The Sun’ll come out tomorrow.

Well, I certainly felt it had last week at the Birmingham Hippodrome.

Confession time. I’ve never seen the original Annie film or watched a stage version. I did sample the 2014 movie remake, though, which I thoroughly enjoyed but knew it differed in style to the traditionals. Therefore, I approached this show with an open mind of the unknown. I am happy to say then, I enjoyed this stage Annie from start to finish.

Beginning in the orphanage, we immediately see the magnificent stage presence which was to compliment a powerful song and dance performance by leading lady, Mia Lakha as Annie. A lovely vocal opener with Maybe was followed by a kick-ass rendition of Hard Knock Life, sung with attitude by all the orphanage kids. And it’s those kids too I must also heap great praise on. Zara Bench (who was amazing as little Molly), Kacey Agwuegbo (Duffy), Dulcie Allsop (Tessie), Marie Peedle (Pepper), Saskia Salmon (July) and Sophia Smith (Kate) were all outstanding. What young talent, indeed. Great dancing, too.

Then, we had the entrance of the top-billed actress and Jodie Prenger (as Miss Hannigan) gave a five-star performance. A great character throughout, delivering comedy alongside impressive vocals, particularly during the gloriously over-the-top, Little Girls.

In the role of Daddy Warbucks we had Alex Bourne and like Prenger, he led with a commanding and likable character. Also supporting well though was Carolyn Maitland (Grace), Richard Meek (Rooster) and Jenny Gayner (Lily). Then we had the remainder of the cast who are too many to mention but all were of the highest quality.

Song highlights other than those already mentioned were Hooverville, I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here, You Won’t Be an Orphan for Long, You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile and I Don’t Need Anything but You. A special mention must also go to the brilliant Easy Street and I cannot review Annie without singling out the iconic Tomorrow.

Although an old musical now and set in 1933, there was a real contemporary feel to this Annie which is a credit to production who kept it fast-paced all the way through. The cast and crew can be well proud and each of them fully deserved their ovation at the end, especially Little Orphan Annie.

For this production, the director was Nikolai Foster with excellent choreography by Nick Winston and musical direction – Daniel Griffin.

Not knowing what to expect is always the risk when going to the theatre, especially when the previous visit to the same venue was the appalling Joseph and his Awful Technicolour Dreamcoat. However, not only did Annie deliver the entertainment, I rank it as the best and certainly most enjoyable show of the year so far.

Cheers.

Antony N Britt