Annie

Review by Bill Blake, aged seven, very likely the youngest theatre critic in the world (certainly shaping up to be one of the most prolific)

The night didn’t start so good. My packet of Maltesers exploded everywhere when I opened it. Everyone in my row laughed. But I was OK with that.

Annie is about a little 11-year-old girl who is adopted by Oliver Warbucks, a billionaire in New York City in 1933. But there is a problem: a criminal called Rooster (who crows like a rooster) and his girlfriend are dressing up as Annie’s missing parents. They want the $50,000 that Warbucks has promised to help find Annie’s real mum and dad.

I thought the girl playing Annie was a good actor considering she is a child. She was convincing. The other orphans were really good, too. The best songs in the whole show are when they were singing as a group. I like seeing kids on stage.

But Annie’s curly wig was stupid. Luckily she only wears that wig right at the end.

The grown-ups are really terrific. One bit I thought was funny was when the President (Alan Jones) told his one of his staff to sing but the guy just muttered the song 'Tomorrow'. Then he really got into it with jazz hands and wiggling his bum. It’s crazy to think that Miss Hannigan (Nancye Hayes) is Rooster’s sister, though. She’s older by 40 years!

I liked the Warbucks mansion. I thought it looked good – especially the old telephone he had. If Daddy Warbucks keeps earning money, he’ll be a trillionaire.

I liked the shaggy dog but he didn’t do much. When he popped out of a Christmas present, he just walked out in a boring way as if he was saying 'whatever'. It would have been cuter if he just put his paws over the edge of present and panted and looked cute.

Some of the orphanage scenes were a bit dull with all the girls complaining all the time. The mansion scenes were the best because everyone was happy.

Annie made me feel very happy. I was doing jazz hands at the party after the show and I danced a lot on the way home.

I give this show 4/5. You don’t have to be a kid to like this show. People who like stupid wigs and really happy people will like this show. If you’re a grumpy person, it might lift your spirits.