Annie Preview Thread — Page 13

Wow, I can't believe the venom I see around here. This is Annie guys, so are you all trying to play the part of Miss Hannigan in real life? And people are seriously accusing each other of being the parent of a child in the show? There's a good reason they tell people to not trust anything you read on the net.

Let's just pray that none of the parents actually do read these threads because it's one thing to tear apart a grown adult, but it's another thing entirely to do it to a child. Adults know better than to read something on the internet and put any faith into it. If these kids (Lilla, Taylor, whoever) read what you some here write, well, they'll most likely take it to heart. And that's a true shame...

I actually happened to be at the same show as you, Matteo (evening performance on Saturday night, the 20th). However, obviously I'm late to the party as everyone here was so ramped up about it, you all posted shortly after waking the next morning. I traveled to the city with my spouse and being huge Annie fans, we figured we would partake of the previews while we were there for the day.

I came away with almost an entirely different impression than you, Matteo. And as free speech is still allowed to a degree in this country, here are my thoughts for those of you who might be considering NOT seeing the show now because of what Matteo wrote.

If you've never left a show so "skeptically" before Matteo, you haven't seen much on Broadway I'm guessing. Also, keep in mind that this show is still in previews and thus is likely being tweaked and adjusted as the days go by. Was the show perfect? No. Was it good? Yes. I however felt most of the tweaks needing to be done are probably ones that should be done more by the producers and not so much the cast.

Matteo's review opens with a scathing critique of the understudy for Annie. Does she sing well? Very well in my opinion. Taylor's singing held up quite well and was one of her strengths I thought.

Was the accent a genuine NY accent for every single second of the musical? Not quite, but I wouldn't say it's "horrible" and I don't recall it sounding "British". There are some inconsistencies which I'm sure will only improve over time (this *IS* previews). I do wonder why if Lilla and Taylor aren't from New York that the producers would insist on them doing accents at all really? The show's success will not hinge on them having an authentic NY accent. Whatever though, it was good enough unless you're a NY snob. The important thing is she acted well, she sang well and she actually gave me chills (good ones) doing Tommorrow in Act II. She delivered her lines well and did connect with the audience.

You do kind of lose some of the legitimacy of your critique when you claim you would've been disappointed at her in a community theatre setting. Wow. Apparently you haven't seen many community productions. That just strikes me as a low blow and makes me question what you might have against her to write that on a message board so quickly after the performance.

I guess you're basically insulting the producers there because they chose her and obviously think more of her than you. I can see why the one person went off on you, because you sound very harsh there. As for why she went on instead of Jaidyn, that takes no explanation really. Taylor's probably gotten the brunt of the work behind Lilla as Annie and the producers probably feel the most comfortable with her and her abilities. After watching the show, I can't fault them as she did great in my opinion.

One thing you didn't mention is that Taylor really "looks" the part. I looked at the bios online and it looks like she is a "look-alike" for Annie in real life - red hair and all. Makes sense she's the understudy if she can sing like she did. It's no wonder they gave Duffy a hat because otherwise the hair might be confusing for the audience!

Moving on past the that drama...

I completely agree with Matteo about Katie Finneran. Her performance has to be seen to be believed. She's magnetic and has serious stage-presence.

I completely disagree with Matteo about Anthony Warlow who I thought was absolutely AMAZING. I think he delivered his lines very well and his experience in this role shows. He's a mature actor who has such a beautiful tone I *WILL* return to see this show again after it opens just to hear it. His singing voice must be heard to be appreciated. He absolutely floored me and I had no idea he could sing like that.

As for his transformation, that again is a production decision. Perhaps the producers didn't feel they had the time for more character development on his part (or others). While I could always use more scenes and lines, I don't feel a disconnect from his character and I think the casting was terrific with Anthony.

He did such a great job you could almost name the play "Daddy Warbucks". :)

Seriously, I feel like I saw a different show than Matteo because I came out of there talking about how wonderful Daddy Warbucks was.

One has to witness his vocal range in person to believe it. What a true pleasure it was to hear him sing in person. His voice is worth the price of admission alone, no matter what seat you have.

Sorry to get all worked up over Daddy Warbucks when everyone else is focused on Annie, but I couldn't let this one go without a response as I feel so strongly about it.

Thorell was "absolutely horrible"? Geez, I feel he did just fine and if I have to debate every single person you claim is "horrible", this will be a gigantic novel. I loved how he acted when he pulled one over on Miss Hannigan. He knocked that scene out of the park.

I am not going to go into defending J. Elaine Marcos because you simply come across as racist here, Matteo. In fact, now I am wondering why I've put so much effort into writing a reply as you must be trolling.

Brynn is certainly a highlight - that I will agree with. She's absolutely stunning too, particularly in the lovely dress she wears in the second act. Her voice and carriage are truly graceful and elegant. Quite enjoyable to watch her!

I'm going to add something here about the cast. I feel the orphans could get more facetime. You don't have a sense for why they love Annie so much other than Annie pulling Molly out of a drawer and carrying her. Some of these girls have real talent too. Molly is absolutely adorable and obviously gets a lot of time as the character which will melt hearts everywhere. But Kate is also cute and needs a line or two I feel. July did an amazing back somersault and looks quite athletic. Tessie, Pepper, and Duffy were all great as well and each have very strong individual traits that set that apart from one another.

I would hope the producers might think about adding in a line or two to endear these girls to the audience even more. However, they're all so adorable that just being able to admire them is enough. You'll wish they were all your daughters after the night is over, trust me.

The adult cast is made up of true professionals and they are very strong. The children certainly don't have the years of experience and training that the adults do, but they each are lovely and very endearing. I have no doubts that they will all mature quickly (hopefully not too fast!) and be quite a formidable cast by the time this production has been open for a few months.

Okay, now the set.

I really loved it. I won't go on at length because I already have, but I thought it worked just fine and I was even amazed at some of the three dimensionality the set provided.

I'm glad that you do encourage people to see it Matteo because we should all form our own opinions. They certainly have time to work out the kinks before it opens although I don't think there are many to work out.

I just had to respond to your critique because you put so much into it and it was overall very negative in my opinion about almost everything in the show. My spouse and I ended up having a lovely evening at the preview and found many positive things to talk about concerning the entire cast.

For anyone wondering about the night of the 20th, there were 3 substitutions that evening. Taylor for Annie, Jaidyn for Duffy, and Desi for Liz McCartney.

I hope that everyone who goes to see this show goes in without predetermined opinions and gives everything and everyone a fair chance. There's a lot of talent on that stage. I hope to see Lilla after it opens but I certainly don't feel bad having seen Taylor instead. She did a splendid job! Besides, while the musical is named Annie, there's a lot of incredible talent on that stage and they all have a lot of time in the spotlight. I truly believe that most people will not be disappointed at all and in fact may want to see it again (and again) if anything!

I imagine most won't read what I wrote because I wrote so much, but I do pray that it gives some of you hope yet if you were feeling down about the production. A standing ovation was given at the end of the night for good reason.

Best regards everyone!

Updated On: 10/24/12 at 11:42 PM

Matteo,

Thanks for the response. I appreciate your clarifications and do think that it can be difficult to accurately convey one's sentiments clearly over the internet - one of the reasons I prefer a phone call over an e-mail. Call me old-fashioned I suppose. I'm never quite happy with what I've posted or written in electronic format. You can't give text 'tone' and thus it can be hard to decipher how the message was intended. So things can come across harsher than intended.

I am glad you liked Warlow's voice. I guess his delivery came across differently to us in parts. I do think if anything is to be criticized though about him, it's probably a production critique and not a critique on Anthony himself. I suppose I am guilty of a bit of hyperbole in my first post when I said I had no idea he could sing like that. I know his background and his qualifications, but hearing him in person really is a treat and experience.

Thanks for clarifying things as well with Marcos.

Like you said, you probably just focused more on the negatives in your first review and maybe I just felt you left out many of the positives from what I thought was a great night.

We'll have to agree to disagree about Taylor. I couldn't believe she was just the understudy for Annie. I feel if she didn't have the words "u/s Annie" next to her name, nobody would think twice of it. Not to take anything away from Lilla of course - I can't wait to see her live. I just feel the producers are lucky they have her talent in the wings for when Lilla isn't able to go on. And she's only going to get better as she gets more experience playing the role, especially with the accent.

Thanks again for elaborating on some of the points. I can't wait to go see the show again after it opens to see if they've changed anything, etc.

Updated On: 10/24/12 at 12:42 AM

I admit, I do love it which is probably the only reason I signed up to to post - when I saw someone apparently disliked so much the very show I saw and loved. I've been really excited about this production for a while since Annie holds some lovely childhood memories for me.

I couldn't resist responding to Matteo's impassioned post with my own because I feel we had a wonderful night that evening. While most here love Annie, I think people who've never seen Annie would have a wonderful time at the show. I am a bit verbose which is why I tend to lurk and never post on boards, but many of us are out there. We just like to hide in the shadows normally!

Off topic, I don't really get the general dislike for Katie though in this thread. I feel she has such presence. Ah well, not everyone is going to like everything about the show, but there's so much I did enjoy. There could be some tweaks of course in my opinion, but overall I think it's solid.

I'll go back to my lurking and save you all from my lengthy discourse. Glad to be here though.

I am not going to go into defending J. Elaine Marcos because you simply come across as racist here, Matteo. In fact, now I am wondering why I've put so much effort into writing a reply as you must be trolling.

VoR:

Holy. Really?

The most racist thing involving this thread IS HOW THEY'VE CHOSEN TO PRESENT LILY TO US IN ACT ONE. I am Asian American. I saw a preview about 2 weeks ago. Scroll back and find my post.

I found nothing racist (or to disagree with, honestly) in what Matteo said about J. Elaine Marcos' performance. I found many things racist in said performance.

P.S. BroadwayBaby2012, please try paragraph breaks.

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Updated On: 10/24/12 at 03:05 PM

Good grief bialyhoos22, people sure assume a lot on these forums. Perhaps you trolled me (and others), but I will take the bait.

Obviously the people who signed up recently when the musical went PUBLIC and liked the show enough to post positive reviews are either A) the producers or B) somehow invested in the show either financially or via family.

But to deny either of those possibilities would be ridiculous, correct? Because clearly no simple fan of the musical could ever want to share their opinions on the matter. And obviously this board is so popular that all true fans of Annie have been living here for years and posting religiously about it and have crazy high post counts. But nope, anybody who saw the show after it went public and wanted to elaborate on it by posting here clearly has a hidden agenda. And if you write at length, it isn't because you care, it's because you care too much.

Let's be serious, the people with a vested interest in the show have probably been here for months on end. Those who have signed up recently to comment are most likely normal people who just went to see the show and wanted to see what others thought of it or share their opinions. Previews bring out the excitement in people generally and in today's electronic world, it isn't all that hard to search for message boards about the things you like.

I'm not sure how you know that Finneran isn't experiencing any joy in her role and obviously you have very adamant ideas about the directorial issues that have "plagued" the production. You seem to know more than most so maybe you have more of a vested interest than most. Those of us who actually enjoyed a pleasant evening at the theatre and cared enough to comment about a topic we like enjoy have ulterior motives. I admit, there are things I would tweak, but I feel like those have been discussed plenty so I'll focus on what I did enjoy.

I'm sorry, but opinions like yours are why in general, I refrain from posting on message boards. Apparently everybody has attention deficit disorder these days so anybody who cares enough to write an "overzealous epistle" is blasted. Also, unless you have been around the board for ages on end, your posts clearly aren't worth the pixels they're written on.

In reality, the only opinions that will really matter will be the critics who either pan or praise the show. Should I draw in the cliche about opinions being like .......s, everybody has one? The fact is, my opinion and the others on this board will mean nothing in the long run. We're just voicing our thoughts here. People will certainly disagree with each other. But attitudes like yours keep people from posting at all.

Sorry, but I really do resent that train of thought and find it is quite common among various denizens of different message boards around the internet. If the "turf" here is so precious that you have to be inducted before you can post, than I will happily move along and find friendlier people elsewhere to read (and occasionally chat) with. If you were running for office with that mindset, you wouldn't garner many votes where each person's vote carries equal weight. I'm glad my spouse doesn't make the assumptions about me that you make about others.

I hardly wrote a blanket rave for the show. I tried to write and share a considered and educated opinion. I have resisted posting previously because I have never seen a thread that didn't devolve into some conflict or nastiness and I am sad to once again discover that there is little ability to share differing opinions without personal attack.

Back to topic, I am not sure when bialyhoos22 last saw the show but it is possible that things have grown and settled since you saw it. I have no defense for the things that are not working about Lapine's approach. I am not here to defend him. I am just posting to say that that what I saw in Finneran and Crawford's work was inspired and effective, contrary to what some earlier postings seemed to indicate.

I am not sure how many posters saw the original production but my point was to dilineate that Loudon's performance very much belonged in her production of the show and that Finneran's very much felt to me that it belonged in this production.

But I do suggest you re-read my earlier post if you think I am somehow vested in the show because my response was actually quite critical - of the things I thought worked as well as the things I didn't.

Oh I'm in no ways attempting to deride Ms. Finneran's vulnerability OR the Times on having printed such an article. It was merely making (perhaps an all too sweeping) suggestion, that the terms of the article and the hurdles Ms. Finneran is presently facing might be quite a bit different if she was buoyed with direction that was more en pointe with the demands of the material. I'm not by any stretch suggesting any actor is remotely immune to facing numerous doubts, insecurities and missteps during the process of assaying any major role -- even with solid, supportive direction. I was just conjecturing that with perhaps with better direction, not so hell bent on making this version of Annie extremely grounded in reality, she might have more manageable hurdles to deal with, relatively speaking.

Updated On: 10/24/12 at 07:24 PM

Saw Annie last night. For the first time. Ever.I really enjoyed it. It doesn't feel like a perfect production--there are some clunky moments (most seemed directorial), J. Elaine Marcos is giving a bizarre performance, and some of the little 'uns are much finer singers than actors. But overall, I was thrilled to find it so much less twee or agressively cutesy than I expected it to be.

I found Warbucks and Grace to be wonderfully portratyed, and while I know Finneran is getting mixed reviews, she was strong last night. I'd love to see her a little bit meaner and a little bit sadder or realer, but she seems to be very near great with the possibility of sliding into it with some time or tweaks.

^You make some excellent points. I see no reason NOT to base the revival on the original production (direction, sets, costumes, etc.). The only correlation I can make is to Balanchine's, The Nutcracker. I have seen it every year since 1976 and I have yet to tire from seeing the same production.

That being said, I plan on seeing Annie over the Thanksgiving holiday.

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Sat through this unfortunate excuse for a revival last evening. I must give kudos to Miss Crawford, Anthony Warlow and Brynn O'Malley who are the ONLY three people on that stage that are delivering performances worthy of a Broadway stage.

The whole thing is a mess: unfocused direction, community theatre level choreography, clunky designs , and a woefully miscast Katie Finneran. What a wasted oppurtnity to present this classic musical to an entire new generation of audiences.

any updates on changes happening during previews?

I saw the show Saturday night from third row Orchestra. Annie has great sentimental value to me because the original was the very first Broadway show I saw. I didn't see the '97 revival because the cast just didn't interest me (but perhaps it was really because I still hadn't recovered from the trauma of seeing the '82 film). I'm not a theatre critic and I didn't major in theatre in college but I visit New York monthly and usually see 3-4 shows per visit.

All that said, I was truly delighted with this revival. It reignited all the sparks that the original version sent through me and really reminded me why I grew to love musical theatre so much. The cast was, for the most part, extremely talented. Perhaps Katie Finneran has evolved since some of the earlier postings on this thread--or perhaps the judgments were simply harsh--but I thought she nailed Hannigan and was obviously having a great time doing so. Lilla Crawford was on and really lit up the stage; her fellow orphans did as well.

I have to say that the one performance that gave me a little pause was that of J. Elaine Marcos. Loved her in Priscilla but I must agree with some previous posters in that I thought she was, well, bizarre. I know Lily St. Regis is a ditz and a floozy but Marcos seemed high, kind of wide-eyed and robotic during her Act I Regis scene. And if they weren't going to capitalize on the joke that due to her obvious ethnicity she couldn't be Annie's mother, then they shouldn't have given her the crazy accent in the St. Regis scenes that was suddenly dropped in the Mudge scene.

I thought the sets were sophisticated and scene changes very fluid and interesting. Great costumes, sound, lighting and orchestrations. The choreography was adequate but I don't remember it being that integral to the original anyway. Overall, a great night at the theatre. And my partner, who had never seen Annie in any iteration, loved it as well. He proclaimed it a 9.5 out of 10 (Anything Goes is his 10/10) and said, "This is why I love Broadway!"