If you were worried that a 2023 tour of a 2015 revival of a musical from the '70s, made popular by an '80s movie, would seem tired - think again when it comes to Annie.
The current touring production which has arrived at Cardiff's Wales Millennium Centre benefits from punchy, full-sounding orchestrations, exciting choreography performed by top-quality dancers, and modern-looking staging which all elevate this show above just being a 'decent day out with the family'.
On our visit, nine-year-old Zoe Akinyosade played Annie and took absolute control of the role from the very first note she sang. She's both as emotionally affecting and as good a singer as any child star you're likely to see. A total delight.
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It's the Hard Knock Life sets the tone, with the excellent young cast's energy launching them around the stage to the tune of a punchy, loud orchestra. Other classic songs like Tomorrow and Maybe are supplemented by ones you'll only hear on stage like NYC, and most of them are equally earworm-y.
Craig Revel Horwood is suitably evil and sneering as Miss Hannigan, even if his New York accent occasionally leans towards the wrong side of "Janice from Friends," and his singing voice does the job. Alex Bourne plays a kinder, less abrasive Daddy Warbucks than the film version, but the real standout from the adult cast is Amelia Adams as Grace Farrell, with her addictively bird-like soprano voice that really sells the jazzier, more Hollywood songs in the soundtrack.
Rooster (Paul French) and Lily (Billie Kay) make suitably hateable villains and excellent dancers, but their characters' actions and dialogue possibly get a bit too raunchy and uncomfortably seedy for some younger kids. The show is generally very child-friendly though, with a lot of the threat and malice from the film missing.
This production is likely to please fans of both the original musical and the film adaptations. Not every song is a classic but the appearance of the real-life dog playing Sandy is enough to make you forgive any brief moment of boredom.
Annie is at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff until Saturday, July 8. You can book tickets here.
