Reviews 2018
Reviews 2018
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music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, book by Thomas Meehan, directed by Nikolai Foster
David Mirvish, Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto
April 29-June 3, 2018
“No one cares for you a smidge
When you’re in an orphanage”
There really is no reason to rush out to see the new production of the musical Annie now playing at the Ed Mirvish Theatre. It is based on a cartoon, notorious in its day for its conservative bias, that presents us with a view of the United States that does not seem all that laudable anymore. Its main draw is the chance to see Lesley Nicol, best known as the cook Mrs. Patmore on Downton Abbey, on stage as the villainous Miss Hannigan. Since Nicol does not really make the role her own, you are likely to exit the theatre still happily thinking of Nicol as Mrs. Patmore.
The 1977 musical is based on the now-defunct comic strip Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray that he wrote and drew from 1924 to 1968, after which it was taken over by others until its cancellation in 2010. In the musical it is 1933 and Annie in already in an orphanage run by the flirtatious, booze-swilling Miss Hannigan. She was left by her parents on the steps of the orphanage 11 years earlier with no identification but half of a locket and a note. Though the orphanage is government-funded, Hannigan has the young girls sew in sweat-shop conditions and takes the profits.
As it turns out, we don’t much care. Director Nikolai Foster has encouraged such a broad style of acting that the characters seem more cartoonish on stage than they did in the cartoon. The story itself is full of contradictions made worse by the times we live in. In the current political climate is it impossible to care much about a Republican billionaire who cares only about making money while people are starving during the Great Depression and who invites an orphan over for Christmas only for show. The fact that a billionaire has so much influence in Washington that he can order the FBI to drop their investigations to take up a personal case is no longer amusing.
Warbucks’ view of the poor is that they should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps as he did, yet his adoption of Annie means that she will inherit great wealth without having to do anything. The musical neglects to show how the orphan managed to charm her way into the heart of the businessman and bring out a modicum of his humanity. Contrary to the comic strip, Warbucks and President Franklin D. Roosevelt are friends and Annie’s optimism is so great that it actually inspires Roosevelt to start the New Deal. In the original comic strip the right-wing Warbucks was so against government interference in business that the cartoonist Gray had him die in despair in 1933 upon learning that Roosevelt had been elected.
In the musical all the poor need to help them is Annie’s unstoppable optimism as summed up in the show’s theme song “Tomorrow”. Her optimism can even elevate the sick and starving to perform a song and dance number “We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover”. The irony that the musical’s creators don’t seem to see is that Rooster, the main villain of the show, who always has a get rich quick scheme on the go , is also imbued with unstoppable optimism. What the musical never confronts is why Annie’s naive optimism is supposed to be commendable while Rooster’s naive optimism is supposed to be condemned.
Given these contradictions it’s hard to find the show’s fantasy USA or its two-dimensional characters appealing. As Miss Hannigan, Lesley Nicol does not seem so much a vile child-hater as an inherently lazy woman who is simply exasperated at having any responsibility – thus typical, in the show’s world-view, of a person with government-subsidized employment. Since she seems to have no strain of real evil, it’s hard to believe that she goes along with Rooster’s plan which involves murder. Nicol has her characteristically hoarse speaking voice but that doesn’t prevent her, a cast member of the original productions of Jesus Christ Superstar and Mamma Mia!, from singing with panache. It’s too bad, then, that Hannigan’s only solo number is the uninteresting complaint “Little Girls”.
Two girls alternate in the title role – Isobel Khan and Ruby Stokes. I happened to see Ruby Stokes. I take no pleasure in being negative about a juvenile performer but, while Stokes has a pleasant enough speaking voice, her singing voice is piercing, excessively nasal and unpleasant. Let’s hope that with time and more training she can develop a more rounded tone. Otherwise, Stokes is enthusiastic enough to make us believe that Annie is imbued with undiluted optimism and blind to the negative side of wealth.
As Warbucks, Alex Bourne is suitably grave and authoritative with a dominating stage presence and a strong singing voice. While we don’t know how Annie manages to melt Warbucks’ hard heart, Bourne is as good, or better in depicting the softened billionaire as he is in depicting the profit-obsessed man of business.
Matthew Hawksley makes a fine villain as Rooster with his insinuating speaking voice, sleek singing voice and outstanding dancing. As his girlfriend Lily, Kate Somerset How with her clichéd Noo Joisey accent pales beside him. Carolyn Maitland as Warbucks’ secretary Grace has an attractive singing voice and an elegant demeanour that contrasts well with Miss Hannigan’s shambling appearance and brusqueness.
Thomas Meehan’s book insures that we can see the plot developments coming a mile away and his dialogue is invariably unimaginative. As if to reinforce the show’s lack of creativity, Colin Richmond’s set for this production with jigsaw puzzle pieces bursting out from the background and over the proscenium seems like a direct copy of Rob Howell’s similar use of alphabet blocks in Matilda the Musical seven years earlier.
The score has a number of well-know songs like the annoying earworm “Tomorrow”, “Easy Street” and “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile”. Exciting production numbers would help elevate the show out the mediocre and make us forget its conceptual contradictions, but choreographer Nick Winston seems content to give us a general mishmash of Broadway show dancing that does not even come close to the inventive choreography of Christopher Wheeldon in An American in Paris. Worse, Winston’s choreography is not all that well executed by the cast. It may have been an off night, but when I attended the chorus did not maintain uniformity of steps or arm gestures and the tap dance interlude was not precise. The children’s chorus, in contrast, showed far greater uniformity and enthusiasm.
In “Easy Street”, Matthew Hawksley shows himself the most talented dancer in the cast and leaps higher and executes more complex in-air movements that either Nicol or How can manage. It’s a mystery that Winston does not take advantage of this and place Hawksley centre stage, the women on either side, and give him an entirely individual choreography to show off his skill rather than simply giving him variations on what the women do.
The production, thus, is a disappointment and as children’s entertainment is far inferior to Matilda the Musical. In Matilda, the title character overcomes the obstacles in her way through her own efforts. In Annie, the title character literally does nothing to succeed. She is chosen by a rich person to spend the holidays and he likes her so much he adopts her. As a contrast between the British versus American view of success, Matilda emphasizes learning and knowledge as power while Annie emphasizes personality. Matilda’s reward is knowing she has helped people and righted wrongs. Annie’s reward is tons of money and a lavish lifestyle. Annie’s message might have been appealing or even taken as camp in the 1970s. In the 2010s the musical finds itself unpleasantly espousing conservative ideals, pace the convincing New Deal scenes tossed in for the left. If you don’t mind seeing a musical that glorifies wealth and the power of the rich to interfere in politics, then Annie is the show for you.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: This review is a Stage Door exclusive
Photo: (from top) Isobel Khan as Annie and Ella as Sandy; Lesley Nicol as Miss Hannigan; Carolyn Maitland as Grace, Isobel Khan as Annie and Alex Bourne as Warbucks. ©2018 Cylla von Tiedemann.
For tickets, visit www.mirvish.com.
2018-05-02
Annie