By: Nikki
In spring of 2005, following
in the proud tradition of last year’s Pirates
of Penzance, Immaculate Heart of Mary School plans to put on a production
of the much-loved and well known musical that is Annie Junior. Annie Junior takes place in New York
City during the Great Depression, more specifically 1933. Annie, an eleven-year-old orphan, has lived
in the Municipal Orphanage in the Lower East Side of New York City where she
was left as a baby with a note from her parents stating they’d come back to get
her, as well as half a silver locket.
Annie’s fervent attempts and hopes are discouraged by the pretentious
Miss Hannigan, the lonely middle-aged woman who runs the orphanage. It seems Annie is both out of luck and ready
to give up, but not from lack of effort, when she is brought back to the
orphanage after her brief escape, during which she found her new canine friend,
The
inspiration for this phenomenal musical came from the creation of Harold Gray
in 1924, but it wasn’t originally a story of a little girl named Annie. Little
Orphan Otto was Gray’s original plan, but with the lack of media for young
girls in that day and age, he adapted his idea to become Little Orphan Annie. Gray
drew this comic strip for the Chicago
Tribune, and it was made into a musical by Charles Strouse, who wrote the
music, Martin Charnin, who dazzled all with his motivational lyrics, and Thomas
Meehan, who wrote the book. It opened in
Alvin Theater on the 21st of April in 1977. It was named the third longest running
production of the 1970’s with 2,377 performances. Since then, it has been made into two movies
that capture the essence of the adored musical.
It has been dazzling and delighting audiences ever since.
The
form of Annie I.H.M. will be performing is one revised and molded into a
70-minute show for young adults and children.
These creations are productions of Broadway
Junior. Immaculate Heart of Mary
school chose Annie Junior out of a
vast assortment of musicals such as: Bugsy
Malone Junior, Dear Edwina Junior, Fiddler on the Roof Junior, Godspell Junior, Guys and Dolls Junior, Honk!
Junior, Into the Woods Junior, The Music Man Junior, Once on This Island Junior, and Schoolhouse Rock Junior. With
every musical purchased at Broadway
Junior, you receive a Directors Script, a Production Handbook, two
Piano/Vocal Books, 20 Student Librettos, a Cross-Curricular Activity and
Enrichment Guide, two Performance CD’s, a Choreography Video, and ten Chorus
Books. Within these materials is
everything you need to make a successful and entertaining musical. The cast of this Broadway Junior play includes many opportunities to expand your
horizons. There are a total of 17 parts for girls and 12 parts for boys, and
one role for one lucky dog. These
characters operate with 11 scenes per act, and a running time of approximately
60 to 80 minutes.
This
year, Immaculate Heart of Mary plans to perform Annie Junior a total of two times, Thursday, April 21st
and Friday, April 22nd. To
prepare for these dates, the seventh and eighth grade students will be
rehearsing songs in music class with Mrs. DePew. This will prepare both seventh and eighth
grade students for tryouts, which will be held immediately after Christmas
break. After these main characters have
been cast Miss Ward will work with the students on dialogue. However, not all students have the
requirement to be on stage. Students
also have the option of working on the sets, choral, decorations, dancing,
lighting, stage crew, make-up, and costumes.
In the meantime, Immaculate Heart of Mary is in need of adult help with
art work, costumes, lighting, choreography, make-up, staging, and
rehearsals. A meeting for parents of the
seventh and eighth grade students will take place on Monday, January 10, 2005
at 7 o’clock in the All Purpose room.
Parents are asked to please attend this meeting to become more informed
on our activities.
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