Pioneer Theatre Company presents the holiday family musical Annie from December 2 through December 23, 2011. Annie won seven Tony Awards when it played on Broadway in 1977, and since that time has been in continuous production at theatres around the world. A new Broadway revival is now in the planning stages.
Annie is the rags-to-riches story of America's favorite redhead and her dog Sandy on their quest to join the family of Oliver Warbucks while battling the wicked orphanage warden Miss Hannigan. The stage musical adds the hope and cheer of the Christmas season and a chorus of 28 dancing feet that the whole family can enjoy for the holidays.
The cast consists of 30 actors and actresses; 11 of those are local actresses under age 14 who play Annie's cohorts from the orphanage. Sandy the dog is played by Mikey, a specially-trained theatrical dog provided by William Berloni Theatrical Animals, Inc.
Sami Staitman, age 11, plays the part of Annie. A Los Angeles and Park City resident, Staitman has been on the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and appeared regionally in Singin' in the Rain, The King and I, Les Misérables (as Little Cosette/Little Eponine) and 7th and Schwartz (Festival of New American Musicals). She also appears in the film The Maiden and the Princess and on television in The Care Bears and Showtime's House of Lies.
Larry Cahn plays the lovably aloof tycoon Oliver Warbucks. Cahn's Broadway credits include The Graduate, Guys and Dolls, Anything Goes and The Music Man; his national tours Ragtime; Lend Me A Tenor. Off-Broadway: Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!; The Portable Pioneer and Prairie Show; Play to Win. Regional: The Rhythm Club; Moon Over Buffalo; Company, She Loves Me, Miracles (premiere); The Predators' Ball; LUV; Carousel; The Golden Land; Is There Life After High School?; Johnny Pye & The Foolkiller (premiere). Film: Freedom Writers; City of Jerks. Television: Without a Trace, The West Wing, Grey's Anatomy, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Chappelle's Show, The Young and the Restless, As The World Turns, Another World, One Life to Live and The City.
The part of the wicked Miss Hannigan is played by Suzanne Grodner. Grodner has appeared on Broadway in Bye Bye Birdie and The Rose Tattoo, and off-Broadway in Sarah/Sarah, Cakewalk, Death Defying Acts, Show and Tell and Appelemando's Dreams. She has appeared regionally all over the country, including The Old Globe, Cincinnati Playhouse, TheatreWorks, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Asolo and Indiana Repertory Theatres. She returns to PTC after having appeared in Enchanted April and Scapino.
Playing Warbucks' personal assistant and Annie's advocate Grace Farrell is Emily Shoolin. Shoolin's recent credits include the national tour of Fiddler on the Roof with Harvey Fierstein and Theodore Bikel, and The Tin Pan Alley Rag at Roundabout Theatre Company in New York City. She also appeared in Perfect Isn't Easy, a one-woman show at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. This is her PTC debut.
Miss Hannigan's conniving brother Rooster is played by Dirk Lumbard. Lumbard's Broadway credits include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Music Man, Imaginary Friends, On Your Toes, Barnum and Sugar Babies. Off-Broadway, he has appeared in Flora, the Red Menace and Dames at Sea, and his national tour credits include The Wizard Of Oz (for which he received a Joseph Jefferson Award), Grand Hotel and Crazy For You. He returns to PTC after choreographing last season's production of White Christmas and appearing in A Midsummer Night's Dream and as Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast.
Rooster's girlfriend and accomplice, Lily St. Regis, is played by Gina Milo. Milo appeared on Broadway in Les Misérables and off-Broadway as Mary in For Christ's Sake. Her national tours include Les Misérables, Annie and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas starring Ann-Margret. Off-Broadway: For Christ's Sake (Mary) New World Stages. She has appeared regionally all over the country; this marks her PTC debut.
Playing the part of Annie's dog Sandy is MIKEY. Mikey is a specially-trained dog from William Berloni Theatrical Animals in New York City. His handler, Brian Michael Hoffman, also affiliated with WBTA, is an ensemble member in the company of Annie. Mikey and Brian have both appeared in several productions of Annie around the country.
The chorus of orphans consists of local actresses ARIANA BAGLEY, CEDI CHRISTENSEN, HANNA GEMPERLINE, ALEXIA "ALLY" IOANNIDES, BAILEE JOHNSON, SYDNEY PEEBLER, LIZZIE ROSEN, MAGGIE SCOTT, OLIVA SMITH-DRIGGS and ADDIE WRAY.
The 14-member ensemble of singers and dancers consists of Equity members Breanna Bartley, Eric Lee Brotherson, Jackie Covas, STEVEN FEHR, Brian Michael Hoffman, RASHAAN James Ii, Mike Kirsch, ADAM LENDERMON, John Little, ANNE STEWART MARK and Jeffrey Scott STEVENS. Rounding out that ensemble are local actresses MICHELLE BLAKE, Ashley Gardner CARLSON and SARA KAE CHILDS.
Guest director Paul Mason BARNES directs the production. Barnes returns to PTC after having previously directed last season's White Christmas, plus A Christmas Story, Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, You Can't Take It With You, the 2004 and 2005 season productions of Disney's Beauty and The Beast, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Camelot and As You Like It at PTC. Utah audiences may also be familiar with Barnes' work in Cedar City, where he has directed at the Utah Shakespeare Festival since 1993. Barnes is a founding and producing director of the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, Minnesota.
Patti D'Beck choreographs the production. Her Broadway credits include A Chorus Line, Annie Get Your Gun, starring Bernadette Peters, and later Reba McEntire, Bells Are Ringing, Grease! and The Will Rogers Follies, working with people such as Jeff Calhoun, Graciela Daniele, Tommy Tune and Michael Bennett. Recently at PTC, she choreographed and directed A Chorus Line, and choreographed 42nd Street, My Fair Lady and The Producers. She is currently a faculty member in the Theatre Department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.
Michael Rice music directs and conducts the production. Rice was the original arranger/conductor for the off-Broadway hit Nunsense. His Broadway and national tour credits include the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Peter Pan, Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Camelot, and Grand Hotel. He was also involved with the Anne Bogart Premieres American Vaudeville and Marathon Dancing with the Siti Company (founded by Anne Bogart and Tadashi Suzuki). He returns to PTC after last conducting The Light in the Piazza.
Scenic design is by PTC resident artist George Maxwell. Some of Maxwell's PTC designs include Next to Normal, Rent, Sunset Boulevard, Chicago, Les Misérables, The Importance of Being Earnest, West Side Story, Proof, Peter Pan, and Miss Saigon. He has designed the sets for Utah Opera Company's The Coronation of Poppea and The Ballad of Baby Doe, productions for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and 21 productions for the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Maxwell is a member of United Scenic Artists.
PTC resident designer K.L. ALBERTS designs costumes for the production. Previous designs at PTC include White Christmas, 42nd Street, Miss Saigon, The Producers and Les Misérables, among many others. Alberts has also designed for the University of Utah's Babcock Theatre, Salt Lake Acting Company, Meat & Potato Theatre Company, and Ah! Wilderness, Hay Fever, The Matchmaker, Fiddler on the Roof and Great Expectations: A New Musical for the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
Lighting design is by guest designer Phil Monat. Monat's Broadway designs include Legends starring Joan Collins and Linda Evans, Sly Fox starring Richard Dreyfuss, Finian's Rainbow, Sally Marr & Her Escorts and Three From Brooklyn. Recent off-Broadway designs include Woman Before A Glass (Obie Award), Adult Entertainment, American Rhapsody, Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill and Visiting Mr. Green. He returns to PTC after lighting several productions, including Hamlet, Touch(ed), My Fair Lady and Chicago - among many others.
Hair and makeup design (including wigs) is by PTC resident designer AMANDA FRENCH. Sound design is by PTC resident designer MATTHEW TIBBS.
Pioneer Theatre Company, Utah's premier resident professional theatre, performs at Roy W. and Elizabeth E. Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, located on the University of Utah campus at 300 South and 1400 East in Salt Lake City, easily accessible by TRAX light rail. Free parking is also available and the theatre is equipped with an elevator, handicap parking, hearing assistance devices and other easy-access features.
