Theatre
Annie
King's Theatre, Glasgow
Marianne Gunn
four stars
REGIONAL casting for this marvellous touring production has left Scotland shortchanged: Strictly's Craig Revel Horwood has been camping it up; Lesley Joseph vamping it up; and Jodie Prenger completed the most recent dates south of the border ramping up the Miss Hannigan role in this quite astonishing new staging of the Little Orphan Annie inspired musical.
The breathtaking flaw in Glasgow this week is the fact that Elaine C Smith (who will reprise the role of Miss Hannigan in both Aberdeen and Edinburgh) gave a performance devoid of the wit required to embody the spiteful, gin-soaked orphanage boss. Even with a script packed with cracking one liners, Smith failed to master the essential comic timing, while her "song and dance" routines fell far off the mark.
Casting issues aside, this is a quality show which will appeal to and greatly satisfy the family market. In the title role, Elise Blake showcased the magnificent stripes she has earned in London's West End (Blake has played both the London Palladium and the lead role in Matilda the Musical - and she is only 11 years old). Pitch perfect (even singing a cappella), she tugs at the heartstrings from the first notes of opening number Maybe (but note that the character of Annie is triple-cast).
Hard Knock Life, Tomorrow and I Don't Need Anything But You all showcased the energetic youngsters and crisp ensemble cast, although the closing song A New Deal For Christmas was in many ways the show stopper, particularly for its ingenious choreography (by Nick Winston) and exquisite lighting (from Ben Cracknell).
Musical Director George Dyer also deserves credit for his modern orchestrations, while Colin Richmond's set (featuring a clever jigsaw motif map of New York City) was clearly also some sort of homage to Rob Howell's design for the RSC's groundbreaking Matilda.
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