWACH at </font><a href="http://www.artwach.blogspot.com/"><font face="Verdana">www.artwach.blogspot.com</font></a><font face="Verdana">
<o:p></o:p></font></div><div>
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