THIS production of Meehan, Strouse and Charnin’s hit musical Annie originated in 2015 and has enjoyed lengthy runs both on tour and in the West End, so it’s no surprise to see houses selling out rapidly for all eight performances in this week’s visit to Liverpool’s Empire.
There’s little point in my reiterating the well known storyline, which is almost a collision between Oliver and Mame, but it is worth mentioning that director Nikolai Foster, who has a nose for this sort of thing, manages to strike a brilliant balance between light and shade in its telling. In a show that contains more saccharine than a pallet-load of Tango, it is refreshing to have a staging that tempers the sweetness with some tart reminders of the Great Depression background it develops from, especially when we live in straitened times and most of us have little truck with billionaires.
Colin Richmond’s set is a wonderful mix of grim reality and fairytale. The stage is filled and framed with a snowstorm of jigsaw pieces amongst which a series of tableaux form, disappear and morph into one-another, so that the action never once pauses for a scene change. Against this dynamic, colourful backdrop the action presses forward with impressive drive through the first act, which is pretty much back-to-back with the large and familiar catalogue of musical numbers. A talented and skilfully choreographed cast of both adult and child performers are accompanied by an excellent eight piece pit band under the lively direction of Joshua Griffith.
After the interval, the pace slackens somewhat as the storytelling develops its more convoluted twists, and musically it is mostly a series of reprises from Act I, with just a few new numbers thrown in, but things soon accelerate again as we head to the unlikely but heart-warming conclusion.
Naturally, with a large number of child actors in the show, seven of the younger characters, including Annie, are each played in rotation by three alternates. It is sad therefore that the theatre do not see fit to post a list anywhere in the venue letting the audience know which actors are onstage for the performance they are attending (nor to provide this information to the press). I know what my best guess would be for Annie and several of her fellow orphans on Monday’s Press Night, but it would be rash to speculate in print. A poster in the foyer (like the one telling us which two of the adult swings were onstage) would be nice for both audience and actors alike.
One thing we are all sadly aware of however is the elephant in the room or, rather, not in the room. These Liverpool performances were originally slated to star Paul O’Grady, who was one of the four Miss Hannigans in this touring cast and who appeared in the role in Newcastle and Edinburgh before his untimely death just over 2 months ago. With all this week’s performances dedicated to Paul’s memory, it must be a tremendous ask emotionally for Craig Revel-Horwood to step onto the Liverpool stage, but it is hard to imagine how anyone could have simultaneously given a better performance and a better tribute than he does here. After a stonking rendition of ‘The Hard Knock Life’ from the young ensemble, and the first of three appearances of ‘Tomorrow’, it’s no mean feat for him to absolutely bring the house down with the creeping, witty ‘Little Girls’, but he does.
Revel-Horwood is not just a household name, but he has a long and deservedly successful association with the musical theatre stage. His experience as an actor, singer and, above all, dancer and choreographer absolutely seep out of every pore of his characterisation. He can clearly walk the walk every bit as well as he talks the talk, and the precision in the dance routines (many of which are obviously designed to make his character appear drunk) is peerless.
But whilst Revel-Horwood is the undisputed star of the show, his generosity and the quality of the ensemble cast surrounding him never casts anyone in the shadows. There are fine performances from Alex Bourne as Daddy Warbucks and David Burrows as Franklin Roosevelt, whilst Paul French and Billie Kay make a deliciously creepy double act as Rooster and Lily. Meanwhile, on Press Night, Dawn Williams steps from the Ensemble to slip beautifully into the part of Warbucks’ secretary Grace.
This production deftly scurries through the fluff of the show, keeping everything moving well, apart from the one brief lull at the top of Act II, and with Richmond’s set richly lit by Ben Cracknell the whole thing is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. Once you navigate past the mental hurdle of a billionaire borrowing an orphan for Christmas (and performing such a quintessentially festive work in June) there’s no denying that this is an excellent family show, beautifully executed and with a very fine cast.
Annie is at Liverpool Empire until Saturday 10 June and then continues this national tour with dates currently booking at 20 further venues right through to November.
Star rating: 4½ stars
Review by Nigel Smith
