REVIEW: Annie by Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse & Martin Charnin – Princess Theatre, Melbourne

Little Orphan Annie first appeared as a daily comic strip in the New York Daily News in 1924. She begins life in an orphanage, badly mistreated by the matron (called Miss Asthma) and is whisked away by Mrs Warbucks, who is mean-spirited and doesn’t take kindly to her new ward. She’s shamed into keeping her and her husband Oliver, “Daddy” Warbucks, takes a shine to the little girl.

The comic strip mostly followed the same formula for a long time: Oliver is called away from the Warbucks mansion, Mrs Warbucks casts her out, and after having adventures outside, Annie is reunited with “Daddy”. Many of the servants are recurring characters, including Warbucks’ right-hand men, Punjab and the Asp, who adhere to stereotypes of India and East Asia.

Creator Harold Gray was protected from the Stock Market Crash of 1929, living off the salary from a daily comic, riding out the Depression quite comfortably. He was politically Conservative, believing Annie to be lucky to be taken in by the altruistic capitalist, Oliver Warbucks. After Franklin Roosevelt became President, Gray was outraged by The New Deal and actually killed “Daddy” off for a time, considering him unable to exist under the Roosevelt Presidency.

Little Orphan Annie’s stories changed with the times during Gray’s life, often reflecting his pessimistic view of a changing world. Her rebellion in the post-war years was looked down upon in the strips and she suffered greater calamities as the years wore on, including a story where Annie and her dog, Sandy, were run over by a car and she spent a year with amnesia, forgetting Daddy Warbucks existed.

Given the bleak, regressive stories the comic became known for, the characters and their circumstances underwent a complete overhaul to become the Broadway musical that first debuted in 1977. As re-conceived by writer Thomas Meehan, lyricist Martin Chamin and composter Charles Strouse, Oliver Warbucks is a lonely rich old man, who isn’t really looking for a child, but finds one when his assistant, Grace, brings her home as part of an annual outreach program to show an orphan kindness over Christmas.

Annie remains feisty and clever, and she finds her dog Sandy during the early portion of the show, but much is made of the conflict she has with matron, Miss Hannigan, and the bonds she has with the other girls and the orphanage. The mystery of her parents was never part of the comic strip and in complete opposition to Gray’s politics, President Roosevelt’s conception of the New Deal is in part inspired by the orphans’ plight, the destruction of the working class under Hoover and the song “Tomorrow”, which Annie sings on her visit to the White House.

Having grown up watching the 1982 film, starring Aileen Quinn as Annie, Albert Finney as Warbucks and Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan, I was completely unaware how political the stage show is. While Roosevelt appears in the movie (played by Edward Hermann), it’s a mere cameo – not the spine and the climax of the show as it has been in the theatre for nearly 50 years.

The 2025 Australian production is a mix of new and old. The scenery and costumes were designed by Kenneth Foy and Kristian Fredrikson for tours past, but the projection design by Craig Wilkinson is new, giving us New York streetscapes and the lights of Times Square and the greenery of Central Park as the characters move through the always spectacular NYC.

Choreography by Mitchell Woodcock is lively, most striking during the orphan ensemble high-kicking through “Fully Dressed”, full-throttle in “It’s a Hard Knock Life” and totally thrilling during the astonishing three-way strut by Hannigan, Rooster and Lily St Regis in “Easy Street” and its reprise.

The cast is wonderful. Mackenzie Dunn and Keanu Gonzalez are the perfectly conniving Lily and Rooster, singing and dancing up a storm. Having the two characters seeded throughout act one, appearing on the streets before they turn up at the orphanage is a clever little easter egg. Amanda Lea Lavergne is loads of fun as the eager Grace Farrell. And ex-Wiggle Greg Page is delightful as the President in his first musical.

When you sit down for Annie, whether it be the original musical movie or the 1999 remake or the 2014 remix or on stage, the performances you’re really watching for are those of Annie, Daddy Warbucks and Miss Hannigan.

Isabella Hayden shines as Annie, belting out those numbers like a diva, and being the right mix of cheeky and charming. She was also a whiz at handling the dog playing Sandy, who threatened to upstage her during the first rendition of “Tomorrow” just by standing in front of her.

Debra Krizak’s Miss Hannigan is the right side of cartoonish alcoholic, the villain we love to hate, who despises little girls but is happy to have this job in the Depression. It’s a tricky role to make your own, because how differently can you pitch wickedly drunk and disorderly, but Krizak dives into it and we’re laughing with her as much as at her.

And returning to the role of Oliver Warbucks, after first taking on the part 25 years ago and making his Broadway debut as “Daddy” in 2012, Anthony Warlow is so perfectly melded with the role now, it’s difficult to critique. Yes, Albert Finney will always spring to mind first, but Warlow fits the role so wonderfully, you'd think the part was written for him. He makes the curmudgeon believably melt under the influence of his new charge. It’s a privilege to see him do it.

Given the political undertones baked into the characters’ newspaper origins, even if they are flipped in the musical, Annie isn’t the mindless escape I expected it to be. Warbucks buys off government employees in his search for Annie’s parents. The fact this production ignores the fact that most of us are suspicious of billionaires now stands out. And hearing “Tomorrow” sung in the Oval Office just hits different in the present climate.

The show is full of rousing numbers for rich and poor characters alike and there is a good message in there, even if I’m finding it harder than ever to receive it. But in a vibrant, constantly playful production like this, with a cast of this skill and stature, Annie has the power to make an audience laugh, cry and hang on ‘til tomorrow. Come what may.

Annie is playing at the Princess Theatre through October and then goes to Brisbane from December

Photos (from the Sydney production): Daniel Boud


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