Harper Rae Asch – who rose to the challenge of one of theatre’s most difficult roles for children – with Uno from a scene in Annie.David Hou/Stratford Festival
Title: Annie
Written by: Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin
Performed by: Harper Rae Asch, Dan Chameroy, Laura Condlln, Jennifer Rider-Shaw, Mark Uhre, Amanda Lundgren, Clue
Director: Donna Feore
Company: Stratford Festival
Venue: Festival Theatre
City: Stratford
Year: Until Nov. 2, 2025
Critic’s Pick
Only legendary director-choreographer Donna Feore could add new dance breaks – and new stretches of music entirely – to a musical nearly half a century old.
That level of directorial revision tends to be reserved for Broadway – for splashy revivals of classics that require an extra dose of razzle-dazzle for contemporary audiences. But in the Stratford Festival’s ebullient production of Annie, Feore’s airborne choreography demands new music – and thus, with the wave of a magic wand and compositional contributions by David Dabbon, it is so.
All the better for Feore’s fiery troupe of dancing orphans, led by a particularly exceptional 11-year-old in the title role. Harper Rae Asch has a beautiful singing voice and toothy grin, and on opening night of the festival’s centrepiece musical, it was immediately clear that Asch is up to the challenge of one of theatre’s most difficult roles for children – a few tiny instances of opening night nerves aside, she’s a star in the making, and I’m looking forward to following her career for years to come.
The same goes for her fellow young vagabonds, the wards of the state in the care of Miss Hannigan (Laura Condlln). This troupe of orphans can dance – kudos in particular to Pepper (Cydnee Abbott, the Guinness World Record holder for the most full-body revolutions in a backbend position for one minute) and Molly (Harmony Holder) – and music director Laura Burton has encouraged a mercifully balanced tone when the kiddos sing together in harmony. I’ll be the first to admit that Charles Strouse’s score can err toward shrieking when performed by lesser-trained kids – but there’s no screaming to be found here. The kids are, as they say, all right. (They’re actually one of Annie’s highlights.)
Members of the company in Annie.David Hou/Stratford Festival
Indeed, when Annie is in motion – when Feore’s ensemble flips, leaps and side-aerials across the Festival Theatre stage, with Burton’s orchestra tooting away in the background – the musical is one of Stratford’s best.
But Feore’s emphasis on dance breaks sometimes comes at the expense of Annie’s non-musical scenes, of which there are many within Thomas Meehan’s script. On opening night, the show’s dialogue felt surprisingly stiff, particularly between Annie and the adults onstage – while the dancing and singing alone are worth the cost of admission, Feore’s army of adult triple-threats occasionally seemed to be down a threat on Tuesday.
There are exceptions: Condlln’s Miss Hannigan is one of the festival’s more inspired pieces of casting in recent years, and she’s to die for in this role. Same goes for Mark Uhre as Rooster, Miss Hannigan’s sly con man of a brother. Easy Street is seldom one of Annie’s high points, but here, the sleazy song and its reprise easily rival Hard Knock Life.
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Dan Chameroy, too, offers a warm and sympathetic Daddy Warbucks – his affection for his redheaded pal rings achingly true. Less so Jennifer Rider-Shaw’s Grace (Warbucks’s secretary), at least in Act 1 – while her second-act performance is as charming and grounded as can be, on opening night her first few scenes seemed oddly detached, both emotionally and vocally.
Yes, Annie’s scene work could indeed use some fine-tuning, meaning Feore’s dance numbers have to work twice as hard to fill the voids between songs.
But it’s Feore. Of course those numbers land. N.Y.C., the first-act toe-tapper about the magic of the Big Apple, sees the addition of a hugely creative Christmas window display, acted out by a handful of spare orphans and adult ensemble members. (Michael Gianfrancesco’s costumes shine here.) Hard Knock Life, too, is as exuberant as you’d expect.
Laura Condlln as Miss Hannigan with members of the company in Annie.Ann Baggley/Stratford Festival
And, I’ll cut the suspense: Clue the foxhound-poodle mix is a wonderful Sandy, obviously. As Asch belts out Tomorrow, Clue has the wildly endearing habit of repeatedly handing his paw to the teeny star-to-be. Yes, he upstages her a touch. But Clue – double-cast with a border collie named Uno – is afforded more cameos in this production than are prescribed by the script, and he’s a very good boy. (Plus, Asch handles him like a pro.)
I’ll admit to waffling over this show’s Critic’s Pick designation in the hours after seeing Annie – those non-musical scenes are startlingly underwhelming. But you’d be a fool to miss seeing Canada’s next generation of talent tear up the Festival Theatre stage, and Condlln’s Hannigan is, to my eye, a must-see. Feore’s script additions are funny and topical, and unlike Something Rotten!, Annie demonstrates commendable restraint in its choreography – it’s impressive without seeming exhausting. (A certain theatre critic may have watched cheery rehearsal videos of Easy Street on loop late into the night.)
To paraphrase our four-foot heroine: The sun will come out tomorrow, and knowing this cast, it’ll likely come out dancing and handspringing across the sky. And with luck, its acting chops will shore up as this surefire hit settles into its run.
