Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Running to Places (R2P) kicks off the holiday season with a spirited production of the musical 'Annie', a perennial family favorite. The story of a plucky young orphan who believes that better times are "only a day away" runs Dec. 21-23 at the State Theatre of Ithaca.

Annie (Torianna 'Tori' Payne) has big dreams: to find her parents and escape the orphanage, run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan (Zoe Klausner). When billionaire Oliver Warbucks (Ike Keahna Uran) has his assistant Grace (Mae Simon) bring an orphan to his mansion for a special Christmas, things seem to be looking up for Annie. But a scheme to fleece Warbucks, hatched by Hannigan and her brother, 'Rooster' (Jack Cecere) and his girlfriend Lily St. Regis (Emma Sosebee), threatens everything.

"You think of Annie as a cheery person who never gets down, but she has so many layers," says Joey Steinhagen, R2P artistic director. "Her ability to will herself into optimism despite the very real troubles she faces is one of the greatest acts of courage you'll ever see on stage."

One of the hallmarks of R2P is the ability to find those layers in every character, including Miss Hannigan, everyone's favorite nasty. "For her, the stakes are literally life and death," points out Steinhagen. "She's lucky to have a job during the Depression when so many people are out of work. Every time Annie runs away it threatens her job. It's not just that she's mean – she's afraid."

But because Miss Hannigan is played by Klausner, whom Steinhagen calls a comic genius, her interactions with the orphans are funny as well as poignant.

Choreographer Tucker Davis also brings out the depths in the story; as he puts it, "I don't want it to be cute. I want to show that these kids are resilient, that they can be empowered to change their own future."

Davis sets high standards, giving professional-level choreography to the actors, including the orphans, some of whom are as young as 11 years old. Their enthusiasm and high energy bring out the humor and inventiveness in Davis' dances; "Hard Knock" in particular is infused with a fire it doesn't often get.

The music, too, will be special for this performance. The singers will be backed up by one of R2P's biggest-ever orchestras, Broadway-size. "And Tori's singing is deep and passionate and soulful beyond her years," says Steinhagen. "She brings a freshness to the songs that everyone knows. She has a natural spark."

Steinhagen points out that "Annie's story of a quest to find a home of her own is a lovely parallel for what we're doing in building a theater for R2P, which will give us our own home for the first time." The capital campaign for the new theater at the Ithaca Mall ends Dec. 31.

The "Annie" design team includes Jeremy Pletter, resident music director; Jordan Fearon, sound; Natty Simson, lighting; Candice Wade, costumes; Deborah Drew, scenic design; Janet Olsen, props; and Jim Drew, resident construction engineer.

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