Craig Revel Horwood in Annie at the Congress Theatre, Eastbourne and Touring. Picture: Paul Coltas
Annie continues at the Congress Theatre until 15 August and then tours until 4 June 2016.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The 1976 musical Annie (Thomas Meehan book, Charles Strouse music and Martin Charnin lyrics) is one of those shows based on a cartoon strip and unlike Li’l Abner, another with the same origins; it has a durability that ensures almost continual revivals. Even though it has been filmed for the big screen and for television, its popularity demands live stage performances.
Set during the Great Depression, it’s a story of optimism, telling of an orphan’s dream to find the parents who abandoned her as a baby. Her life at the orphanage, under the drunken harridan Miss Hannigan, is grim and it is only by chance that she is taken under the wing of billionaire Oliver Warbucks and his secretary Grace Farrell, thus getting the opportunity of a better life.
And so another production emerges but this one has a certain frisson – Craig Revel Horwood dragging himself into the frocks and stepping into the high heel shoes of Miss Hannigan, the malevolent orphanage superintendent.
Horwood, better known for his harsh but honest comments as a Strictly Come Dancing judge, is no stranger to musical theatre. He has a string of successful productions that he has either directed or choreographed. One remembers with great pleasure his Chess and Fiddler On the Roof to name but two.
Apart from the odd pantomime appearance, this is his first acting role for 20 years (although there were plenty of West End credits previously). And what a tour de force performance he gives. Surely it’s worth a ten from Len!
It takes a little while for the audience to accept the cross dressing – his entrance in a camisole and knee-high stockings causes quite a few titters. That he could dance is taken as read, but he surprises with his singing, acting and sense of comedy.
With his whitened make-up and over the top facial expressions and hand gestures, I was reminded of Norma Desmond (and Sunset Boulevard is of course another of his credits as a director/choreographer).
But this is not a one-man show. The production is full of excellent performances backed by terrific ensemble work.
Alex Bourne makes a first class Daddy Warbucks as he moves from hard-nosed businessman to gentle surrogate father. Bourne has a powerful voice put to good effect as he leads in the lively ‘N.Y.C.’ number which transcends to a gentleness when he reaches the ballad, ‘Something Was Missing’.
Comedy comes courtesy of Jonny Fines and Djalenga Scott as the villainous pair who pretend to be Annie’s parents. They kick up a storm when they form an unholy trinity with Horwood in ‘Easy Street’.
There is a sweet performance from Holly Dale Spencer as Grace, Warbucks’ secretary and befriender of Annie.
A whole clutch of young talented performers who steal the show are led (at the performance I saw) by Sophia Pettit as Annie. During the tour the title role is shared with Madeleine Haynes and Isabella Pappas. Sophia is full of assurance but never precocious and is blessed with a strong voice. She is cheeky, feisty and delivers her anthems with controlled gusto and her ballads with a sweetness that is devoid of cloying saccharine.
The show is tightly directed by Nikolai Foster with swift scene transitions aided by Colin Richmond’s set designs. The show is set within an abstract framework of jigsaw puzzle pieces that represent the turmoil and gaps in Annie’s life.
There is plenty of inventive choreography from Nick Winston that plays a large part in the success of the show. In ‘We’d Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover’, he introduces puppet-like routines, while in ‘N.Y.C.’ he mixes stylised goose-stepping with a tap routine featuring three sailors that has echoes of On the Town.
The show is on tour and during Horwood’s TV commitments, the part of Miss Hannigan will be played by Lesley Joseph, Jodie Prenger and Elaine C Smith.
Barrie Jerram
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