Annie

Western Arts Theatre (WAT) is a relatively new group operating in the western suburbs of Melbourne. Apart from Altona and Williamstown, who are much further south, there are no other music theatre groups in the area, so they are filling a great need.

I hadn’t attended the theatre at Maribyrnong College before, but found it to be a nice intimate theatre. The lack of an orchestra pit was overcome by having the band in an adjacent room, but I detected no problems with this. The band played well and there were few problems of the balance with the singers.

It started really well with an announcement from Bert Healy, the radio announcer in the show, with a request about mobile phones and flash photography. Very funny.

The cast was excellent. Lucy Stubbs was perhaps a bit older and taller than you’d expect in the lead role, but she sang well and conveyed the full range of emotions of the traumatised, but confident young orphan. The other orphans were all full of energy and sang strongly.

Miss Hannigan is a dream role for the right person, and Carolyn Hasenkam was one of the best I’d seen. She could do anything with her voice, and her comic timing was superb. She was well matched by the excellent Tim Barsby as her brother, Rooster.

Antony Steadman was the Daddy Warbucks. A big man with a pleasant singing voice, he was able to easily cope with the high tessitura of this role and show both the gruff and tender side of this larger-than-life character. Saskia Penn sang well as Grace Farrell.

The other adults played multiple roles and they were all well taken, though I particularly liked Hugh Wilson, who sang well as President Roosevelt.

The production was interesting, with a silhouette of New York as a backdrop and minimalistic sets being brought on and taken off by cast and crew to allow the action to flow. The choreography was innovative and tight, and the lighting effective.

This was a very enjoyable night at the theatre.

Graham Ford