I've realised that there's a pattern emerging with the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. If they get to the week before a performance and there are still quite a few tickets left, they put out a 2-for-1 offer on the top price seats. It was this offer that persuaded Clare and me to go and see Hello Dolly in June, and last week I noticed that the same offer was being made for Annie this week. So we went last night. Clare hasn't seen the film, and I don't think I've seen it all the way through, but we figured it was worth £15 to find out what the play was like.
It occurred to me as we arrived that given the subject matter, there was a high probability that there would be lots of children in the audience, and I was right. Which was great on the one hand because it meant we had no problem seeing everything, unlike last time when the tallest people in Southampton sat in front of us, but it also brought with it its own problems, like the constant sound of sweets being opened and the more frequent than usual trips to the toilet during the performance. It didn't help that the floor isn't carpeted, so the sound of every Mum's high heels tapping on the floor resonated throughout the auditorium.
We didn't buy a programme, so we don't actually know the name of the girl playing Annie, but suffice to say that we got to the interval and Clare said 'I don't know what it is about her, but that girl's quite annoying!' Which kind of summed her up, although I remember from the film that she was a little bit annoying there too. So we gave her the benefit of the doubt, and we actually started warming to her in the second half. She was clearly a young British girl working very hard at a New York accent, so in places it seemed quite strained, but she did very well - no doubt better than most people could do at 12.
Miss Hannigan was played by Ruth Madoc of Hi-de-Hi fame, and I thought she would be pretty good, but she was only OK. That could be something to do with the fact that the part wasn't as big as the one in the film, but even so I thought she could have made a lot more of the part than she did.
But truly the star of the show was Sandy, the stray dog that Annie takes in. Again, this part in the play was reduced compared to the film, but for obvious reasons - what is it they say? Never work with children or animals? Well, this show had both ;). The dog was fantastic, sitting perfectly still when people were singing into his ear, and obeying every command - except the last one, when the cast came on stage to take their bows and he decided he was going to sit with his back to the audience, and no amount of coercion from Annie would persuade him to turn round.
As ever, I thought that the orchestra was amazing, but too loud for the voices, meaning the words of the songs were often lost, but the dog made up for all that. All in all, not bad. Not worth a full-price ticket, but a good night's entertainment for £15.
Thursday 2 October 2008
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2 comments:
Glad you had a good time. I don't think I've seen 'Annie', not even on TV.
I often wonder, if you spoke to the sound engineers at these events, and told them that you couldn't hear any of the words, whether they would turn down the level of the 'accompaniment', or does everyone just mutter about the level and not do anything about it?
I almost did that at Darlington Civic Theatre a couple of years ago, when we went to see 'Joseph', and there was a children's choir singing at the sides of the stage, whom you could not hear at all.
I was in the middle of a row, and by the time I had negotiated my way out, and up to the sound box, at the interval, the engineer had gone for a break!
I think that sound engineers don't know the meaning of the word 'accompaniment', ie the band accompanies the singers, not the other way round.
I prophecy that the next generation of people will go deaf at least 10 years earlier than previous generations, as they are subjected to such high levels of sound - everywhere.
Down off my soap-box now!
I can't believe neither of you had ever seen Annie! I LOVED Annie! Growing up, it was my favorite! I even had a brown shaggy dog who I would call Sandy (although that was NOT her name). I had the record, and would sing all the songs, even had a VHS tape of the movie that I would watch over and over and over.
A few years back, it came out on DVD so I bought it, anxious to relive my childhood obession, but I was SO disappointed! What an annoying child that Annie was! Although it was the same version, it was NOT how I remembered it!
Damn the home office- I definitely would have gone to this play with you two!
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