Even the grimmest of economic times can inspire the most cheerful, delightful, and tuneful of musical comedy treats. Case in point, the Broadway musical smash Annie, now spreading Christmastime tidings of hope and joy at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre.

Cartoonist Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie may have been among the America’s favorite daily comic strips from the moment it made its 1924 debut, but it took over fifty years for Annie to make it to Broadway as a 2377-performance Best Musical Tony winner with a Tony-winning book by Thomas Meehan and Tony-winning songs by composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Martin Charnin.

Meet eleven-year-old Annie (Ellie Pulsifer), abandoned as an infant by parents who promised they be back to reclaim her but haven’t shown up yet, and in an America now in the midst of The Great Depression, the likelihood of them dropping by anytime soon seems slim to none.

No wonder then that as soon as she’s old enough to make her escape from the clutches of group home meanie Miss Aggie Hannigan (Stefanie Londino), the Little Orphan decides to take matters into her own hands, bids farewell to fellow waifs Duffy (swing Sophie Stromberg), July (Vivianne Neely), Kate (Izzy Pike), Molly (Bronte Harrison), Pepper (Riglee Ruth Bryson), and Tessie (Valeria Velasco), and heads off in search of Mommy and Daddy.

Aiding Annie in her quest is abandoned pooch Sandy (canine cuties Addison and Georgie alternating in the role), that is until the cops nab them both and return Annie to Miss Hannigan’s and Sandy to parts unknown.

Fortunately for the redheaded miss, the Municipal Orphanage gets visited by a certain Miss Grace Farrell (Julia Nicole Hunter), secretary to industry mogul Oliver Warbucks (Christopher Swan), assigned to deliver an orphan to the billionaire’s Fifth Avenue mansion for the Christmas holidays, and who better to brighten things up than you know who.

Meanwhile back at Miss Hannigan’s, the orphanage head’s shifty brother Rooster (Nick Bernardi) and his blonde bimbo girlfriend Lily St. Regis (Krista Curry) concoct a plan to swindle Warbucks out of the $50,000 he’s offering Annie’s birth parents should they show up to take her back.

And did I mention than President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Mark Woodard) shows up along the way?

Songwriters Strouse and Meehan serve up one catchy, clever ditty after another, chief among them Annie’s ode to hope (the ubiquitous “Tomorrow”) and “It’s The Hard Knock Life,” the latter a couldn’t-be-better showcase for the multitalented preteens Bryson, Harrison, Neely, Pike, and Velasco, and assistant dance captain Stromberg, who’s an adult but manages quite niftily to pass for under thirteen.

Under Jenn Thompson’s effervescent, assured direction, petite leading lady Pulsifer wins hearts and earns deserved cheers as the titular spunky redhead, Swan’s simply swell Oliver Warbucks is the warm-hearted billionaire any orphan girl would gladly call Daddy, and the fabulous Londino chews up the scenery to do the best Miss Hannigans before her proud.

As comic baddies Rooster and Lily, Bernardi (handsome and hilarious) and Curry (a helium-voiced hoot) treat national tour audiences to the comedic gifts that have made them SoCal favorites, Hunter gives Grace equal parts loveliness and warmth, and Woodard plays FDR with a combination of East Coast refinement and avuncular charm.

Ensemble members Bradley Ford Betros, Luther Brooks IV, Harrison Drake, Laura Elizabeth Flanagan, Jataria Heyward, Kevin Ivey Morrison, Leeanna Rubin, Andrew Scoggin, and Kaley Were excel in multiple cameos each while executing choreographer Patricia Wilcox’s exhilarating dance moves. (Special vocal snaps to Heyward’s big-voiced Star To Be and Scoggin’s velvet-piped Bert Healy.)

Vocals are uniformly splendid under the expert music direction of Elaine Davidson, who conducts and plays keyboard in Annie’s Broadway-caliber live orchestra, a mix of touring musicians and local talent contracted by Eric Heinly.

Last but not least, scenic designer Wilson Chin, costume designer Alejo Vietti, lighting designer Philip Rosenberg, sound designer Ken Travis, and hair and wig designer Ashley Rae Callahan (each one a multiple-credit Broadway vet) give Annie a topnotch touring production design.

Casting is by Hardt Casting and Paul Hardt. Kolten Bell and Carly Ann Moore are swings. Suzayn Mackenzie-Roy is production stage manager.

With its Christmas season setting and its message of holiday good cheer, Annie’s arrival at the Dolby midway through its eight-month national tour could not be better timed. Get ready for two-and-a-half hours of family-friendly delight.

Dolby Theatre, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Through December 18. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 8:00. Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00. Sundays at 1:00 and 6:30.
www.BroadwayInHollywood.com

–Steven Stanley
November 29, 2022
Photos: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

Tags: Broadway In Hollywood, Charles Strouse, Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles Theater Review, Martin Charnin, Thomas Meehan