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Molly Bolger, a golden retriever, plays Sandy in Annie,
jr.
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Not a lot of musicals have demonstrated the staying power of Annie. The show continues to pop up around community and professional theaters with more regularity than its optimistic title character proclaims "Leapin' Lizards" during an average performance. Annie is getting a new life in a production by The Children's Theatre called Annie, jr at the Taft Theatre.
Annie, jr. is a 60-minute rendition of the musical, modified for younger (kindergarten through eighth grade) audiences. This version removes some of the adult subjects and hones in on song and dance numbers and a heightened focus on our favorite little orphan -- those aspects that made the original a hit in the first place.
But why another production of Annie? I admit it. When I was six, my younger sister and I shared a red curly wig. We had Avon necklaces with hearts broken in half, just like the one Annie's parents gave her so she would know them when they came to claim her from the orphanage. I'd even belt out "Tomorrow" for every relative who'd listen.
But more than 20 years after it first wowed audiences on Broadway, does Annie still have an audience?
For an answer, look no farther than the production's 11-year-old star, Caralyn Collar. Do the math: You'll realize Caralyn wasn't yet born when Annie made its 1977 Broadway premiere. She wasn't even born when the musical became a movie four years later. Yet, for Caralyn, Annie is a dream role she's been building toward for years, through voice and dance lessons at CCM, and an earlier turn in the show as Tessie with East Side Players, a community theater group.
"This has been so much fun for me," says Caralyn. "The day I found out I was going to be Annie, I was so excited. I've wanted to be Annie all my life."
The fifth-grader at Ayer Elementary School thinks Annie has a definite place as a contemporary role model. "I think she's a great kid," says Caralyn. "She's street smart and tough. And she's hard working. When Annie has a job to do, she gets the job done. When Mr. Warbucks comes into her life, the world opens up to her. She has a tough childhood, but Annie really enjoys life."
Caralyn is no stranger to the stage or to The Children's Theatre, having appeared there in productions of Charlotte's Web and The Secret Garden. In Annie, jr., she'll join an ensemble of 24 performers, including Cincinnati favorites Gary Warden, Andy Gaukel and Gina Cerimele-Mechley.
There's another star-in-the-making who is enjoying her stage debut in Annie, jr. While it may be a hard-knock life for Annie and the other orphans, for the show's solo canine actor, it's been decidedly the pampered treatment.
Molly Bolger is the eight-year-old golden retriever who plays Annie's faithful friend, Sandy. Molly "auditioned" with half a dozen other dogs to win her part. Con-sidered a "second daughter" in the Bolger family, Molly surprised trainer Joy O'Dell by coming fully prepared to her first rehearsal -- with her own diaper bag of blankets, toys, a water bottle and treats. There was even a chew bone to help keep her busy during the potentially long waits between scenes.
Annie, jr. marks the end of the Children's Theatre season. Next year's plans include a 100th anniversary production of The Wizard of Oz and premieres of Beethoven by Heart, with the National Theater for the Deaf, as well as Androcles and the Lion, written and directed by local playwright Mary Tensing.
But to Jack Louiso, producing artistic director and Annie, jr. director, the show just may be the perfect way to introduce kids to the magic of theater with an already familiar story.
"We have to be able to compete with the great production values kids see in movie theatres, Disney and television," says Louiso.
"There's a place for outreach, but I like theater not to smell like a gymnasium, cafeteria or classroom. When you bring children into the Taft, it's so gorgeous. Their mouths drop."
And back to that question, why another Annie? "Annie has all the bells and whistles you'd like to see in a musical," says Louiso.
ANNIE, JR., presented by the Children's Theatre of Cincinnati, can be seen in performances for the general public at the Taft Theater on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
