Review: Exuberant version of ‘Annie’ shines under the stars

Marilyn LaRocque

Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2002 | 8:23 a.m.

An exuberant, talented cast of singing and dancing actors of all ages romps through a crowd-pleasing "Annie," the season's concluding production of Super Summer Theatre (SST) at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park.

This is a family fun-fest, with everyone from infants in rocker baskets to grizzled, bearded elders in wheelchairs in attendance. About two-thirds of the gently sloping meadow was covered with a patchwork of blankets, on which sprawl kids and parents delving into picnic coolers. On the rest of the grounds, folding patio chairs toe white chalk lines in orderly rows. (You can bring your own chair or rent one for $1.)

With no intermission, the somewhat abridged version of the musical runs about 95 minutes, which is family friendly. Not one youngster yowled, despite the unnecessarily loud sound projection from the stage.

Good voices abound in SST's "Annie."

Leading the list are Annie, played by Gina Maini with just the right mix of tomboy and caring little girl. Her nemesis, Miss Hannigan, brilliantly created by Keala Settle, is director of the Hudson Street Home for Girls, the orphanage where Annie and a rambunctious bunch of other girls live.

Maini, 11, has a sassy, powerful voice, both childlike and mature, especially when she sings high notes with vibrato. She punches out the lyrics with her fist along with her voice, and is more than a match for the adults around her.

Settle, on the other hand, is vintage polish and pizazz. She is buxom, blowsy and brassy. As Miss Hannigan, her voluminous updo is always partially fallen down. She bellows, blows a shrill whistle at the kids, has a fondness for booze, which she keeps in her desk drawer, flaunts her ample femininity at any man who comes in the room and gives the kids clean sheets once a month, "whether they need it or not."

Settle can sing anything, in any range, and sells a song with body as well as voice. She's Ethel Merman blended with Bette Midler.

Both Settle and Maini are surrounded by 14 amazing girls, aged from about 6 to 13, who can sing and dance up a storm. Their boisterous take on "It's the Hard-Knock Life," liberally accented with buckets and scrub brushes, cartwheels and somersaults, was the first of their many show-stopping numbers (the adult dancers could pick up some pointers).

Quentin Walters as Daddy Warbucks is another excellent singer. He's not quite bombastic and arrogant enough to be a really overbearing baron of business -- his niceness seeps through from the beginning. Describing himself to Annie he says, "You don't have to be nice to people on your way up if you're not coming back down."

Walters/Warbucks gives "N.Y.C.," which enumerates the advantages of Manhattan, a performance worthy of a chamber of commerce ad, leading into the song with the line, "After New York, anything else is Winnemucca." He and Annie have a nice little bit of interaction when she dances with him, starting out with her feet on top of his shoes.

Warbucks' secretary, Grace Farrell, is played by tall, willowy Keriann Parkes. Her appearance, as well as her elegant style and wardrobe, are a classy contrast to Settle's bordello chic. She has a lovely soprano voice and is an ideal, properly proper assistant to Warbucks.

The consummate con artists of the piece are Jennifer deAnne King as Lily St. Regis and Michael-Jon Sullivan as Rooster. Rooster is Miss Hannigan's brother who has just gotten out of Leavenworth Prison. He jokes that his floozy girlfriend, St. Regis, was "named after the hotel." When asked which floor, he responds, "room service."

Rooster comes up with the idea that he and Lily masquerade as Annie's parents to claim a $50,000 cashier's check offered by Warbucks to Annie's real parents. Anticipating their windfall, they're joined by Miss Hannigan in the high-kicking song and dance number, "Easy Street." Another show-stopper.

There's lots more to entertain the audience in this Sullivan-Cleary production, with Betty Sullivan-Cleary as director.

Sandy, Annie's dog, is happily played by "Daisy," trained by owner Matthew Koithan. "We got her from the pound about 12 years ago," Matt's father, Ron, said. "She's never been to obedience school, but she's a well-behaved family dog and likes people and is friendly, and that's what they wanted."

The scenery is creative. The orphanage dormitory bedroom has bilious green walls in which there are large expanses of exposed red bricks. Its reverse side is Warbucks' mansion, with paintings of him as a baby and as a tycoon with two money bags in his hands adorning the walls.

A glittering backdrop of the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Statue of Liberty and the 59th Street Bridge is the setting for a Depression-era "Hooverville" sequence of homeless people. The play takes place in Depression-era New York.

It's a great evening of high-energy enjoyment for all.

"Annie" continues through Aug. 24, Wednesday through Saturday nights, plus a Sunday performance at 8 p.m. Tickets are scarce, as most performances are sold out. For ticket availability call 878-7529.