While the political brickbats have let up for the moment, let me jump in here and comment on the production of "Annie" I saw today.
I've always thought "Annie" a wonderful, wonderful show as far as "cast recordings" and the Disney TV version went, but I am pleased to report that it is also the terrific theatrical experience I hoped it would be, even this many years later and in a road company.
The girls were just adorable and Marissa O'Donnell as "Annie" was nearly perfect. At the outset, she shook her "mane" too much and it distracted, I thought, from the effect her first couple of songs would have had being sung with her pure, wonderful voice.
My greatest joy came from Alene Robertson as Miss Hannigan who was, in a word, SUPERB. She was everything in the role that Carol Burnett was not!!! She was both winning and lovable and mean and nasty. You hated her, you loved her, and you cheered for her when all was said and done.
Scott Willis as Rooster was amazingly energetic, robust and fun. McKenzie Phillips was terrrific as Lily St. Regis.
My only -- read that, ONLY -- complaint is the "new song -- "Why Should I Change A Thing?" -- giving Oliver Warbucks a first-act solo.
Aside from that song being totally unmemorable, Conrad John Schuck's baritone made it seem nearly monotonic. "Something Was Missing," his second-act solo, wasn't nearly as mind-numbing. He was very, very good as Warbucks, but I wish his songs hadn't left me feeling much was to be desired in their delivery. He was totally wonderful in the group songs, and in "I Don't Need Anything But You." Of course, the quality of the song helps immensely.
All the rest of the cast were top-notch and the score, save the Warbucks soli, was beautifully sung/performed. The miking was perfection.
Set design was extremely effective, I thought, and costumes were first-rate. All visuals, save the actors' faces,looked comparable to photographs I've seen from the original production.
It was a whole lot of fun, and I'm delighted to have experienced/wallowed-in it.
(The Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco, despite being nearly "on" Market Street, is in one of the most undesirably filthy areas of the city. I was APPALLED at the neighborhood. I wanted a bath shortly after going in, but settled for washing my hands.)