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Show THE FORUM - DECEMBER 15 7, 2011 The cute, it aches ! "Annie" at Pioneer Theater Company Emilio Casillas Contributing Writer This season the Pioneer The- with their astounding vocals and impressive choreography, (Tes-si- e) and Olivia Smith-Drigoh my goodness! could have made a bleeding heart out of the Grinch and Mr. Scrooge. heart-warmNext to the brilliant orphan When the show opens on girls, the adults cast were hard Miss Hannigans run down orpressed to win attention, but phanage, the plight of the little they did. Suzanne Grodner as Miss girls tugs at your heartstrings. Then enters Sami Staitman as Hannigan was the show stealer. Annie, and the eye snags: an Every aspect of her character is overly red wig frames an overly brilliantly constructed, and her pale face with overly rosy cheeks gravelly vibrato shows a skillful comic application of an impresto create a distractingly clownish look for the orphan Annie, sive vocal talent. made all the more obvious by Dirk Lumbard (Rooster) the brilliandy designed dingy, played the crafty trickster and villain reminiscent of the Wily grimy scene. I hoped that Staitmans perCoyote, with all the venom of a formance could shine through Looney Tune. the makeup, but her energy was Gina Milos Lily St. Regis, however, was disappointing. lacking and her movements were stiff and uncomfortable, Despite her small role, Lilys once again made all the more character has the potential to obvious by the scene around steal her scenes, an opportunity she fails to capitalize on. her. Then theres Daddy Oliver Throughout the production, Staitman was repeatedly outWarbucks, brilliantly played by shone by the other little orphan Larry Cahn. Cahn portrayed Warbucks in a way that avoided girls with their unflagging energy and evident joy on stage. the extremes so common in his The girls Hard Knock Life portrayal and created as believpractically had me on my feet able a father figure as I have atre Company has brought us Thomas Meehans Annie, and the cute is almost too much to handle in this masterful production of the classic Christmas gs er. seen. The only disappointment was that there was never ro- mantic tension between himself and Miss Grace Farrell, played by Emily Schoon. While the connection between these characters was lacking, individually, they shone. This was in almost complete contrast to the relationship between Staitmans Annie and Cahns Warbucks. Staitmans stiffness seemed to dissolve when she interacted with Cahn, which is a great tribute to his talent to not only portray an impeccable character, but to inspire improvement from others on stage. In the end, the inevitably happy ending and energetic performance by a talented bunch of little girls couldnt help but split your face with a smile. A classic heartwarming performance of holiday cheer, this is a show worth seeing if only for the smile. ! Annie is playing at the Pioneer Memorial Theatre at the University of Utah until Dec. 23. Student rush tickets are $10 at the door. w fT i I I 4 i IV i 1 i Jl ! you sometimes wished you sober? a holiday spend v V t; f - ti. - Call Alcoholics Anonymous 801.484.7871 Photo Courtesy of christmasstocktmages.com ' u |