Moving Moments

‘Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya, tomorrow!’... there were few in the audience who did not leave the British Club humming the most popular of Broadway musical Annie’s songs after a sold-out performance by the students of Music and Stage for Kids (MASK) and a very obedient dog called Milly.

The entertaining show ran over three days and gave an opportunity to numerous talented youngsters, some as young as six, and adult performers, to sing, act and be stars in a stage adaptation put together after months of preparation.

Annie was a Broadway production based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan, that opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years.

The majority of the company’s young cast was a mixture of new and old faces and it was a pleasure to witness fine performances by many youngsters like Scarlet Robinson, Will Bradley and Lizzy Wahba who have been growing and improving their talents with MASK and in their respective school productions.

Although the musical – which is about a little girl escaping the drudgery of a badly-run orphanage to find happiness in the home of a billionaire – did not particularly move the audience to tears, it was an exhilarating team effort.

Annie was played on the night of my review by charismatic 12-year-old Scarlett Lowry. She was clearly the star who effortlessly said her lines and displayed the right emotions at the right time. Her confidence on stage and complete ease whilst acting with adults will have proved an inspiration to many watching the performance.

Her rejection of her new found mother was, in my opinion, among the most moving moments of the show as she flinched at the touch of a woman who seemed totally unlike the mother of her dreams.

Alex Myatt and Maya Shaban were two young actors who also stood out and will be among the wealth of budding young talent to watch out for in the future.

As for the adults, Penny Erickson, playing the part of the orphanage’s administrator Miss Hannigan, attracted the most cheers from the audience on the last night despite the fact that her extravagant costume and the ease with which the children approached her made her seem, at times, more like a bumbling fool than a cruel and tyrannical woman; she still managed to portray a fitting persona.

Her scheming scenes with Oliver Alexandre in the role of Mr Bundles and Lizzy Wahba playing his girlfriend, Lillie St Regis, were among the most entertaining scenes.

Some failed to impress, such as the sudden change in rich Daddy Warbuck’s (Rory Adamson) personality who in one minute was trying to get rid of Annie and, all of a sudden, in the next scene, was ready to take her on a tour of New York City. The actor appeared to struggle vocally at times, although I was told after the show that he had lost his voice earlier in the week.
 
I was earlier overcome by a similar disjointed feeling when Annie was suddenly discovered by Miss Hannigan after being chased by the police for not having a licence for the dog.

There were a number of areas in which the production could have been improved upon, particularly in the sets and unfortunately the British Club room fails to offer the excellent musicians with a proper space to perform.

But, in the circumstances, MASK, which now runs under the British School of Bahrain’s ‘after school activity’ umbrella, is making an excellent effort in building the talents and improving the stage confidence of not only the cast but the crew which included youngsters who have helped in the choreography, direction and production of the show.

Annie was directed by Lydia Martin, director of the BSB Academy of Performing Arts, Rory Adamson, chairman of the Manama Theatre Club, Victoria Shaban, owner and principal of Victoria Dance, and Palmyra Mattner, an AS Level drama student at St Christopher’s School.

– Anasuya Kesavan