TRIED AND TRUE

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Annie is an excellent choice for Boston University Wheelock Family Theatre’s holiday offering this year. True to the mission of Wheelock Family Theatre (to create professional theatre and educational experiences for artists and audiences of all ages), the audience last night included many under the age of 18, as well as many who were likely BU theater students and full-grown adults. A well-constructed multi-award-winning musical, Annie (book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin) has withstood the test of time since its 1977 Broadway debut. It offers viewers of all ages a wonderful theatrical experience, whether it is their first exposure to live theater or whether they have seen Annie many times before. The cast, orchestra, and crew of this production, directed by Nick Vargas, brings to the stage all the sweetness of this story about a little girl who never loses her sense of hope in the face of adversity.

The Cast

Based on Harold Gray’s 1924 comic strip Little Orphan Annie, the musical is set in December of 1933, during the Great Depression, with the climax taking place on Christmas day. Sky Vaux Fuller delivers Annie with powerful and touching vocals and a winning determination to her belief in a happy ending to life, and Audrey Chan is an adorable Molly, the littlest orphan.

Sky Vaux Fuller and Audrey Chan

The ever-versatile De’Lon Grant (Ain’t No Mo,’ Pru Payne, A Strange Loop, A Case for the Existence of God) gives us an Oliver Warbucks who is vulnerable beneath his sense of entitlement and who credibly comes to recognize the need for human connection (and who neatly steers clear of any association with Jeffrey Epstein in his portrayal of a billionaire charmed by a little girl). Shannon Lee Jones, as the hard-drinking, love-hungry, villainous orphanage director Miss Hannigan, belts out “Little Girls” and “Easy Street” so well that we almost feel sympathy for her.

Shannon Lee Jones and the Orphans

Pearl Scott, Brian Pereira Coelho, and Chip Phillips stand out as secretary and butler to Warbucks and as President Roosevelt, respectively, as does ensemble member and newsie Firo Oliva Ridge in this large cast of talented and energetic performers.

De’Lon Grant, Pearl Scott, and Brian Pereira Coelho

Gideon, a beautiful and well-trained Sandy the dog, deserves a mention as well. The inclusion of F.D.R.’s cabinet and advisors as a dance ensemble is a fun touch for history buffs, though it likely goes right over the heads of most in the audience.

Sky Vaux Fuller and Gideon

Ryan Bates’s well-constructed set carries us smoothly from orphanage to mansion. Only the transitions to and from the busy urban backdrop for the lively “N.Y.C.” dance number required a curtain to be drawn. Joy Clark’s choreography provides period-appropriate kick lines and a delightful staircase number for Annie and Warbucks; a ten-piece orchestra backs up all the great vocals (Jon Goldberg, music director).

Firo Oliva Ridge

De’Lon Grant and Sky Vaux Fuller are reason enough to see this show, but the reasons don’t stop there. This well-directed production brings multiple talents to the fore. Like a perfect holiday gift, this Annie is a neatly wrapped production that brings surprises and happy memories, appreciation for those who offer it, and a renewed sense of hope that tomorrow, indeed, will bring a better day.

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photos by Benjamin Rose

Annie
Wheelock Family Theatre
Boston University Fenway Campus
200 The Riverway, Boston MA 02215
ends on December 21, 2025
2 hours and 30 minutes with intermission; ages 6 +
for tickets, visit Wheelock

for more shows, visit Theatre in Boston

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BIO: Lynne Weiss is a member of the Boston Theater Critics Association. Her work has also appeared in Literary Ladies Guide and in The Common, Black Warrior Review, and the Ploughshares Blog. She has an MFA from UMass Amherst and has received residencies from Yaddo, the Millay Colony, and Vermont Studio Center and grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. A lifelong social justice activist, she is at work on a novel set in 1930s Cornwall. Her reviews, travel tales, and progressively optimistic opinions are on her substack.