Stage Review
'Annie' feisty and full of holiday cheer

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Advertiser Stage Critic

•	'Annie' 8 p.m. today through Saturday, 3 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday, through Dec. 16; shows added at 8 p.m. Dec. 21 and 22, and 4 p.m. Dec. 23 Diamond Head Theatre $10-$40 (discounts for students, seniors and military) Matinees Saturday and Dec. 15 feature understudy Kristina Sault as Annie.

The Charles Strouse/Martin Charnin musical — based on an irrepressible orphan, a tycoon, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and a dog — always convinces that the sun will come out "Tomorrow." This time, the reminder that New York City is loud and tough is especially welcome.

So the show is a great choice to run just before the holidays, even if it didn't feature a gigantic Christmas tree and a team of prancing little girls and FDR in a Santa hat. Director John Rampage and choreographer Greg Zane give it a solid look, and musical director Emmett Yoshioka produces a clear sound.

The cast is better than adequate.

Nine-year-old Paige Finch has the right smile for the title role, and a voice strong enough to support Annie's songs, keeping them intelligible and free from shrill piping. The clutch of orphans (Lauren Yoshihiro, Ashley Ramos, Kristina Thuy Sault, Kimberly Alana Nip, Katherine Clifton and Kimi Anderson) do solid choral work and are an audience favorite with their show-stopping reprise of "Fully Dressed."

Jamie Bender supplies a wonderfully expressive and belting voice for Miss Hannigan, and uses it to wring all the right comic overtones out of "Little Girls." She also seems to have studied at the Dom Deluise school of comedy, putting a sniffling, depreciating spin on the character lines.

Bender also teams well on "Easy Street" with Michael Hanuna and Elisabeth Anne Wenzel — the scheming brother and bimbo who plot to impersonate Annie's real parents.

Josh Harris is a bit young for Warbucks, but has the right stiffly aloof tone, and Renee Noveck is nearly perfect as Grace Farrell, looking ravishing in 1930s costumes by Karen Wolfe. Curiously, however, the subliminal attraction that sparks these two characters is missing from this production.

Tim Moulson is convincing as FDR and Keith La Bryer steps out of the chorus for two nicely articulated small roles as a radio show host and a member of the president's cabinet who is reluctant to harmonize.

Dawn Oshima's sets slide from soup kitchen to White House and orphanage to the Warbucks mansion without missing a beat.

The DHT production of "Annie" is worth a look and — with a finale filled with kids and dogs and "A New Deal for Christmas" — nearly impossible to resist.