Annie

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

She’s mean. She’s hard. She’s cold. She’s cruel. Unleash Carla Kaiser Kotre behind the skirts of Miss Hannigan and one hilarious moment trips over the next. An artistic comedienne with a huge voice and precise timing, Kotre gives more life to Miss Hannigan than Miss Hannigan ever could on her own.

Annie (Bailey Walton) listens as Daddy Warbucks (Tim Welch) tries to explain to her that she really is an orphan in this scene from the musical comedy, Annie, playing at Town Hall Arts Center.

Miss Hannigan runs the orphanage where Annie sometimes hangs her hat. Based on the comic strip Little Orphan Annie, the musical Annie stole the hearts of American audiences when it opened on Broadway in 1977, winning seven Tony awards, running for 2,377 shows.

Adopted by Town Hall Arts Center, Annie currently steals the hearts of the audience. Bailey Walton with natural red hair gives life, blood, soul, and enchantment to the engaging impetuous orphan who won’t be intimidated by anyone or anything. At every chance that beckons, she runs away from the girls — who cheer her on — and Miss Hannigan, only to be found and returned. This is one talented, charming young actor whose talent is going to carry her great distances.

Directed by Sharlene Wanger, a genius at tapping into the psyche of actors to bring out the best, teams up with choreographer Melissa McCarl who provides creative, lively, delectable and poignant dances.

With a cast requiring several children, Wanger chose the cream of the crop for a professional appearance. The girl orphans played by: Maddi Long, Hannah Seiler, Mary Heyden Nepi, Kate Lewis, Sarah Mackey Moya, Nicole Roby, Hannah Recht, and Jacquelyn Sheehan hold their own in song and dance, with each character carefully defined. As a group they meld together. Individually they stand out. No one gets lost in the shuffle.

In cartoon over-bearing form, Tim Welch wears the mantle of Daddy Warbucks with strength power and a slice of melted heart over the engaging Annie.

DaNia Mortimer with smooth as silk determined grace plays Grace, Warbuck’s secretary who knows how to maneuver Miss Hannigan and Warbucks.

Miss Hannigan’s slimy, sneaky, brother Rooster screams outrageous while his loud mixed plaid clothes hides actor, Mark Pergola from view. His likewise outrageous girl friend Lily St. Regis hides actor Lisa Finnerty with her dumb blond stance dressed in pink from head to toe. Their choreographed antics, even when they aren’t dancing, keep the giggles rumbling especially moments with Miss Hannigan. When the three of them launch into the song “Easy Street,” it is wise not to laugh too loudly, avoiding the risk of losing words. It’s a classic comedic stage moment.

Joey Wishnia, well-known to Denver theatres, plays Drake, Warbucks’s Butler, Ira, and Watch Seller. It is clear Wishnia is having the time of his life, and the best he has ever been on stage.

Bil Rogers, Town Hall’s producer/artist extraordinaire, plays President Franklin Delano Roosevelt with style. When Annie bursts into song with “Tomorrow” at a Cabinet meeting in the White House, surrounded by political stuff shirts, one can’t help but wish Annie could invade another White House, but I guess that’s a different story.

Several actors play a variety of different roles, and in this large cast, there isn’t a slacker hiding behind anyone’s skirts. They all find their characters and hang onto to them.

Annie, produced skillions of times with the song “Tomorrow” recorded and sung at least that many nearly claimed over-kill. The musical with lyrics written by Martin Charnin and music by Charles Strauss nearly came to an early demise. When it opened in 1976 at the Goodspeed Opera house in Connecticut shambles became its name. Some farsighted people who thought in terms of the optimistic “Tomorrow” brought on Mike Nichols as producer. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Wanger, McCarl and the exquisite talented cast grab Annie by the throat, making it their own. The result: a perfect holiday theatre experience with the spirit of Annie teasing the mind to play in an optimistic field.