When you think back to your childhood, was there one musical that really stuck out at you? Was there one play that you memorized the words to, the songs to? If so, what was that one artistic piece for you? For me, it was and is “Annie,” the story of a little girl living in an orphanage with a woman that does not really like little girls, waiting for her parents to one day come with the other piece of the locket they left for her and take her home. Watching Annie when I was growing up was a very moving experience. Every girl wanted to sing and dance like her. We laughed with her as she ran away from the orphanage time and time again. We were excited for her when she was given the opportunity to go to a mansion and live like a princess. We cried with her as her dream of meeting her parents was ripped away by Miss Hannigan, Rooster, and his dame. And we were happy for her when she finally found her home with daddy Warbucks for good.
Annie is an extremely memorable musical that has touched the lives of many people since its inception on Broadway in 1977 and it is now available for viewing here in Temecula at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater in a beautiful building with 361 seats in the house and not one of them with a bad view. Several wonderful ushers are available for questions and to help you to your seats and programs are readily available. The cast is introduced in the program one by one but, those paragraph biographies really do not do any of them true justice, they are all amazing characters on and off the stage.
Madison Ligtermoet plays Annie. She is 13 years old, has been acting and performing since she was 4 years old and she has been in over 15 productions since that young age. She was born in San Diego and lived a short time in Hemet but, Temecula has been her home for a very long time and she loves it here. She is genuinely a happy, sweet young girl and her portrayal of Annie is astounding. Her talent speaks volumes about her!
This particular production of Annie comes with an extra special cast member too, Fatty the dog who plays Sandy. He is a 1 year old Labrador retriever and is a wonderfully sweet little guy. Three months ago, he was hit by a car and had to undergo an extremely traumatic leg amputation. Despite this set back, here he is performing in his first ever musical only a few months after this tragedy. His spirit is an inspiration in overcoming hardship and moving on from it. His owner, Heather Keeney plays Grace Farrell in the musical.
Heather has an angelic voice that can be heard on her solo CD of hymns and as she trains her show choir at Inland Dance Productions in Lake Elsinore. She started at the age of 12 in training her voice and went on to win many distinguished awards for it.
The entire cast is phenomenal. John Campbell not only provides the audience with a nail-on-the-head daddy Warbucks but also moves us to tears with his musical genius. Tysa Curry is the perfect fit for Miss Hannigan and her vocals, dance moves, and abilities to get into character really rocked the stage. Heidi Darling and Johnny Fletcher play Lily and Rooster, and I enjoyed their dance moves right alongside Miss Hannigan. Johnny really takes to the character of Rooster and I must say that the suits they put him in just bring Rooster to the top. Billy Clebeck plays President Franklin Roosevelt and I really loved his character in this one. The orphans consist of Annie Kopack as Pepper, Emily Ramos as July, Torrey Burch as Duffy, Kaysee French as Molly, Olivia Zalevsky as Tessie, and Rachel Gleeson as Kate. There are, of course, the servants, the other orphans and the dog catcher as well.
Behind the scenes, there is the Director Lissa Supler who also works as an instructor and actress. She received her bachelor’s Degree from Cal State Fullerton in Directing and now lives in Orange County. When asked what she desired the audience to really take away from Annie, she stated that she wants everyone to know that this has been an “exhilarating experience” for her and she really hopes everyone can see “how amazing the cast is and how hard they worked.” The Music Director is Amy Thomas, Julie Greary choreographed everything, and Erik Petricka was not only the stage manager but even took to the stage as one of President Roosevelt’s cabinet members and did a superb job. One thing Erik pointed out to me is that one of the props people that works for the theater also works in a thrift store so they are always obtaining older props. For this musical in particular, the radios are actual antique radios that she was able to bring in.
The musical itself was amazing. The curtains open for the first time to the orphanage and closed for the last time to the mansion on Christmas morning. Annie is one of the longer plays done in this theater so, with the two acts and the intermission in the middle, the musical goes for about 2 and ½ hours.
The Fine Arts Network Theater Company first presented the show on January 6, 2012 at 7pm and it ran all weekend with an excellent turn out in the audience. It will be playing January 13th and 14th at 7pm and January 14th and 15th at 2pm. Tickets can be purchased at the box office located in the Mercantile Building on Main Street in down town Temecula or on the website. The theater itself is located just around back from the Mercantile Building in the Dan and Beverly Stevenson Auditorium.
Photo Credits: Amanda Bussen, Lissa Supler, Jennifer Kopack
About Amanda Bussen
