[Free Lance-Star] Review: ‘Annie’ is a big-hearted charmer at Riverside
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.
[Prince George’s Sentinel] ‘Leapin’ lizards!’ A swell ‘Annie’ with 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.
[Free Lance-Star] ‘Annie’ comes to Riverside Center for the Performing Arts
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.
Sally Struthers and Katie Little preview Annie (Starring Sally Struthers as Miss Hannigan) with Town Talk’s Ted Schubel
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).
Kylee Hope Geraci and Christopher Sanders preview Annie (Starring Sally Struthers as Miss Hannigan) with Town Talk’s Ted Schubel
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).
[Prince George’s Sentinel] An Enchanted Evening with ‘South Pacific’
“I wish I could tell you about the South Pacific. The way it actually was. The endless ocean. The infinite specks of coral we called islands. Coconut palms nodding gracefully toward the ocean. Reefs upon which waves broke into spray, and inner lagoons, lovely beyond description.”
So begins James Michener’s “Tales of the South Pacific,” the book which was the inspirational source of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical “South Pacific.”
The challenge of this musical was to combine visual beauty with the horror of war while sprinkling in elements of romantic comedy.
The Riverside Center for the Performing Arts production, masterfully directed by and choreographed by Penny Ayn Maas and produced by Patrick A’Hearn, succeeds in weaving these delicate threads of the music together and is complemented with an outstanding cast and brilliant singing and musical numbers.
[DC Metro Theatre Arts] Review: ‘South Pacific’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts
Riverside Center for the Performing Arts presents Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. The winner of multiple Tony awards, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, South Pacific continues to charm audiences seventy years after its debut. Penny Ayn Maas directs and choreographs a powerhouse cast for this beloved production.
[Culpeper Times] CURTAIN CALLS: Islands of delight dot ‘South Pacific’
One enchanted evening many years ago (seventy, to be exact) Messrs. Rodgers and Hammerstein opened their mint new musical, “South Pacific”, for its New Haven and Boston previews. The response was immediate and enthusiastic… Riverside Center’s just-opened production scores where it counts most in this tale of two non-traditional love affairs and war in the Pacific. Central to the conflict are one middle-aged Frenchman with the mysterious past, Emile de Becque, and his much younger love interest, the Arkansas-bred nurse, Ensign Nellie Forbush. Around them swirl issues of Japanese invasion, high jinks among the sailors, and a separate, doomed love affair with further racial implications.
[Free Lance-Star] Riverside Center for the Performing Arts sets course for ‘South Pacific’
When “South Pacific” first débuted on Broadway, it was an immediate hit.
That was in 1949, pulling on the reflective heartstrings of audiences who had World War II fresh on their minds.
Flash forward to today: While WWII is long gone, many of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein musical’s poignant messages still hit home. The show owns the Riverside Center for the Performing Arts stage through Sept. 15.
[Press Release] Riverside Center for the Performing Arts Announces Cast and Creative Team for South Pacific
Riverside Center for the Performing Arts is excited to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize-winning South Pacific with its new production in Fredericksburg, VA. The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic – which premiered in 1949 – did not have a revival until the 2008 Lincoln Center production (which, like its predecessor, won multiple Tony Awards®). Several of its songs, including “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair,” “Some Enchanted Evening,” “There is Nothing Like a Dame,” “Happy Talk,” and “I’m In Love with a Wonderful Guy” have become popular standards.