Theater Review: Annie

by Mark Lowry

The beloved family musical Annie is always a winning holiday show because of the warm fuzzy feelings it induces and the final Christmas party scene. But given the current economic meltdown, there’s something about a Depression-era rags-to-riches story, the Hooverville scene and the FDR subplot that is especially timely.

Yes indeed, we need A New Deal for Christmas.

Casa Mañana’s current production at Bass Hall, directed by Norb Joerder and Casa’s first major production under the leadership of new president and executive producer Wally Jones, hits all the high notes you’d expect from a big-budget staging of Annie ― aside from a few opening-night tech and set glitches. It also benefits from the always-astute musical direction of Eugene Gwozdz.

In the title role, Los Angeles-based Kelsey Lee Smith has a knockout voice, but it and the bob wig she wears through much of the show make her less believable as an 11-year-old. She looks about 15. No qualms with her acting, though. The other spunky orphans are played by local children. If you don’t smile at the shenanigans of the littlest one Molly (Sarah Youngblood), then you have no soul.

Ellen Harvey as the orphanage’s mother Miss Hannigan goes beyond the caricatures we’ve seen from so many actresses in this role, and actually makes her a worn-out human being desperate to move on to a better life. However, Laurent Giroux and Stacey Harris as schemers Rooster and Lily never rise above a cartoon. And if the real Franklin D. Roosevelt had been able to sing as memorably as Willy Welch, then he would have been an even more important president.

Amy Bodnar does fine work with the show’s most thankless role, Grace Farrell, assistant to billionaire Oliver Warbucks. Brian Mathis creates a Daddy Warbucks who is warmer, earlier on, than most. He’s still believable as a ruthless power player in the business world, but it’s nice to see a Warbucks who always knew something was missing from his life ― rather than suddenly having such a revelation when Annie shows up. Mathis also has one of the biggest voices of any actor on the local musical theater scene.

The other important player in all this is, of course, Annie’s dog Sandy. Here she’s played by a sad-eyed rescue named Lola. Early in the show, there’s an appearance by another pooch in the dogcatcher scene, and at each Annie performance it will be portrayed by a different rescue from the Humane Society of North Texas. Each will be available for adoption at the performance.

The production runs through December 28 and tickets can be purchased online or by calling 817-332-2272.