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I’ve always wanted to watch Annie since it is one of those Broadway ‘classics’, except I wasn’t sure whether I was going to catch this one. The show was in Seattle for a limited time only (Feb 12 to 14) since it is a national touring company, and I was busy the entire weekend. I had to skip a birthday party to watch this show, and even then I wasn’t sure I’d have went until very last minute after I got off work. I ended up watching the show by myself, which worked out because I found out there was student rush tickets 1 hour before the show started, so I got a really good seat (main floor center, 11th row or so) for a really cheap price :).

I thought Annie was like… Rodgers and Hammerstein old (like ’50s) but it ended being more recent than I thought – the musical was written in 1977, and apparently the lyricist is still around and is the director for this national tour.

As expected, the tunes are more classical styled, with lots of reprisals (makes me wonder why newer musicals don’t have much reprisals anymore), and overall the performance was well done as it definitely gave off an uplifting and heartwarming vibe. The plot is set in the Great Depression (1930s) and the plot talks about some of the national issues faced during that era (e.g. high unemployment rates) and how we ought to be optimistic even in tough times – the entire theme seems oddly applicable to the current “Great Recession”. The casting was impressive as well – there were I think 7 children involved in rather important roles, and more impressively, there’s a dog that’s part of the cast and the plot as well.

The musical is around 2.5 hours long with intermission. The encouraging tone is a plus for me, and I’ll give it 3.5 stars.