Annie (2019)

Yes, we’re polarized and angry, uncertain about the future, defensive about our politics, but hey! The sun’ll come out tomorrow!

Maybe that sounds like impossible optimism, or “an unstoppable sunshine steamroller” as Ben Brantley called it, but “Annie” has not just survived, it’s thrived because people would rather feel good than bad. It’s almost that simple.

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts welcomes this durable piece of musical theatre to its 22nd season, and it doesn’t disappoint. The little red-headed orphan who entertained our parents and grandparents through the 1920s, the Great Depression, and WWII has had a long run.  Based on “Little Orphan Annie”, the comic strip by Harold Gray, “Annie” is the 1977 Broadway musical that snapped up seven Tony Awards and ran for six years before spawning a few less memorable films as well as three Broadway revivals.

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts presents Annie, the beloved Broadway darling that has enchanted audiences through generations! With its Book by Thomas Meehan, Music by Charles Strouse, and Lyrics by Martin Charnin, Annie has won seven Tony awards, including Best Musical. Producing Artistic Director Patrick A’Hearn directs a powerhouse cast for this production, led by the incomparable Sally Struthers, who is reprising her role as Miss Hannigan from the 20th Anniversary National Tour.

“Annie” now playing at the Riverside Center for the Arts has regained its position as a first-class musical. “Why,” you may ask? Because it has a first-rate, A++ cast! Not only that, the seven-piece orchestra conducted by Carson Eubank supports this production perfectly and can stand on its own (and does in several joyous instances). Additionally, the heroic set by Frank Foster includes brilliant projections curated by director Patrick A’Hearn that indelibly stamp the era in your mind before the show even opens and appear occasionally during the show to great advantage.

Little Orphan Annie made her début in Harold Gray’s comic strip in 1924, and almost 100 years later, this spirited redhead continues to inspire people’s hopes for a better tomorrow.

“Annie,” now onstage at Riverside, is a sweet, feel-good family show. As the first few notes of the musical’s overture start to trickle out, it’s hard not to smile and feel nostalgic about the beloved 1982 film starring Aileen Quinn as the effervescent streetwise redhead. Movie lovers will notice some differences in the musical version featuring a book by Thomas Meehan (no scary bridge scene), but overall, one thing’s for certain: This story about an optimistic orphan in search of her parents has a big heart.

…The world now knows and loves “Little Orphan Annie” simply as “Annie,” the eternally optimistic (and pro-Roosevelt!) red-headed protagonist of the stage musical and subsequent film franchise.

Just as we briefly returned above to the comic pages of yore, Director Patrick A’Hearn returns the musical to its original version, for – like the comic-strip character herself – the show “Annie” has been revised many times since the character’s first appearance on Broadway in 1977.

What A’Hearn found missing in post-1977 versions was heart, he told us, and that he restores in full measure in his production currently playing at the Riverside Center for the Performing Arts in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Carol Burnett and Aileen Quinn starred in the beloved 1982 film. Andrea McArdle, Reid Shelton and Dorothy Loudon starred in the Broadway original.

And now, “Annie” has landed at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts with some stars of its own. The musical opened at the Fredericksburg venue on Wednesday and runs through Nov. 17.

Listen to TV and Broadway Star, Sally Struthers (Miss Hannigan) and Katie Little (Grace Farrell) preview our production of Annie (Starring Sally Struthers as Miss Hannigan) at Riverside alongside director and Riverside Center’s Producing Artistic Director, Patrick A’Hearn and Town Talk’s Ted Schubel (NewsTalk 1230 WFVA). 

Listen to Kylee Hope Geraci (Annie) and Christopher Sanders (Daddy Warbucks) preview our upcoming production of Annie (Starring Sally Struthers as Miss Hannigan) at Riverside alongside director and Riverside Center’s Producing Artistic Director, Patrick A’Hearn and Town Talk’s Ted Schubel (NewsTalk 1230 WFVA).