Bournemouth and Boscombe Light Opera Company have again pulled off a corker. ANNIE is a musical with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and a book by Thomas Meehan. It is based on the 1924 comic strip, Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray (which in turn was inspired from the poem Little Orphant Annie by James Whitcomb Riley). The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years, setting a record for the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre). It spawned numerous productions in many countries, as well as national tours, and won seven Tony Awards including for Best Musical. The musical’s songs “Tomorrow” and “Its the hard knock life” are among its most popular musical numbers (and for good reason!). 

From entering the decadence of the Bournemouth Pavillion you are transported to 1930s NYC and the set throughout the show is truly stunning. This is BBLOC’s 76th production since 1955 and the commitment to theatre and production remains absolute. The production team for this show; Helen Barrington (Director), Heather Davis (Choreographer), Ian Peters (Musical Director) and Duncan Hook (Production Manager) have really outdone themselves. Along with the beautiful and transformative set and stunning music and production, the direction and choreography of this show really is outstanding. This is a significant cast for BBLOC, made up of 52 actors (with 24 children). The children are split into two troops; Team Maybe and Team Tomorrow. For opening night we were treated to Team Maybe who were exceptional. 

Annie (Zanthie Lock) is fantastic as the cheeky but loveable orphan and her voice and singing were perfection, for the role! The Team Maybe Ophans (Rebecca Gillard, Sienna Karimi, Anita Roberts, Emily Chapman, Harper Williamson, Freya Sainsbury, Hattie Coniam, Bella Brittan, Matilda Dunford, Alice Vernon-Mulryan and Darcy King) set the scene from before the curtain rose and played their roles with magnificence and confidence. Of the adult actors some of the roles really stood out, Sally Wheeler (Miss Hannigan) was made for the role and was fabulous, but the standouts for me were Jonathan Busk (Oliver Warbucks) whose singing voice I could listen to all day, Kayleigh Jones (Grace Farrell) who was exceptional in her delivery and Phillip Fry (Franklin D Roosevelt) who again may have been made for the role!

This is certainly not to say the rest of the cast weren’t fantastic, these members were just my personal favourite. The classic numbers were amazing but my favourite was in the Second Act with Roosevelt and his advisors (well done Edward Brennan for an exceptionally over enthusiastic performance, which was fab!). In this production of course was also Sandy the dog (Teddy), a 4-year-old cockapoo who was stunning and who drew ‘ahhs’ from the crowd whenever he entered the stage! 

They say never work with children or animals but this dedicated and talented team have pulled off to perfection why you SHOULD! This is a classic production which appeals to ALL ages. I went to see it with my son Dylan (age 8) who loved the show and the great thing about seeing shows in Bournemouth is you can make an evening of it by going out for dinner first (we went for Gluten Free Wagamama’s, perfectly positioned opposite The Pavilion but there is so much choice around the local area!). Annie is at The Bournemouth Pavilion until November 1st so hurry to get your tickets as 1st November is only a couple of days away!