Were Hazel Vogel not so unsentimentally delightful as Annie, I’d say that the shaggy labradoodle Kevin steals the show in the truly lovely new production of the beloved musical now leaping over lizards, not to mention some empty seats, at the historic Chicago Theatre.
I’m told Annie’s pooch is only 7 years old, but he sure made himself look like the kind of stray who could be found at the 59th Street Hooverville, looking for scraps. A method actor, Kevin self-transforms into an ancient dog about to expire at any moment, much to the worry of the pint-sized dog lovers in my row. Luckily, he has a Daddy Warbucks to save his bacon.
I was struck Thursday night by the light crowd at the Chicago Theatre, probably because “Annie” is, of course, ubiquitous and Madison Square Garden Entertainment, the owner of the venue, does not come with the marketing or branding power of Broadway in Chicago.
This particular production is headed directly to New York after another week or so, with Whoopi Goldberg starring at Miss Hannigan. Nothing irritates me more than stars skipping Chicago tour dates, so I walked in with a bad attitude. Given all the mishegoss on “The View,” of late, Goldberg surely would have been better off chilling in the Chi with these fabulous orphan girls.
But I warmed up instantly. I’ve seen “Annie” a thousand times but the best reminder of the perfection of its conception is seeing a whole lot of new musicals, as I’ve just been doing on Broadway. Just look at Act 1, which has one knockout Charles Strouse-Martin Charnin number after another: “Maybe,” “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “Tomorrow.” Every song a hit. And I marveled anew at the pleasures of this superb Thomas Meehan book — sometimes suspenseful, often cleverly structured to put its audience in a position to know more than the characters, which always delights kids. What a populist masterpiece. I remember once visiting Strouse’s apartment. It was like walking into a production of “Annie,” and it was unforgettable.
1 of 3
Now on to this new production, which is worth seeing for the following reasons. It’s freshly directed by (former Broadway orphan) Jenn Thompson with an eye not to cuteness, or whatever, but to real emotional connection between the leading characters, especially Vogel’s sad-eyed Annie and Christopher Swan’s Oliver Warbucks.
Here’s the secret “Annie” sauce in this incarnation: older actors.
This uncommonly experienced ensemble has some wear on its collective tires and thus its work is deeper, richer and, where needed, sadder and wiser. And, like Kevin, they understand how to work with kids and throw them the focus so they shine. I was knocked out by how well Swan does that, along with several others, and I greatly enjoyed Stefanie Londino’s Miss Hannigan for the same reasons. Londino is about to be bounced for Whoopie, but I’ll wager she does the better job.
Know that this is a traditional production in all but the final Annie hairstyle, and that’s great. It’s a traditional title and there are always new little girls in need of an introduction. But it’s treated here with unionized respect, atypical integrity and a decent-sized band in the pit (I checked). All in all, it is far superior to other recent versions I’ve seen and deserves all 3,600 seats to be filled.
Moist eyes here.
Hope Kevin makes it to New York OK.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Review: “Annie” (4 stars)
When: Through Dec. 1
Where: Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St.
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Tickets: $39.50-$100 at chicagotheatre.com/Annie
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/KQUULRAJPNDKBIH5QULZYBGOA4.jpg)
