I may perhaps be the only regular theatergoer in the St. Louis area that hadn't seen "Annie" until it opened last night at the Fox. So I come at it with no memories of Andrea McArdle or Dorothy Loudon and so on. If, like me, you've been sleeping under a rock for the last thirty-plus years, it's based on a now-defunct comic strip that began in the Depression about a little girl who had no eyes. Well, she apparently had them, but the cartoonist didn't draw them. She's an orphan who…well, let's just say this isn't "Oliver!" It's certainly not "Oliver Twist".
But the show is clearly loved by plenty of very young women who dressed up to come to the theater, along with their mothers and grandmothers and a few dads and granddads. It was a remarkably quiet and well-behaved collection of them, too. And if the script is saccharine, there are chances for cute kids to sing and dance, and some plainer ones, too; hurray for casting directors who realize not every little girl has dimples and ringlets. Besides, where else can you find a song whose lyrics include the names of FDR's cabinet?
However, it's an uneven cast that distracts from the fun. Annie, Issie Swickle, is fine, a belter who handles "Tomorrow" like she's been doing it for years, and she probably has, even at her young age. But Miss Hannigan, as portrayed by Lynn Andrews, just doesn't make this caricature come alive. The role calls for scenery-chewing, and we get that, but somehow it seems stolid rather than zany.
Daddy Warbucks, whose first name is Oliver, is played by Gilgamesh Taggett. (Issie and Gilgamesh – what a couple!) His Warbucks is intriguing, less one-dimensional than expected, with an endearing charm peering out from him, especially as he shows Annie the wonders of New York City. Rooster, Miss Hannigan's ne'er-do-well brother, Garrett Deagon, livens things up considerably, but his girlfriend, Lily St. Regis ("I was named for the hotel!"), is almost wan, despite possessing a name that implies she's an ecdysiast.
The problems with this show are not because it isn't an Actors Equity company, meaning performers are paid less, get no health care, and so on. It's just not as much fun as it could be – unless you're under, oh, 12 or so.
Annie
through December 7
Fox Theatre