I know I wasn’t waiting for Tomorrow, because the sun was already shining bright at the national tour of “Annie” at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.
Last week the national tour of the classic musical, “Annie,” came to Broadway in Birmingham. I had the delight of seeing the Tuesday night opening performance of the show.
From the beginning I was blown away by the strong stage presence of the child actors. Led by Hazel Vogel in the titular role of Annie, the group of seven young girls showed complete professionalism and wide talent in their performances.
While given a large task to lead a national tour at the age of 12, Vogel did not let that bother her. She gave one of the most strong and authentic performances of Annie that I have ever seen. She perfectly captured the courage and vulnerability of this iconic character. Her voice blew me away to the point that I had a hard time believing she was only 12.
I’ve been told that every performance of “Annie” is only as strong as each Annie, and Vogel gave this production the heart it needed. The adults in this performance were also great. Christopher Swan gave a heartfelt and powerful performance as Oliver Warbucks. Julia Nicole Hunter used her impressive vocal range to perfectly portray Grace.
However, my favorite performance was Stefanie Londino as Miss Hannigan. Londino had the comedic timing to bring the iconic character to life. Her strong vocals added another layer to the character that made this antagonist so fun to watch and made me almost root for her.
The ensemble was the backbone of this production. A modest size of 10 people did not mean a modest performance. This ensemble was so connected and strong that I could have sworn there were at least twenty of them.
I could see how much fun each person had while performing, which made me enjoy the production even more. Now, my personal MVP of “Annie” had to be Kevin the dog who played Sandy. This dog stole the hearts of every person in the audience. The way Kevin joined Vogel in “Tomorrow” brought so much more emotion and vulnerability to the song.
Having a live animal on stage is always a gamble, but Kevin was so well trained that he added a necessary part to the musical. Broadway in Birmingham always has fantastic performances, and “Annie” was no exception.
This production upheld the standard of “Annie” while adding a level of joy and fun for the audience to enjoy. I highly recommend that if anyone has the chance to see “Annie” on tour or go to a Broadway in Birmingham show, they take it.
