Review of "Annie" from the Bridge, July 15, 2005

Annie get your gun, it's Daddy Warbucks

Quarry Works Theater in Adamant showcases the spunky musical "Annie"

By Nat Frothingham
From The Bridge, July 15, 2005

QuarryWorks Theater at the Adamant Music School, about nine miles north of Montpelier, will kick off its 2005 summer season on July 14 with a dozen performances of "Annie," the Broadway musical.

"Annie"-with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin and book by Thomas Meehand first opened at the New York City's Alvin Theatre on April 21, 1977 and the production was the third longest running Broadway musical duringthe 1970's.

Based on Harold Gray's popular "Little Orphan Annie" comic strip, "Annie" tells the story of a spunky, 11-year-old girl who is confined to a grim, (Depression-era) New York City orphanage, run by a decidedly nasty spinster Agatha Hannigan who is only looking out for number one.

Annie wins our hearts. She wins our hearts because even though she is an orphan, she refuses to give into despair and refuses to lose hope of one day being reunited with her parents.

A few days ago, The Bridge visited a rehearsal at the QuarryWorks theater.

The theater is situated at the end of a narrow dirt road about a mile from the Co-op Store at the Adamant village crossroads. There at the end of the road is a handful of simple, painted bluegray, wood frame buildings clustered at the edge of an abandoned quarry.

Suddenly the road stops. Beyond is the quarry, filled with water, a reflecting pool for the surrounding quarry walls, trees and open sky.

It was a summer evening. About a dozen or more children and adults-really parents and children-had gathered in the theater's Green Room for a meal of spaghetti, salad and chocolate cake. After supper, two rehearsal groups went to their separate spaces, one group (playing orphans in the show) to practice their clapping and dance routines and the other to rehearse their singing and acting.

In the QuarryWorks production, among other performers, Annie is being played by Cassandra Machia, a student at the Bishop Marshall (Catholic) School in Morrisville. The meanspirited Agatha Hannigan is being played by Karen Machia (Cassandra's mother). And billionaire Oliver Warbucks is being played by David Schutz.

In the QuarryWorks production, theater director Michael Suchomel is offering an original twist. The performance will open with the re-creation of an old-time radio show from the Depression era, called "The Oxydent Hour of Smiles" with radio host Bert Healy.

As the story of "Annie" unfolds, Healy and the other radio personalities in the old-time radio show keep re-appearing to add information and commentary.

"I've surrounded the entire (production) with the cast of this radio show," theater director Suchomel says.

Then he explains, saying, Bert Healy is just like Johnny Carson. Or you can imagine the "Oxydent Hour" as something akin to a present-day radio show like "A Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keillor.

Another of Suchomel's innovations are the striking, cut-out, comic strip figures made out of painted cardboard-a flashlight, a dog, a basket,all in comic strip style-all in bright, primary colors-that have been created for the show by Stowe artist Julie Mueller.

The QuarryWorks production of "Annie" will be performed on two consecutive weekends: Thursday through Sunday, July 14, 15, 16 and 17 and Thursday through Sunday, July 21,22,23 and 24. The evening performances on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will begin at 7:30 pm with matinee performances on Saturday at 1:00 pm and Sunday at 2:00 pm.

The second show in the QuarryWorks season will be an adaptation of "Cyrano" for young audiences. "Cyrano" will be performed on two consecutive weekends: July 29, 30 and 31; also on August 5, 6 and 7. Evening performances of " Cyrano" are Friday at 7:3 0 pm and Saturday at 5 pm with matinees at 1 pm on Saturday and 2 pm on Sunday.

Admission is free and theatergoers are encouraged to bring a picnic and arrive early to be sure of being seated. The theater is limited to 50 seats.

Over at the Adamant Music School there will be a full round of student piano concerts at Waterside Hall

Of special interest are the master classes of John O'Conor on August 4,5 and 6 and master classes with Menahem Pressler on August 14,15,16,17 and 18.

John O'Conor, an internationally known interpreter of the Classic Early Romantic repertoires, will perform a Beethoven recital on Thursday, August 4 at 8 pm at Waterside Hall.

For further information about the Adamant Music School, Annie" and other performances this summer, please phone (802) 229-9297 or consult this website www.adamant.org