Clink crams full for Annie opening night
Tuesday April 7 2015, 5:30pm
A free seat will be hard to come by in the Clink Theatre tonight as Douglas Theatre Arts Group opens its production of beloved musical Annie.
The Clink is all but sold out for opening night and audiences will be keen to see 11-year-old Mossman actress Shannon Dwyer take the stage as Annie.
Siobhan Delgado directs the production, which tells the story of a young New York orphan girl taken under the wing of cantankerous billionaire Daddy Warbucks (played by Mitchell Howarth) and kindly secretary Grace (Leonie-Jane Mahnken) while the tyrannical Ms Hannigan (Judy Gittings) and her brother Rooster (Shaun Cram) scheme to pass themselves off as Annie’s parents.
Musical director Alteouise DeVaughn brings the songs of the original to life while dance director Saskia Turner gets bodies moving.
Ms Delgado said it hadn’t been an easy road from the beginning of rehearsals in November 2014 to opening night, but all elements of the production had combined well.
“It’s come together brilliantly, we’ve seen big improvements from each actor, the music, the stage lighting, the sound, it’s all come together,” she said.
“There’s been a few challenges along the way - artistic differences, actor changes - but we’ve worked through it, everyone’s learned from it and we’ve gotten better as a result.
“There’s also been big technical challenges such as trying to pull off a musical without an orchestra pit - what we’ve done is move the band behind the stage behind drop curtains, with live monitors that allow us to see them and them to see us.”
Ms Delgado also praised the work and development of Shannon Dwyer as Annie.
“There’s a saying that you should never work with animals or children - I think that’s a lie,” Ms Delgado said.
“Shannon has just developed so much as an actress and she’s really grown into her voice.
“Things that tend to send adults stressing out just have Shannon smiling away and asking ‘what can I do’.
“She’s definitely flourishing as an actress.”
Producer Michael Kerr said Annie was a ‘burst of new energy’ for Douglas Theatre Arts Group.
“There’s so many fresh bodies involved in this production,” he said.
“As much as we love dramas, we also love to do a musical and we hope to do one a year from now on.”
