"Annie The Musical" by Greasepaint Productions.

Loughborough Town Hall.

"Annie" is the story of the little orphan who was dumped on the steps of an orphanage in 1922. Fast forward to 1933 and Annie has had enough of orphan life and decides to run away from the horrendous Miss Hannigan, who is in charge of the place. This escape fails and she is brought back by the police, but that is when her fortunes change and she is invited to stay with the billionaire Oliver Warbucks. Warbucks wants to adopt Annie but Annie wants to find her real parents. With the help of Oliver Warbucks, the truth is revealed about her past, and where her future lies.

The role of Annie is shared by two young ladies, Jagoda Drozdz and Lottie Foster. Tonight (Wednesday) it was the turn of Lottie who is also on Friday night and Saturday matinee. Jagoda can be seen on Thursday night and Saturday evening. Lottie has a lovely confident stage presence and can really belt out "Tomorrow" and in complete contrast beings a lovely tenderness to the song "Maybe". She has a lovely use of facial expression, adapting to the scene and situation, which indicates a real understanding of the character's position throughout the musical. A really solid, confident performance, and I am sure that Jagoda is on equal standing where the voice and acting ability is concerned.

The orphan girls are a real bundle of fun and energy and, for just a moment, I did feel a bit sorry for Miss Hannigan having to deal with this combined ball of energy. That energy is transferred into the singing, dancing and attitude. The numbers "It's A Hard Knock Life" and their version of "Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile" are a real joy to see and hear.

Annie Unwin (Duffy - the oldest girl in the orphanage), Latifah Mabavu (Pepper - the toughest girl in the orphanage), Eliza Fardell Willson (Tessie is the cry baby orphan), Betsy-Rose James (July - the quietest orphan), Ell-J Thurman (Kate - the next to littlest orphan) and Poppy Brewin (Molly - the smallest of the orphan girls) plus Aaliyah Mabavu, Eden Hawkins, Heidi Woodward, Maisie Wardell and Tabitha John are the Orphanage girls in Team Hannigan.

Oliver Warbucks, the powerful, self-assured billionaire who always has his mind on business, is played by Cameron Stephenson. A complete contrast in roles from when I last saw Cameron a few years ago as Reecey in "Our House". In just a few years Cameron's voice seems to have matured and got stronger than ever and it was joyful to hear that maturity, especially with the songs that Daddy Warbucks performs being of a more mature nature. The balance between the serious billionaire business man and the fun side that has been brought out by Annie are so wonderfully measured, you can almost see the man melting on stage.

Heather Ramone is Grace Farrell, the loyal private secretary to Oliver Warbucks. Heather has one of those voices that I love to hear on stage and in musicals, and she oozes class as Grace.

Alix Ashurst plays Miss Hannigan, the orphanage matron. Her distaste for her job and the children is obvious in every move she makes and every line she delivers. I've had the pleasure of seeing Alix in several roles over the years; from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Patience" to Mel Brooks' "The Producers", and here is another strong character-driven woman for Alix to bring to the stage. Playing Hannigan just this side of drunkard, until she gets a sniff of the greenbacks, which sobers this character up in a heartbeat. As Hannigan Alix brings together everything that she excels in, singing, dancing, comedy and character acting, and all in an amazing wig!

Liam Patrick is Rooster, Miss Hannigan's despicable brother. Rooster is flashy and self-assured. His “moves” are as smooth as a gambler’s: sly, and deceiving. I think the first time that I saw Liam on stage was a decade ago in "Hairspray", and he has not changed a bit. The dancing is as smooth and his vocals have got even stronger than when I last saw him on stage in "Guys n Dolls" seven years ago. Character roles are something that Liam also excels at and this performance proves just that.

Nicole Ray is Liliy St Regis, Rooster’s airhead girlfriend. She is always distracted, although she manages to pick up on any conversation involving money. I loved the accent and characterisation, her dance skills are eye watering, especially with those splits and high kicks. Topping everything off for Nicole is that effortlessly powerful voice.

Keith Reynolds is Bert Healey, the ultimate radio personality. He helps Annie by broadcasting about the search for her birth parents.

The Boylan Sisters (Connie, Ronnie and Bonnie) are Gemma Landers,  Jodie Pearman and Sarah Pell. This is the trio of singers who provide the harmony on Bert Healey's radio show.

Toby Ashurst is Drake, the very British Butler. This isn't a major role, but Toby's charisma in this role made you take notice of this Butler, and has some lovely comical lines which makes this Butler stand out among Warbucks's staff. Some nifty footwork with Toby as well, only once breaking the staid Butler stance with a clicking of his heels, which I noticed brought more than a smile to tonight's audience.

Daddy Warbuck's House Staff are Jodie Pearman (Mrs Greer, the Head Housekeeper), Judith Coles (Mrs Pugh - the cook/chef), Sophie Carter (Annette, a French Maid) and Nikki Coles (Cecile, also a French Maid). 

Nelly Collins plays The Star To Be, a young, aspiring Broadway actress takes centre stage during the big dance number "NYC" with some attention-grabbing choreography and vocals.

Richard Coles plays President Roosevelt, who is on hand to help Warbucks and Annie discover the truth about her parentage.

Charlie Cound appears first as Bundles, the laundry man at the Orphanage and the object of Miss Hannigan's womanly desires. Charlie also appears later on as the Man With Papers and also as Perkins.

Charlotte Coles is the Apple Seller, who can't sell an apple in The Big Apple.

Jenny Norville plays Sophie, Madi Burton is the cinema Usherette, Abi Crossley is Fred McCracken/Wacky and Jonathan Penton plays another blinder of a cameo part as Icke, one of the President's men who is ordered to sing "Tomorrow", which he starts off reluctantly and then quickly gets a feel for performance and comes out of his Presidential Suite shell.

And who can forget Bailey who steals the hearts of all the audience members as Sandy, the dog who finds Annie, or does she find Sandy? Bailey's good behaviour and obvious acting skills are partly down to his handler, Alice Powell.

The ensemble are Taylor Bennett, Paul Hopkin and Mel Sharp.

There are two teams performing on alternate performances and on Wednesday night it was Team Hannigan, performing on Friday & Saturday Matinee. The alternative team is Team Warbucks on Thursday & Saturday Night. 

Directed by Emma Healey who has given us such a fun show that rolls along nicely. The young actors have obviously reacted so well to Emma's style of Direction because they bring some brilliant characterisation to their roles, also paving the way to successful theatre in Leicestershire carrying on. I've seen professional productions of "Annie" whose young cast could be put on a par with this cast, and that kind of drive within acting comes partly from the young actor themselves but also from a director who puts the time in with their cast. 

Choreographed by Jeanette Patrick-Cooper, and let me first go back to the younger element of the cast. The energy and skill that the young people exhibit in sections like "Hard Knock Life" and "Fully Dressed" gives you real confidence in their stage future and the energy they have. Watching them cartwheel and flip and flop forwards and backwards shows a gymnastic feel to the choreography. "Easy Street" is another one of my favourite choreographed scenes and is delivered with Broadway panache by Alix, Liam and Nicole, and then there's the big ensemble numbers like "NYC" and "I Don't Need Anything But You" really bring the stage to life. Plus, you know how much I love a tap sequence, well there's even one in here; love it!

Musical Director is Dan Robinson. I have stated previously just how good the acoustics at Loughborough Town Hall are and from the very first note from the orchestra, the auditorium came alive with the sound of crystal clear music, delivered by this fifteen piece orchestra. There were a couple of times that the volume of the orchestra was in danger of overpowering the cast, but then the volume receded, but I'm not going to gripe about that.

There are some wonderful songs in this musical. Apart from the iconic "Tomorrow" and "It's A Hard Knock Life", there's also the dreamy "Maybe", "Easy Street", "NYC" and "Little Girls" to look forward to, all played with style and delivered note perfect by all.

Costumes for the show have been sourced and/or designed and made by Molly Limpets, Gillian Leeson and Rachael Gunn, adding a veneer of class to the show. The wigs on show are courtesy of Wigs Up North and the children's hair and make up are the work of Nicky Goodwin.

The set is a professional one provided by Proscenium Ltd., and looked amazing, especially the ones for Daddy Warbucks palatial mansion, the radio studio and the NYC street scene.

Lynsey Bloomfield's stage management kept everything flowing with a smooth pace, with assistance by the volunteer stage crew.

Sound, and I've already said what a lovely sound the venue has acoustically, is thanks to Ryan Heath.

Lighting Designer is James Cladingboel, displaying the difference of the orphanage atmosphere with the darker, dreary lighting with the bright and colourful residence of Warbucks place.

This musical is such a fun show to watch; the score is well known and features several well known pieces, the characters are well defined and you'll leave the theatre with a little skip in your step and a warm fuzzy feeling in your tummy, and maybe even a Christmassy feeling!

"Annie The Musical" is at Loughborough Town Hall until Saturday 25 October.