Review: ANNIE KIDS at The Lantern Theatre

Pride is an understatement for what Broadway World feels for the performers in ANNIE KIDS, which was presented at St Peter's Episcopal Church's Parish Hall in Conway Friday, May 12, through Sunday, May 14. Directed by Jessica Miller, Compass Academy, 1150 North Museum Road, Suite 8, in Conway, and The Lantern Theatre joined forces to present this classic to a packed house, proving that they can overcome their Hard Knocked Life while hoping for a better Tomorrow.

ANNIE KIDS is an abbreviated version of ANNIE and ANNIE JR. Based on the Little Orphan Annie cartoon strip that was created by Harold Gray in 1924 for the New York Daily News, ANNIE KIDS highlights the best parts of the musical to keep the attention span of its young performers and their audience. With book by Thomas Meehan, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and music by Charles Strouse, ANNIE KIDS follows little orphan Annie (Lyric Compton) as she goes from living at the orphanage run by the evil Miss Hannigan (Jaydis Hauser), to being chosen by Grace Farrell (Paizlee Collins) to stay at a mansion with Oliver Warbucks (Noah Hymel) over the Christmas holiday.

When Warbucks decides he wants to adopt her, Annie tells him of her desire to find her real parents. So, with the help of Bert Healy (Maddie Defreitas) and President Roosevelt (Eva Rorick), they offer a reward to find her parents. Miss Hannigan's brother Rooster (Evan Hauser) and new friend Lily St. Regis (Charlotte Ward) pretend to be Annie's parents, but their ruse is quickly discovered, the Hannigans are sent away, and the rest of the orphans-Molly (Eva Rorick), Pepper (Jamesyn Shaw), Duffy (Alexis Waymire), July (Brooklyn Wood), Tessie (Danni Logan), Kate (Dylan McKee) and the rest of the orphan ensemble (Spencer Forga & Caroline Hartsell)- are adopted by Daddy Warbucks (I had to look up that answer).

These kids were awesome! Lyric Compton was a wonderful Annie. Her singing and delivery of her lines really brought out the true spirit of her character. I enjoyed all of the songs, but I especially liked it when Sandy (Danni Logan) sang Tomorrow with Annie. I've never heard the dog chime in like that. The choreography for It's a Hard-Knock Life was super fun as was You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile. They all looked like they were having a great time and their eagerness to make the audience happy was infectious.

Jaydis Hauser's Miss Hannigan was extra scary, especially during her song Little Girls. Her aggressiveness startled even some of the audience members (including me). Then again, her trio number with Rooster and Lily was another enjoyable number, even though I was slightly concerned that Charlotte Ward would fall off the desk-she didn't thankfully!

Paizlee Collins' Grace Farrell was poise and confident. Also, I loved the thumbs up from Noah Hymel after he finished his lines. It was so cute. The whole cast was outstanding, and I really enjoyed the whole production.

According to their website, Compass Academy is a private, non-profit school developed for children with developmental disabilities or difficulty adjusting to the public school setting. Their Mission Statements states: We believe every child has unique God-given gifts that need to be fostered. We further believe that all students are able to learn and thrive in an educational setting. It is our desire to accommodate special needs including, but not limited to Autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's syndrome, Apraxia of speech, ADD/ADHD, ODD/OCD, Specific learning disabilities, Developmental delays, and Emotional and behavioral disorders. For more information, contact the school at https://www.compassacademyconway.org.

Broadway World understands it takes an army to put together a show such as this. Without the help of the production team, this show could not have taken place. Guiding our young thespians were: Director Jessica Miller, Music Director Brian Smith, Design Mentor Trent Reese, Costumer Rachel McKee, Tech Mentor James Flanagan, Lights & Sound Nick Epperson and Porter Burney.

Next up for the Lantern is STEEL MAGNOLIAS, which will be presented on the last two weekends in July. Check out their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/conwaylanterntheatre for more information.