If you love “Annie,” the ubiquitous musical about that irrepressible little orphan who solved the Great Depression, unemployment, crumbling infrastructure, collapsed financial markets, hunger and cynicism itself on the strength of her cheery disposition alone, chances are you’ll like its lesser-known sequel, “Annie Warbucks,” just fine.
If you’re like Lou Grant (and me) — and you hate spunk, well, the sequel is probably not for you.
Bright side: You won’t hate it nearly as much as the original, if only for the welcome absence of a certain chalkboard-and-fingernails song and its sunny meteorological prognostication.
“Annie Warbucks,” which played for only 200 off-Broadway performances in 1993, picks up right where the original, which has been staged approximately 562 bajllion times, left off. It’s Christmas morning 1933, and Annie is enjoying her first day as the daughter of the richest man in the world. But not for long.
The Candlelight Dinner Playhouse, 40 miles north of Denver in Johnstown, is the first legit area theater company to stage “Annie Warbucks” in 12 years.
While the sequel, by the same team that wrote “Annie” in 1977, feels very familiar, it also seems a little meaner. Not that the original was without its dark side — after all, the lovely Miss Hannigan and her brother did plot to make a bundle off the adorable little ginger, then do her in. But the sequel also feels somehow, how shall we say it — dumber?
The premise has a hideous, Hanniganesque child-welfare commissioner named Harriet Doyle informing Daddy Warbucks that it’s illegal for him to adopt Annie without being married. He must be, within 60 days, or it’s back to the orphanage for her.
Seriously, if this doesn’t smell a bit fishy to a guy who has FDR on his speed dial (if there were such a thing in 1933), it’s a wonder that this dummy ever made a dime.
The oddly acquiescent (yet curiously cranky) Warbucks agrees to an unseemly progression of fixed dates. Taking a mail-order bride couldn’t be any less romantic. Too bad he didn’t have — or “The Bachelor” — to help him navigate the brutal land mines of dating. He’s just too dim to note the obvious affections of his lovely assistant, Grace Farrell.
The messages, should you choose to read into them, are mixed — like when ungrateful Annie runs away to Tennessee, risking kidnapping or worse, and all she gets for the trouble she’s caused is an “Oh, that’s OK” from FDR. Bad parenting, prez!
The writers’ biggest misstep is replacing the deliciously evil Miss Hannigan with a humorless shrew. And making Warbucks a dunce takes away from a fine performance by Mark Middlebrooks that wants to be warmer (and smarter) than the script allows.
Still, this is a significant undertaking by the Candlelight, with a capable cast of 34, a live orchestra of six and some serious cherry bread pudding with rum sauce.
Director Timothy Kennedy’s prologue is a very clever recap of the original story, told in short vignettes with the help of thought bubbles that honor the story’s comic-book origin. The production values are strong, from costumes to Peter Muller’s ever-shifting mobile set that takes us all over the country.
The performances are mostly strong, from Meghan Leigh Hempstead (rotating with Tricia Moreland) as Annie, to Kyra Koelling’s human and fleshed portrayal of the lovelorn, loveless Grace.
Best of all is Candlelight’s effort to simply give kids the chance to actually see the show. The cost of dinner theater can be prohibitive for families, but Candlelight is making it free to all kids under 12 with each paid adult.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Annie Warbucks” **1/2 (out of four stars)
“Annie sequel. Presented by Candlelight Dinner Playhouse, 4747 Marketplace Drive, Johnstown. Directed by Timothy Kennedy. Through Nov. 13. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays (dinner service 90 minutes before). Selected Saturday matinees. $45.50-$59 (more for meal upgrades; less for “show only.” Children under 12 free with each paid adult. 970-744-3747 or
