5th Avenue’s “Annie” Has Talent, Excitement, And An All Female Creative Team
I’m going to write a short disclaimer before I begin: Many of the shows I see are certainly going to be related to my close relationship with theater. I see a lot of shows because of my family’s affiliation with theater people, and especially my younger sister’s career (I say ‘career’ lightly, though she’s made a reputation for herself in Seattle’s theater scene). So yes, this show I originally saw in support of my sibling, but the only reason I rewatched it a personal record of five times is because… well, I suppose I’ll get into it in a moment.
5th Avenue Theatre’s Holiday season is one of its most profitable times of the year. People are visiting family, out of school and work, and it’s a wonderful time to spend a night at the theater. So naturally, a family-friendly show is usually chosen. This time, it was the classic musical Annie.
Months and months ago, my sister was cast in the musical as the ‘spicy’ orphan Pepper (yes, that’s actually how her character was described) and she was elated to be a part of a 5th Ave show again. The community is tight-knit, and there is a good chance you’ll run into old colleagues within your new cast. However exciting it is to be cast in one of 5th Ave’s shows (because of the often open casting, which leads to hundreds of other actors competing for roles), I was only mildly interested in the show.
Annie is pretty predictable — little redheaded orphan meets a big, powerful businessman and they become an unlikely duo, leading to her adoption. It’s classic; the most classic you can get. Though in my mind, classic meant boring. There is no twist that you can’t see coming or emotional punch. Some of the best shows are unpredictable, funny, sad, unique — all things I couldn’t imagine Annie being.
Evidently, I was wrong.
5th Ave is great at making changes to formerly classic shows to refresh them for more modern enjoyment. That is exactly what they did with the musical, which was originally based on a comic strip from the 1920s. Perhaps the production’s most compelling hook for audiences was its focus on star-power; 5th Ave does not choose actors who will play their characters like everyone else does. The prospect of Annie being ‘classic’ seemed unavoidable, due to its well-known story and easily foreseeable ending. I thought I would know how the scene would end before it even began. However, I found myself genuinely surprised by the characters’ reactions — the actors played their old-fashioned characters in very fresh ways. This had everything to do with the casting.
I must give a word of my appreciation and respect for the casting director at 5th Ave, because whoever it was did an amazing job, and not just because they cast my sister. Each of the cast members shone brightly in every scene because the show was truly only available for triple-threats. A mixture of incredible singing, stunning dance numbers, and complex characters strapped the audience in for a wave of emotions. Though the show seems to contain shallow, cliché characters, the unique portrayals from each cast member truly made them seem like intricate people (though, of course, this doesn’t account for all the characters; you still have your classic swindling crook after only the $50,000 reward offered to whoever can prove they are Annie’s parents, and Ms. Hannigan remains a coldhearted child-hater doomed to be caregiver for the orphans she so despises). Daddy Warbucks begins as a money-obsessed businessman whose only care in the world is that his factories remain open as America is in the depths of the Great Depression. However, Timothy McCuen Piggee (known for his role in Catch Me If You Can on Broadway) plays the businessman so well because of his dedication to the less caricatured side of Warbucks — his admission of his paternal love for Annie towards the end of the show results in a very emotional moment. In fact, every time I saw the show there were a lot of sniffles coming from the audience and the actors alike. I was amazed to see such a tearful moment in what I expected to be nothing but smiles.
So no, Annie was not nothing but smiles; there were many trying moments in the show that brought tears to the audience members’ eyes — even mine, though I try hard not to cry during shows. One of the young girls who played Annie, Visesia Fakatoufifita, brought her character away from the strictly optimistic young redhead. In fact, she played Annie as less of an optimist and more of a dreamer, who longs for a family of her own (‘optimist’ and ‘dreamer’ don’t sound too different, but believe me, it was noticeable). The gentle change in persona switched up the show a bit and surely surprised audience members — check any review online to see just how well liked Fakatoufifita was onstage.
As always, the star-power in the ensemble was heavy too. The orphans all had great chemistry and brought grins to the audiences’ faces every time, especially in such wonderful numbers as “Hard Knock Life” and “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile”. The rest of the ensemble had just as much spirit, displayed in “NYC”, “I Think I’m Gonna Like it Here”, and “A New Deal for Christmas”. There was no shortage of talent in this production, and never is at 5th Ave. Cynthia Jones excelled as Miss Hannigan, her powerful solo “Little Girls” a crowd favorite.
Perhaps it was the all-female creative team, but Annie this holiday season was a hit the moment it began previews. With rave reviews, it is evident that no one walked out the door without a smile on their face. Since beginning rehearsals in October, the entire cast dedicated so much time and energy to the production, and it showed. Each of the songs are still in my head and I physically cannot stop listening to them.
Unfortunately, I could not get out this review before the show’s closure on December 30th. However, if it had been out, I would’ve urged anyone to snatch tickets — even though I saw the show a slightly ridiculous six times, it was completely worth it each time.
