Annie 2022 Tour auditions
Julie Stevens
AnnieTheMusical Fan
Tricia T
It took me a month to finally find a moment to write down my thoughts on the tour which came to Red Bank NJ in early March. The performances and direction were wonderful and I recommend this production to all.
The 2022-24 National Tour by Troika Entertainment came to the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, NJ for only four performances, and I attended both on Saturday March 4, 2023. I didn’t know what to expect, as sadly the show has drifted away from its original form over forty years. I was soooo happy to see a production that I really enjoyed! I cannot praise director Jenn Thompson enough for restoring so much of the original dialogue, staging, and bits of business. Yay!
Some of the things that were reverted back to the Original Way which made me very happy:
Restoration of complete Hooverville sequence.The dialogue between Mr. Bundles and Miss Hannigan. The reference to “the Dillinger case.” No extra unnecessary business in the Oxydent Hour of Smiles, including the return of the “Masked Announcer.” “I Don’t Need/Annie” in the correct sequence! (That was one of my most-hoped-for reversions back to the original way.) “Next thing you know she’ll be in the funny papers.” Even “And cheese!” was restored! After opening the big box to reveal Sandy, Annie runs back into Warbucks’ arms. Curtain-call order: Hannigan blows whistle for Orphans, who came out in the rainbow dresses!
I liked all of the performers very much. Ellie Pulsifer was Annie at the matinee while Vivienne Neely did the evening performance. Both were excellent. They both demonstrated good acting in “I Think I’m Gonna” and “Orphan for Long” — really reacting to what was going on. Both Annies cried through the Act 2 “Maybe” reprise.
Addison performed all of Sandy’s tricks perfectly. All of the other principals and ensemble were outstanding and their performances overcame any of the technical shortcomings and really made the production work for me.
A few negatives:
I was unsure if the lighting was supposed to be so blotchy, or if they just didn’t have the rigging or some other technical problems. There were dark spots throughout the stage.
There were really bad sound problems at both shows I saw. In fact, the sound was so messed up at the matinee that the curtain was delayed by 15 minutes, but unfortunately the problem was not resolved. The balance between the body mikes and the Orchestra was off; couldn’t hear any lyrics in “Easy Street.”
There was a “bridge” superstructure visible throughout whole show, but I guess it was a framing device representing NYC. No set for mansion until Act 2 which was some flat columns and paintings. Overall very minimalistic sets as one would expect from a tour. There was NO staircase for red dress entrance. In photos on the tour’s website, there is a staircase and more set pieces. That’s disappointing that I did not get to see them. I wonder why? Maybe the theater couldn’t physically hold these additional set pieces? Or maybe not used because there were only four performances in this engagement? The Christmas tree was pretty good and Sandy did come out of a big box at the finale.
I personally did not like the new orchestrations, but perhaps this is necessary to accommodate smaller orchestra pits on tour?
Uncovered drinks and food including popcorn were allowed in the house and the floor was completed trashed on the way out — yuck! People need to know if their kids are too young to sit through a 2.5 hour show, there were some disruptive noises throughout the audience. The souvenir stand was pretty small; I was directed to go online where more merchandise was available.
Other observations:
While Rooster did briefly brandish a switchblade, there was no paddling by Miss Hannigan. The reference stayed “would you like to meet Babe Ruth/who’s she.” Molly was almost as big as Annie. Annie’s sailor dress was a seafoam-green color, while her new coat was purple. Grace’s costumes were especially lovely, but all of the costuming was appropriate and well-done. The sound was so bad I wasn’t sure if the Kaltenborn voice on the White House radio was still the recording made by Martin. Photo of Eleanor Roosevelt on top of radio in cabinet scene and the backdrop was a huge US flag with bonus points for accuracy of 48 stars. The Cabinet had the full complement of Secretaries. I wasn’t sure, but it sounded like everyone sang “stick out my chin,” and not the revised “stick up my chin.”
I enjoyed the choreography, especially the really good movement in “N.Y.C.,” without any of the recent weird additions. Rooster and Lily were in the background, but didn’t pull focus. At the matinee A Star-To-Be did not have her “two bags” in hand (oops), but did at the evening show.
The performances and direction made this production outstanding to me. I was pleased to have seen it.
Tricia T
The 2022-24 National Tour by Troika Entertainment (now known as Crossroads Live) was back in NJ for only four performances, and I attended both on Saturday February 3, 2024. I saw this tour in early 2023, but I wanted to see this production again because director Jenn Thompson restored so much of the original dialogue, staging, and bits of business that I enjoyed very much in the 2023 edition. Happily, the good ol’ bits from the 2023 edition were still present. Perhaps the only one I could do without is the “and cheese!” bit since that is a 1977 in-joke. I really love seeing original things like the curtain call Rainbow Dresses and “I Don’t Need…” sequence.
Two sold-out performances; two standing ovations. NO PHYSICAL PROGRAM – only available online via website link or QR code. I really didn’t like that as of course I want a physical collectible of the performances, so now I had to print out pages from the State Theatre website to make my own souvenir.
The Act curtain is a close-up the Brooklyn Bridge, which seemed a rather odd choice. This theatre did not have enough fly pipes to accommodate all the tour’s drops, so Warbucks’ mansion got gypped of some scenic embellishments. The staircase was present (which I did NOT see in 2023), and the Christmas tree was a bit lopsided but at least it lit up on cue. I don’t like these new orchestrations. The Bows music was new too.
The matinee was historic as I experienced something I don’t think I’ve EVER seen, from the highest professional group to the lowliest high school/community theatre: Sandy did not appear in the “Tomorrow” or “Hooverville” scenes! An usher told me later that she heard, “The understudy dog was sent home. He was not ready to perform with the understudy Annie. And the regular dog was not used to performing with the understudy Annie, so therefore, no dog at all in the first scenes.” The matinee audience was audibly confused by Annie addressing her lines to Sandy by simply looking offstage right. Several lines were cut, obviously, in “Tomorrow” and “Hooverville” to skip over Sandy. Sandy’s first appearance was the “N.Y.C.” Crossover, however, rather poorly executed as he did not stop at all in the matinee and just ran across the stage.
At the evening show, with the “regular” Annie, Sandy performed incorrectly during the “Tomorrow” scene. As soon as Annie moved on Lt. Ward’s command to “go over there and call him,” Sandy also got up and went right to Annie. She tried her commands to get Sandy to stop/sit, but the trick was totally blown. However, at the evening show, Sandy redeemed his “N.Y.C.” Crossover by stopping, lying down completely, doing a take to the audience, and then trotting off left. During the Christmas box presentation, I noticed the female handler dressed like a Hooverville man who assists ONSTAGE with opening the giant box and keeping a hand on Sandy while everyone is singing the last few bars of “A New Deal.”
There is pre-recorded applause effect played in case the live audience doesn’t follow along with the Sound Effects Man holding up the sign (and when it’s overused, the live audience does give up with applauding).
This time I was pretty sure that the Kaltenborn voice on the White House radio is the recording made by Martin. I think everyone sang “stick out my chin,” and not the revised “stick up my chin.”
Avery Hope, understudy Annie, performed at the matinee. I thought she did a good job.
Rainier (Rainey) Treviño, “regular” Annie, performed at the evening show. Someone needs to tell her to SLOW DOWN her dialogue. I know every line in the show and I still couldn’t understand what she was saying because she talked so fast.
Most of the principals were the same from the first leg of this tour. I liked them all better this time. Stefanie Londino as Miss Hannigan garnered lots of laughs. Julia Nicole Hunter as Grace has several nice moments. Christopher Swan as Warbucks is really excellent; very good acting and line readings. It’s too bad he’s on the short side or else I would rank him very highly all-time. I found Rooster and Lily to be adequate but not outstanding. They still appear in “N.Y.C.” in an upstage bit of stealing a woman’s shopping bags. The small ensemble does good work. I really liked “N.Y.C.” again, between the choreography and scenic and lighting effects, I found it to be very successful.
Some things that got a particularly big reaction, especially with the matinee audience: “aww” when Annie kisses FDR’s cheek, “ooh” when Rooster brandishes the switchblade, reaction to Grace’s Very Pretty Dress, big laugh on “Just think, New Jersey,” applause on “I love you, Annie Bennett.”
Conversely, there was NO live audience applause when Annie comes out in the red dress. Rooster’s “Pardon me, doll,” got NO reaction in Act II. I think “doll” is not a distinctive enough word; when it can’t be “blondie,” a word like “tootsie” might better stick in the audience’s memory from Act I to Act II.
Overall, a very enjoyable continuation of this tour.