Serena Brook and Eve Scharback Photo by Dan Norman

Annie, as most of you will know, is a musical full of hope and happy endings, where virtue triumphs over wickedness, billionaires learn that there's more to life than making money, and little girls get what they truly want for Christmas. Its two main characters, an eleven-year-old orphan with a mop of red hair named Annie and her billionaire adoptive dad, Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks, first appeared in the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie" that debuted in 1924 in the New York Daily News. Perpetually optimistic Annie kept her spirits up while America lived through the Great Depression, World War II, Wars in Korea and Vietnam, the Civil Rights movement, Watergate, and more, until her comic strip was retired for good in 2010.

But Annie lives on in the musical bearing her name, created by librettist Thomas Meehan, composer Charles Strouse, and lyricist Martin Charnin. Initiated by Meehan and Charnin as what they thought would be a good antidote for a disillusioned American public, Meehan devised an original back-story for Annie, describing her ascent from life without a last name in an orphanage run by the corrupt, alcoholic matron, Miss Hannigan, to become the adopted daughter of the world's richest man and advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, inspiring the New Deal for good measure. In addition to Annie and Daddy Warbucks, Meehan's book drafted one other character from Gray's comic strip: Sandy, Annie's noble canine companion. Annie's setting in the Great Depression allows for a glimpse of humanity both at a low ebb of want and deceit, and high tide of benevolence and hope.

On Broadway, Annie was the smash hit of the 1977 season, winning seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, seven Drama Desk Awards, including for Best Musical, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. It ran for over five and a half years, making it, at the time, history's ninth-longest running Broadway show. It has been revived twice on Broadway and a 50th anniversary revival is scheduled to open there in fall 2027. Meanwhile, it has played virtually everywhere in regional theatre, community theatre, and school productions, including the excellent staging that re-opened Children's Theatre Company in fall 2021 after the long COVID shutdown.

Chanhassen Dinner Theatre's current production tops any Annie I have seen, including the first national tour's long stay in Chicago, and at least a half dozen others since. The show at Chanhassen does not feel like merely a great remounting of a well-loved classic. Rather, it sizzles with the energy, know-how, and talent of a brand-new smash, coming across like we are seeing it, and all involved are presenting it, for the very first time. It starts off with a bang (or, rather a whimper, that being the tears of Molly, the youngest orphan, awakened by a nightmare) and soars from there to its hilarious and gloriously heartfelt conclusion.

There is never a flagging moment. Tamara Kangas Erickson's staging smoothly transforms one brightly realized scene into the next, without ever stopping to blink, and her choreography, danced by performers of literally all ages, is marvelous, making the musical numbers gloriously alive. Speaking of musical numbers–every song a winner–they are faultlessly played by the ten-piece orchestra conducted by music director Andy Kust. As the show draws to its happy ending, if the finale doesn't have you at least a little choked up, you might consider heart-enlargement therapy from Dr. Seuss' Grinch, whose holiday show returns to Children's Theatre Company next month.

The show calls for seven juveniles, Annie and six other orphan girls, who are all double cast here. For opening night, Eve Scharback played Annie, and couldn't have been more sensational. She sings like a musical theatre veteran, plaintively winning us over in the opening "Maybe," leading the orphans in a rousing "It's the Hard Knock Life," responding ebulliently to Oliver Warbucks' staff in "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here," and belting out the song that has become synonymous with optimism, "Tomorrow." What's more, Scharback shows real acting chops, whether expressing delight with an "Oh boy!," disappointment with an "Aw, gee," pulling the wool over the eyes of a New York City policeman, or shoring up her courage when things look their bleakest.

Danté Jamar Lamonte Murray appears to be making his Twin Cities debut, and a grand debut it is. Murray sings beautifully, especially in the heartfelt "Something Was Missing," and the show's witty Valentine to the Big Apple, "N.Y.C." His gruff demeanor with corporate tycoons and America's top leaders feels genuine, but so does the way his heart melts when Annie enters his life. Anna Hashizume plays Grace Farrell, Warbucks' exceedingly competent and composed secretary. With a range that excels in roles as far ranging as My Fair Lady's Eliza Dolittle (Theatre Latté Da) to Grease's Rizzo (Chanhassen), she's a ringer in this subdued role, shining with warmth, intelligence, and a beautiful soprano voice, best heard in "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here."

The role of Miss Hannigan, the slatternly orphanage matron who detests children and utters "Why anyone would want to be an orphan is beyond me," is the comedic centerpiece of Annie. Serena Brook, amassing an impressive resume at Chanhassen, as well as The Guthrie, Theatre Latté Da, Artistry, and other local stages, takes on Miss Hannigan like a hurricane takes on a surf-side tiki bar, only much funnier. Her comedic instincts are ablaze, and she chews all the juice out of the sardonic "Little Girls" and–with Thomas Bevan as her crooked brother Roster and Daysha Ramsey as his girlfriend Lily St. Regis–makes "Easy Street" a showstopping joy. Bevan and Ramsey both do their parts as well, adding phenomenal dancing to the number.

The ensemble, most of whom play multiple roles, are all aces, with Jon Andrew Hegge's turn as a police officer, Michael Gruber as the butler, Drake, Mark King's stalwart FDR, and Kaia T. Fitzgerald's "star-to-be" (a jewel of a vignette inserted into "N.Y.C") shining especially brightly. The six young actors playing Annie's fellow orphans are all wonderful, imbuing each character with personality, doing terrific work with Annie in "It's the Hard Knock Life," and a spectacular delivery, in both song and dance, of "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile." While all six of the orphans are swell, I would be remiss not to lift up the amazing performance by Lucy Anderson as Molly, the very youngest. Miss Anderson clearly has musical theatre in her blood.

Nayna Ramey, who designed the impressive sets for Chanhassen's recent Guys and Dolls has done even stronger work here, with evocative settings for the orphanage, Warbucks' mansion, and a forsaken Hooverville, housing the depression's homeless (we've seen homeless encampments in our cities in recent years, making this work particularly evocative), along with a romanticized panorama of New York City's landscape when art deco was king. Rich Hamson's costumes are marvelous, showing dedicated attention to details. When Grace Farrell buys a coat for Annie, who has never owned a coat, it is not just a coat, but a garment that is a delight to anyone lucky enough to wear it. Lighting design by Sue Ellen Berger and sound design by Russ Haynes help the production look and sound terrific at all times.

Having mentioned the Hooverville setting, let me add that I have never seen an Annie in which the musical number "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover" had such fierce delivery. While the lilting melody remains hitched to Tin Pan Alley, the staging brings to mind harsh visions of the underclass one expects from Brecht and Weil. Perhaps, given the fracturing of our social safety net (compared to Annie's opening in the mid-seventies, just ten years after the largesse of the Great Society was launched), I was projecting that difference, but, no, I really think it was in the staging, to which I say, well done!

But then, everything in Chanhassen's new production of Annie is well-done–heck, way more than well done. If you think Annie is a show you've seen often enough, I assure you, this production will make you appreciate its many virtues all over again.

Annie runs through February 27, 2027, at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, 501 West 78 th Street, Chanhassen MN. For tickets and information, please call 952-934-1525, toll-free 1-800-362-3515, or visit www.chanhassendt.com.

Book: Thomas Meehan; Music: Charles Strouse; Lyrics: Martin Charnin, based on "Little Orphan Annie" by permission of The Tribune Media Services, Inc.; Director and Choreographer: Tamara Kangas Erickson; Associate Director: Mark King; Associate Choreographer: Andre Shoals; Music Director: Andy Kust; Set Design: Nayna Ramey; Costume Rich Hamson; Lighting Design: Sue Ellen Berger; Sound Design: Russ Haynes; Hair and Makeup Design: Lex Patton and Tray Swenson; Properties Director: Abbee Warmboe; Animals: William Berloni Theatrical Animals; Technical Director: Logan Jambik; Production Stage Manager: Nate Stanger; Assistant Stage Manager: Jack Speltz.

Cast: Addison ("Sandy" the Dog), Lucy Anderson *(Molly), Tommy Benson (Cop/ensemble), Thomas Bevan (Rooster), Evie Blake *(Duffy), Landon Tate Boyle (Dog Handler/ensemble), Serena Brook (Miss Hannigan), Camryn Buelow (Bonnie Boylan/Annette/Roxy Usher/ensemble), Eloise Cassens*(Pepper), Kaia Fitzgerald (Star-to-Be/Connie Boylan/ensemble), Alayna Gardner *(Annie), Miriam Gilbertson *(July), Michael Gruber (Drake/ensemble), Shad Hanley (Morganthau/Apple Seller/Brandeis/ensemble), Anna Hashizume (Grace Farrell), Jon Andrew Hegge (Lt. Ward/Ickes/ensemble), Annika Isbell (Ronnie Boylan/Cecille/ensemble), Mark King (Franklin D. Roosevelt/ensemble), Kira Lee *(Duffy), Margot Lukkasson *(Tessie), Quinn Forrest Masterson (Bundles McCloskey/Howe/ensemble), Tommy McCarthy (Bert Healy/Wacky/ensemble), Andrea Mislan (Mrs. Pugh/ensemble), Ingrid Mojica *(Molly), Tinia Moulder (Perkins/ensemble), Danté Jamar Lamonte Murray (Oliver Warbucks), Paige Nelson *(Kate), Chris Owusu (Cop/ensemble), Daysha Ramsey (Lily St. Regis), Armando Harlow Ronconi (Assistant Dog Catcher/ensemble), Eve Scharback *(Annie), Emily Rose Skinner (Mrs. Greer/Sophie the Kettle/ensemble), Kate Spence (ensemble), Reese Sweeney *(Pepper), Penelope Talatinick *(July), Molly Toutant *(Tessie), Tony Vierling (Dog Catcher/Hull/Jimmy Johnson/ensemble), Kala Williams *(Kate).