When the curtains parted late Thursday night on Dec. 5, the usual stars of Little Orphan Annie, the McLean Theatre Department musical, were nowhere to be found. Instead, the understudies got their chance to shine. Annie herself was played by understudy Brooke Matthews, and other understudies included Mr. Warbucks played by Matt Lucero and FDR played by Will Stockton. Each had a large singing role, featuring numerous solos accompanied by the live pit in front of the stage. Not missing a single note, the understudies continued to shine throughout the night, drawing applause and laughter from the audience whenever the play took a humorous turn.
The story takes place in the middle of the Great Depression, 1933, in NYC. Annie is an orphan left at the hands of orphan caretaker Miss Hannigan (Kaelyn Matthews), but is invited to spend Christmas with the richest man in town, Mr. Warbucks and his secretary Grace Farrell (Emily Swett). Warbucks takes a liking to Annie and wants to adopt her, but not before setting out to find her real parents. Using the full resources of the government, Warbucks finds out what happened to Annie’s parents while dealing with two imposters, Rooster (Thomas Kelty) and Lily St. Regis (Sineen Jarrar) in the process. Warbucks then gathers all of the orphans at his mansion for a Christmas celebration. The entire cast then pours out onto the stage, greeted by a lasting standing ovation from the audience.
After the play, some of the key actors signed autographs in the lobby, staying in character as they did so.
Freshman Emily Swett, who plays the understudy role of Warbucks’ secretary, said, “[Grace Ferrell] was kind of a boring role–I thought that I could make her interesting. She has lots of singing roles, and I love to sing.”
However, the understudies were not the only heroes of the evening. Many of the performers played background roles, such as sophomore Jeffery Nolan, who plays Harold Ickys, a member of FDR’s cabinet.
“I knew all my stuff, but I was a little nervous,” Nolan said. “I mean, you’re performing in front of a live audience.” However nervous any of the cast was, they performed beautifully.
The performance was the end product of months of hard work, with rehearsals starting in October and taking place every day after school, sometimes lasting to 10 or 11 in the evening.
Annie was selected by director and theatre teacher Amy Poe.
“We wanted to do a children’s show,” Swett said.
The McLean Theatre Department plans for its next play to be The Bald Soprano, which will be performed on Jan. 25.
If you want to audition for the next play, look for bulletins outside the Blackbox, sign up for the mailing list or look online at mcleandrama.com.
