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"Annie" brightens (the) Ohio
by Harvey Wasserman
January 18, 2007

How do we love "Annie"? Let's count some ways:

She tugs our heartstrings with the story of an orphan seeking her parents. She tickles our funny bone with her antics and her spunk. She warms our souls with her endless appeal to our children, who never tire of the show.

And there is so much more. But suffice it to say the rendition being offered at the Ohio Theater (January 16-21) does more than ample justice to this timeless classic.

The staging is lovely. The music is rendered beautifully by a travelling orchestra under the direction of Kelly Ann Lambert.

Marissa O'Donell does a fine, forceful job of bringing us an Annie who is charming, funny and full-voiced.

Her counterpart, Conrad John Schuck, gives us a personable, soulful Daddy Warbucks. With extensive credits from film (McMillan and Wife), Broadway (Annie Get Your Gun) and television (NYPD Blue), Schuck is convincing, engaging and good to hear. He has a powerful stage presence that lends seasoned talent and gravitas to a play that could otherwise float away in sentimentality and froth.

Alene Robertson is fine as Miss Hannigan, the infamous orphanage warden. The children---ages six to twelve---who play Annie's fellow orphans are all charming, talented and full of vim.

So where's the obligatory downside? In this case, it's hard to find one. My seven-year-old Shoshanna sat riveted from beginning to end. And though I've seen this play a dozen times in various incarnations, so did I.

In this case, there was also a special bonus. At the intermission and after the show, conductor Kelly Lambert stood patiently and, with limitless charm, answered all forms of questions from theater-goers of all ages. She and the other principals of the cast also did autographs for all comers at the stage door, where Shoshanna insisted on braving pneumonia to get our program signed

These are times when you are glad to live in Columbus, and overjoyed that we can attract a show as beautifully rendered as this one, in a theater as spectacular as they come.

Annie is here in all her glory. Be sure to catch her. And don't wait til "Tomorrow".

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