From the opening strain of the horn in “Tomorrow” to the finale when the president offers a new deal and the plucky orphan revels in a new family, Palo Alto Players’ “Annie” is a true treat.
The 1977 Tony Award-winning, feel-good musical (with a fun book by Thomas Meehan, catchy music by Charles Strouse and pithy and sweet lyrics by Martin Charnin) couldn’t offer a better boost in today’s troubled times.
The players, in their 95th season, present it with verve at Lucie Stern Theater.
Director-choreographer Joey Dippel leads a flawless ensemble in the production, which begins with a montage of black-and-white, Depression-era images.
The curtain raises to reveal, as the title character, Julie Li, a snappy actress and lovely vocalist. She gets things off to a great start, dreaming about meeting her parents who left her at an orphanage in “Maybe” and commiserating with her friends in “Hard Knock Life.” Annie’s fellow orphans — Clara Goetzke, Kyla Lin, Kaylee Lopez, Eliana Nadir, Adrina Parra-Ghalib, Izzy Simon, Matisse Thomander, Charleston “Charlie” Wang and Sofia Zamora— nicely pull off the tune, which is prone to screechiness, with panache.
But the rest of the cast matches the girls. Morgan Dayley, Brandon Savage and Vanessa Mendy as, respectively, abusive orphanage matron Miss Hannigan, her swindler brother Rooster and his gold-digging girlfriend Lily St. Regis, dig into the roles with villainous glee.
Playing their parts with equal gusto are Joey McDaniel as benevolent billionaire Oliver Warbucks and Marie Finch as his kind assistant Grace Farrell. Same goes for Charles Evans as President Roosevelt and the chorus members in his cabinet. All put the “good” in feel-good.
Dippel’s clean dance moves look great in numbers featuring the uniformly excellent ensemble. The homeless folks in “Hooverville” are sadly relevant today, and the city dwellers in “NYC” are timeless. A special shoutout goes to Mercedes Dawnte Long, whose outstanding solo as the Star to Be lights up the tune.
Jinkua, an adorable Golden Retriever in his Palo Alto Players debut, nails the role of Sandy. He seemed to directly address audience members in the front row, nearly upstaging Annie at a recent matinee.
Conductor-vocal director Pamela Serrano coordinates the recorded music with the players perfectly, and Brian Foley does a great job with the crystal-clear sound. Patrick Klein’s set design really shines in the holiday scene at Warbucks’ mansion, and Nolan Miranda’s costumes nicely represent the era.
All in all, Palo Alto Players have crafted a professional level “Annie” but with an irresistible community spirit. It’s a real pick-me-up. The sun will come out tomorrow, indeed!
Palo Alto Players ‘Annie” continues through Nov. 23 at Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Tickets are $20-$63 at paplayers.org.