The period is the 1930s, prohibition has just ended in America, and a young girl named Annie is on the search for her missing parents. When you think of the haves and the have nots in this period, the divide is huge.
It’s a story that has been told time and time again, but now it's being told for the first time in Stratford at the Festival Theatre.
Donna Feore, is taking on the jobs of director and choreographer, bringing her unique take to the production.
“Annie's a beloved musical. I think many people know the show. This will be different because of the unique cast and also the unique stage that we're doing it on,” said Feore. “I've been given permission to add a lot of dance to the show, so we're going to see a lot of dances you would never have seen before because these are brand new dance breaks.”
She adds that Annie is a timeless classic that brings people together.
“It's a show about a young person who has so much hope and optimism, even though she's facing adversity, and I think she challenges us to find hope for the future,” said Feore. "I think it is a great date night show, but also a great show for families. But I'm interested in what family is and how do we define family? I was talking to my young company, and they said, well, if all of our friends come, then they are kind of like family. So I think that's a pretty broad term, and it feels like a show that is the right time to do it.”
Annie will feature 11 young people, including 12-year-old Olivia Padfield, who is playing an orphan and is also the understudy for the role of Annie. She's excited for her first production and preparing for all the experiences that come with it.
“It's really cool because I’m getting to experience new things that I haven't done before, including different games to get to know people and different chats about things that people have to do to help make this a production,” said Padfield. "They're gonna help me kind of learn what Harper (Annie) is doing so that I can learn how she's doing it and be a similar Annie, so it's not too different if I'm going in for the show. I'm going to have to practice by myself at home more times than practicing here because they're gonna mostly be working with Harper, but they're gonna help me out after they created the character with Harper.”
For Feore, she has the luxury of working with many returning cast and crew members she worked with during the production Something Rotten, including seasoned actor Dan Chameroy when he takes on the role of Oliver Warbucks.
“I have worked with Donna before, and we have collaborated on several shows together here and elsewhere and she's an awesome person,” said Chameroy. “I’m really looking forward to making Annie with her.”
Now in his 17 season with the Stratford Festival, Chameroy is excited to be taking part in another season.
“It’s electric, it feels great. I mean, it's always this way on an opening rehearsal day is this way in Stratford especially when you're the first showing, because you know everyone's been sort of cooped up over the winter so that we got the entire building, practically every office just to welcome us in and to get the thing started, so it's always a very exciting time to start in 2025,” Chameroy said.
Playing the Warbucks character will provide Chameroy the opportunity to work alongside some of the budding youth performers that will be featured, and he's already anticipating what their energy will bring.
“It's actually exciting because you're getting a new energy in the room, and they're going to teach us as much as we're going to teach them most likely,” he said. “So it's going to be a wonderful experience for all of us. I did Matilda, a couple of years ago in Toronto, and I worked with a group of young kids as well, and they’re very professional and disciplined and talented and all the things, so I'm sure it'll just be the same thing with Annie.”
For Feore, this production is a huge deal in her legendary career that has nearly spanned three decades.
“I've never done it in all these years. It's a show I've never done, and I want this to be a big one,” she said. “I'll put everything I got in this one and I always do but this one feels special for me.”
The production of Annie runs from April 19-November 2 with opening night on May 27.