Pittsburgh in the Round: I had high expectations for Stage 62’s production of Annie. Sitting in the audience at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, I listened dreamily as the orchestra introduced the show with a lively preface to one of the best known children’s Broadway musical score. As the rich red curtains open to reveal the stage crowded with bunk beds and little girls quickly scrambling into place I am quickly swept into the story. Annie is heartwarming.
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A fair amount of people who were exposed to theatre at a young age have a connection of some sort to the browadway smash hit, Annie. The story is both endearing and powerful while the musical aspects keep the characters playful, innocent, and heartwarming. I'm glad that the author pointed out and had an issue with the use of a puppet as Annie's dog and companion, Sandy. To the non theatre person, training a dog for several performances might seem hard and annoying, but I can speak from first hand experience that the use of animals, especially one that's as loving and fun as a dog, isn't much of a problem. I've used and seen dogs used in numerous children's productions like Legally Blonde, Wizard of Oz, and Annie perfectly fine. There is always the small chance that there is a mishap, but usually with a properly trained dog it's mostly avoidable. Overall, her description of the performance sounds like a pretty good show, besides its minor hick up with the use of puppetry for Sandy. I hope that future productions can take note, and try to make a real dog work, because anything else is usually distracting and annoying for an audience member to watch.
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