The smash hit West End production of musical Annie is heading to Manchester. The show will star Strictly Come Dancing favourite Craig Revel Horwood as the tyrannical Miss Hannigan in a musical loved by young and old.
Annie will head to Manchester Opera House in September, direct from its acclaimed run in London's West End. But due to hit BBC series Strictly set to be back on screens then, show judge Craig will NOT be performing on Saturday nights during the run.
The much-loved musical is set in 1930s New York during The Great Depression. It sees brave young Annie forced to live a life of misery at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage.
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But her luck soon changes when she's chosen to spend a fairytale Christmas with famous billionaire, Oliver Warbucks. Meanwhile, spiteful Miss Hannigan has other ideas and hatches a plan to spoil Annie’s search for her true family.
With its Tony® award-winning book and score, it includes some of the most popular songs in musical theatre including It’s The Hard-Knock Life, Easy Street, I Don’t Need Anything But You and Tomorrow.
Strictly star Craig will reprise his role as Miss Hannigan that he has previously played on the West End and on the last national tour. He is best known as being the sharp-tongued judge on all 20 series of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing but has an impressive list of previous West End Theatre credits include Munkustrap in Cats, Miss Saigon at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and Harry in Crazy for You at the Prince Edward Theatre.
Craig directed and choreographed Strictly Ballroom The Musical which is currently touring the UK and Ireland, and the 2016/17 tour of Sister Act The Musical as well as the Strictly Come Dancing Live tour. He also choreographed the film Paddington 2.
Alongside Craig will be Alex Bourne as Oliver Warbucks, Paul French as Rooster, Amelia Adams as Grace Farrell, and Billie-Kay as Lily St. Regis. The title role of Annie is shared by Zoe Akinyosade, Harlie Barthram and Poppy Cunningham. They are joined by three teams of young performers who play the residents of Miss Hannigan’s orphanage.
Completing the cast will be Emily Barnett-Salter, Alistair Beattie, David Burrows, Sergi Ibanez, Rosalind James, Belle Kizzy Green, Ellie May-Wilson, Martin McCarthy, Phoebe Roberts, Lukin Simmonds, Matthew Sweet, Dawn Williams, and Tommy Wade-Smith. The producers of Annie have pointed out, however, that they cannot guarantee the appearance of any particular artist, which is always subject to illness and holidays.
How to get tickets
Annie will play at Manchester Opera House from Wednesday, September 13 through to Saturday September 30, 2023 inclusive.
Tickets are currently on sale for TheatreCard holders (from February 9). Tickets then go on general sale at 10am on Monday February 13 from atgtickets here.
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