Dressed with a Smile: 2025 Musical Annie Review at the Stratford Festival Theatre

       

                           

It was another evening at the Stratford Festival Theatre with our tickets in hand, ready to head to our seats. This time with tickets to see Annie, directed and choreographed by Donna Feore.

Highlights:                                                                                                                                                                                           

👉Harper Rae Asch was fantastic as Annie. Her bright red curly hair, bubbly personality that didn’t miss a beat throughout the whole show and incredible vocals earned a well-deserved standing ovation. 

👉Kids performances (Cast)  were incredible to watch especially during It’s the Hard Knock Life. A specific stand-out was Cydnee Abbott, who plays Pepper. (interesting note, she holds the Guinness World Record for the most full-body revolutions in a backbend in 1 minute!)           

👉Miss Hannigan (Laura Conlin) what a gem. I couldn’t help but feel that she really embodied the spirit of Carol Burnett with impeccable comedic flair. 

👉Mark Uhre and Amanda Lundgren who play Rooster Hannigan and Lily St. Regis were a fun energetic duo and convincing on stage together as swindlers trying to pose as Annie’s biological parents in return for $50,000. 

                 

👉The song “NYC” – The scene set and lighting for this one really set the tone of New York City. Probably one of my favourites. I’m still humming the tune.

A few missteps to address...

👉I didn’t quite feel the connection between Annie and Oliver Warbucks (played by Dan Chameroy) in the second act, even during what would have been considered the emotional moments. I have seen Dan perform in many other productions in Stratford, believing his character to a tee, but this one didn’t convince me of a father figure in the end, way more believable in his role as the billionaire, Oliver Warbucks.

👉Some scenes in the second act felt rushed and the over-enthusiasm of Warbuck’s staff being so thrilled to be not only at his beck and call, but now to Annie felt a little odd as they danced around gleefully– as if they didn’t have any other purpose.  

👎Pet peeve theatre moment:  Despite the announcements to turn off all devices, I don’t think some people got the memo clear enough near where we were seating. Scrolling endlessly (not just a quick check if you absolutely must) on one’s phone during a performance or playing a game (Wordle can wait, trust me) is not just annoying to patrons who have to see your phone light up in the dark, but also just rude to performers on stage!  

Usually there would be quite a few ushers abound to nip this in the bud but there was no one near us and we didn’t want to have to get up to find someone outside and miss parts of the show. Luckily there were some unattended seats away from the unnerving cell scrollers which we grabbed (and noticed another couple doing the same)  so we could enjoy the rest of the show.

Final thoughts:

        

Overall, this musical production of Annie with wonderful singing, incredible energetic dance sequences will no doubt make you smile and feel happy that a small change of heart can make a world of difference through a child’s eyes. 

Some of the themes of desperation and despair are indeed overshadowed by catchy song numbers draped in sheer optimism that many kids in reality will unlikely experience. However, what is very apparent is the idea of one little girl’s strength (Annie), to never give up hope for a brighter tomorrow.

💜 Book now! Tickets for Annie and other performances are available here: Stratford Festival

Returned favourites and some new spots for us to explore in Stratford. 

Nature continues to be quite healing for me especially in dealing with the complexity of grief. 

Dinner at our favourite spot: Fellini's 

Break An Egg: Something Rotten! Stratford Festival Review

Something Rotten! is directed and choreographed by Donna Feore and tells the story of the Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel, two struggling playwrights in Renaissance London, who are looking for their chance at greatness, sadly only finding themselves overshadowed by the one, the only, the crowd-chanting and charismatic, William Shakespeare. In desperate times, comes desperate measures and with the divine (or deceptive?) help of a soothsayer, a musical is born.

               

Highlights:                      

👉Jeff Lillico was hilarious as The Bard (aka Shakespeare) with his show-stopping rocker confidence on stage and expertise timing of hair-flips.

👉Dan Chameroy as Thomas Nostradamus was just pure gold in his role and every moment on stage gave  you a full belly-laugh.

👉The rapid fire musical theatre references included some costuming brilliance in its execution that I won’t be spoiling. It felt like a nostalgic trip back in time with such fond memories (ps. our first visit together to the Festival Theatre was Fiddler on the Roof)  

👉The hilarious tap-dancing dance-off duel was endlessly funny from start to finish between quick-wittted Shakespeare, played by Jeff Lillico  and the beating heart of the musical, Nick Bottom, played by Mark Uhre.

👉Starr Domingue as Bea hit all the right notes with a hefty dose of sassy female empowerment and the beauty of true partnership in the song "Right Hand Man".

👉The genuine love affair to secretly long for between Nigel played by the whimsical, Henry Firmston and Portia, played by Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane. Both of their performances were so genuine and together, they are about as sweet as the sugar in one’s tea cup on a mid-summer’s night. 

👉Steve Ross as Shylock, a Jewish money-lender, was a sure-fit for this role, keeping us laughing with plenty of Yiddish references along the way.   

With over 14 production numbers in the show (music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick), included are some egg-cellent dance routines that got its well-deserved standing ova-tion. 

👉I cannot forget to mention the ensemble cast. This musical reached a new height as they gave their heart and soul into every note, twirl and leg thrust. Sitting there in the audience, you could feel it.

Book your tickets because if you’ve been stuck in the camp of  “God I Hate Shakespeare!” trust me, you’re gonna love it.

💜Official website: https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/

Moments in Stratford

To my followers: On a personal note, I recently lost my brother and so I've been deep in the grieving woods and trying to make my way through it.   I want to thank my husband, Bill, for taking me to Stratford to enjoy this fantastic musical and experience a few hours of laughter and smiles. 

Seasons Of Love At Stratford Festival: Rent Musical Review

In honour of yet another brilliant mind gone too soon, Jonathan Larson (creator of smash sensation Rent) it was a very emotional 2023 trip to the Stratford Festival. We got to experience an artistic masterpiece of musical theatre from director Thom Allison, and music director, Franklin Brasz that holds such a passionate and sentimental value. With an outstanding Rent cast, thanks to the brilliant casting from Beth Russel, we can raise from our seats and proudly shout from the rooftops that love IS love.

If you’ve seen the film Rent, or even Larson’s, Tick, Tick... Boom! be prepared for something completely out of the box with this musical that is provocative, progressive and full of energy. The stories share many common themes, such as: struggle, identity and belonging. 

Choreographer, Marc Kimelman, has the ability to transform moments on stage into memories that will live on far beyond when the curtains close.

                                                                

A few highlights for me:

                                                                                                         

👉Gabriel Antonacci’s touching version of "One Song Glory".

👉Nestor Lozano Jr.'s portrayal as drag queen and life-giving Angel, who is appropriately named with an angelic vocal range and stunning presence on stage.

👉Lee Siegel’s emotional “I’ll Cover You” (reprise). The flood gates opened and there wasn't a dry eye around.

I can go on and on,  but I won’t because reading about this experience is just one layer, you need to be there, watching the vulnerability unfold on stage.  While it might shock some audiences with a handful of provocative scenes and language that could offend, we’re getting past the surface here and digging deep into the emotional rawness of these characters lives told through performance and song. 

Maybe you’re not an addict,  confused about your identity, hiv+ or even on the verge of a mental breakdown,  but you know what? If you are, that's alright. You still deserve to live a life of dignity. Why? Because as echoed in the musical, life can be really fu**ing weird!

While going through a lot of struggles right now, Rent couldn’t have come out at a better time to teach me some valuable lessons that can often be forgotten in moments that we cannot change and cause great amounts of despair.  

For anyone out there trying to navigate the darkness, forget regret or life is yours to miss.

Don't let time run out, book your tickets for the 2023 season!

💜Official website: https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/