Review of Annie (1982) by James C — 17 Dec 2009

It seems unjustifiable for me to call Annie a pretentious musical but it is so saccahrine and so laboured under the directive eye of John Huston. Additionally, being set naturally in America, there is that American sense of hope from the smallest of things and there is not a dull face to be found on anybody even though the setting is 1920s depression era.

All this aside, there are some excellent songs and well executed dance numbers, partiucularly for It's a hard knock life" at the orphanage and some fine performances. It's hard not to enjoy Albert Finney's Daddy Warbucks or newcomer Aileen Quinn's turn as the sweet and smart title character, even if the singing leaves a lot to be desired.

A fair musical but where people describe this is the girl's equivalent to Oliver they are sorely misjudged. Oliver is a musical masterpiece where this falls far from that mark.