Annie Essay, Research Paper

I saw the musical Annie at the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Thursday, April 30th. The theatre is located at 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. The setting of the play is at the orphanage, Oliver Warbucks’, and on the streets of New York during the great depression. Annie is an orphan who has spent her life wondering about her real parents, and working for the evil Miss Hannigan. She attempts to run away twice and succeeds the second time. While on the streets of New York she meets her new pawed pal Sandy. Eventually Annie is caught by the cops and is forced to return to the orphanage. After returning Annie has a change in luck, because a secretarie is looking for an orphan to spend Christmas with her boss, Oliver Warbucks’ (a billionaire). Annie appeals to her even after Miss Hannigan says she is an alcoholic. Annie and Warbucks instantly become good friends. Eventually he decides to adopt Annie, but this news brings tears to her eyes because she still dreams of finding her lost parents. This dream becomes Warbucks dream too, and he offers $50,000 to the real parents on a radio show. Miss Hannigan’s brother and girlfriend pose as the real parents in order to get the reward, and stop Oliver Warbucks from adopting Annie. Luckily the FBI finds out that they are imposters and the two of them and Miss Hannigan are arrested. Warbucks legally adopts Annie and they all live happily ever after.

The scenery of the play was very good. All of the sets looked realistic and this surprised me, because they were so good. There were a number of good backgrounds including the orphanage, inside the mansion, and the inner city under the bridge. The sound quality was also very good, just like in the other plays that I have seen at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The orchestra was very good, but most of all, the singing was what made the play. Annie, who was played by Brittany Kissinger, had an incredible voice for such a little kid. She surprised me with the volume that she could get. Annie also had a lot of energy in her performance, and kept the audience on the edges of their seats. The butlers in the mansion also contributed to the acoustics. They were the background singers and they also sounded really good. Oliver Warbucks, played by Conrad Schuck was a great actor with a moderately good singing voice. He illustrated the character of a kind, gentle, and understanding, billionaire very well. The cast portrayed the theme of the musical, the power of optimism, very well through songs like “Tomorrow,” and Annie’s actions.

Over all I thought that the production was very good. It was done very professionally and it was a pleasure to watch. The characters in the play were all very talented in their acting as well as their singing. The cast worked together very well, which made the play more realistic. The scenery was also very good. I have nothing bad to say about the play because I thought that nothing should have been changed. The Broadway musical Annie is a great play and I would recommend it to others.