Charming 'Annie" a big hit for Palo Alto Players

 

Annie (Julie Li) has a new friend, Sandy (Jinkua). (Photo by Scott Lasky)

Palo Alto Players has a smash hit with its production of “Annie.”

Although it’s almost 50 years old, this Tony-winning musical still has the power to charm, thanks to its characters and story.

Inspired by the once-popular comic strip, “Little Orphan Annie,” the book by Thomas Meehan with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin keeps only a few main characters and tells its own story.

In this version, 11-year-old Annie (Julie Li) lives in a New York City orphanage for girls in 1933, during the depths of the Great Depression. Her parents left her there when she was an infant but said they’d come back for her when they could.

The orphanage is overseen by the tippling, tyrannical Miss Hannigan (Morgan Dayley). Her song, “Little Girls,” says all you need to know about how she regards her charges.

Hoping to find her parents, Annie runs away but is soon found and returned to the orphanage. While on the lam, however, she befriends a stray dog, Sandy, here portrayed by Jinkua, a lovable golden retriever.

Back at the orphanage, she happens to be in the right place at the right time when Grace Farrell (Marie Finch) comes by to say that her employer, billionaire Oliver Warbucks (Joey McDaniel), wants an orphan to stay with him in his mansion over Christmas.

Warbucks is so taken with Annie that he wants to adopt her, but she’s supposedly not an orphan. Instead, he pulls strings with Washington higher-ups to launch a national search for her parents.

Aided by his sister, Miss Hannigan, Rooster Hannigan (Brandon Savage) and his girlfriend, Lily St. Regis (Vanessa Mendy), pretend to be Annie’s parents in order to collect a $50,000 reward, but the scheme is uncovered and the three culprits are brought to justice.

Then thanks to an FBI investigation, information is found that clears the way for Warbucks to adopt Annie. In the meantime, she also has charmed President Roosevelt (Charles Evans) and inspired his New Deal.

The show is full of memorable music like “It’s a Hard Knock Life,” sung by the orphans as they scrub the floor, and the show’s optimistic anthem, “Tomorrow,” a real show-stopper.

Director/choreographer Joey Dippel has chosen a terrific, diverse cast of talented actors who sing and dance well.

Li as the endearing title character meets its challenges and then some. All of the other principal characters are noteworthy along with the entire cast.

This production opens with grainy newsreels from the Depression, showing long bread lines, the homeless and unemployed people. Given the crises created by the recent government shutdown, these newsreels are timely.

Adding to the show’s enjoyment are the costumes by Nolan Miranda, set by PAP artistic director Patrick Klein, lighting by Edward Hunter and sound by Brian Foley. The vocal/music director is Pamela Serrano, while the orchestral accompaniment is recorded.

Running about two hours and 40 minutes with an intermission, “Annie” will continue through Nov. 23 at the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

It has proven so popular that another performance has been added. For details and tickets, call (650) 329-0891 or visit info@paplayers.org.  

 

 

Mateo (Jon Victor Corpuz) and Diane (Lee Anne Payne) drive to San Diego. (Kevin Berne photo)

 

What starts as a journey of discovery for an adopted teenager turns out to reveal discoveries for both him and his adoptive mother.

In this world premiere presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, playwright Jordan Ramirez Puckett’s “The Driving Beat” features Jon Viktor Corpuz as Mateo, a brown, almost 15-year-old, and Lee Ann Payne as Diane, his white adoptive mother.

Livia Gomes Demarchi plays the other characters they encounter as they drive from their home in Ohio to the San Diego hospital where Mateo was born. He hopes to learn about his birth mother.

What Mateo learns about her changes his perception of his ethnicity and causes him and Diane to re-examine and strengthen their relationship.

It also causes him to encourage Diane to stop mourning for her deceased lesbian partner and to open herself to new possibilities.

As directed by TheatreWorks’ Jeffrey Lo, all three actors are outstanding. Payne and Corpuz are convincing as mother and son.

Demarchi embodies all of her miscellaneous characters such as the swaggering cop who stops the travelers’ car and questions whether Mateo is a U.S. citizen. As the waitress in the restaurant of the hotel where they’re staying one night, she inadvertently helps Diane to begin coming to terms with her repressed sexuality.

The play has its moments of humor. However, Mateo’s launching into rap and beatboxing while dancing could be a turnoff to some viewers. According to a Wikipedia entry, beatboxing is “a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.”

Rather than the main stage at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, this play is being presented in the smaller SecondStage with the audience seated on three sides.

Christopher Fitzer’s flexible scenic design uses the space well with only a few set pieces. However, the theater’s walls are filled with traffic signs, license plates and other items to emphasize the road trip.

Other design elements complement the production with lighting by Steven B. Mannshardt, costumes by Lisa Misako Claybaugh and sound by Cliff Caruthers.

First seen in TheatreWorks’ 2024 New Works Festival, this production will continue through Nov. 23 in the theater at 500 Castro St., Mountain View. Some performances will assist people who are hearing or vision impaired.

For tickets and more information, call (877) 662-8978 or visit www.theatreworks.org.