Annie
Synopsis: New York City, Christmas 1933. Annie, a scrappy kid stuck in Miss Hannigan’s orphanage, lands an invitation to spend the holidays with billionaire Oliver Warbucks. But Annie still hopes to find the parents who left her, and Miss Hannigan has her own ideas about how to cash in.
Starring: Eve Scharback and Alayna Gardner (Annie, alternating), Danté Jamar Lamonte Murray (Oliver Warbucks), Serena Brook (Miss Hannigan), Anna Hashizume (Grace Farrell), Thomas Bevan (Rooster Hannigan), Daysha Ramsey (Lily St. Regis), Mark King (FDR) and Addison (Sandy)
Written By: Book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin
Directed By: Tamara Kangas Erickson (director and choreographer), Andy Kust (music director)
Design: Nayna Ramey (scenic), Rich Hamson (costumes), Sue Ellen Berger (lighting), Russ Haynes (sound), Lex Patton (hair and makeup)
Production Type: Professional (includes members of Actors’ Equity Association)
Venue: Main Stage, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, Chanhassen
Running Length: 2 hours, 25 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission
Content Advisory: Suitable for all audiences. Chanhassen Dinner Theatres does not admit children under 5.
Now Playing: Through February 27, 2027
Performance Reviewed: Friday, October 9, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. (opening night)
In This Performance: Annie: Eve Scharback. Orphans: Lucy Anderson, Eloise Cassens, Evie Blake, Penelope Talatinick, Margot Lukkasson and Kala Willms
Show Review in Brief: Chanhassen brings Annie home for a third time, directed and choreographed by an orphan from the 1983 cast. Eve Scharback’s sincere Annie and a terrific ensemble had me on my feet in tears.
4.5 out of 5 Spotlights
Review:
The 1982 film version of Annie was the first movie I ever saw in a theater. Years later, I performed in my first, and so far only, show at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, where a fellow cast member became the first person to encourage me to start this website.
So when it came time to write the very first review for Off Screen, On Stage, it felt just about perfect that I’d be starting with Annie at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. And that sense of coming full circle extended well beyond my own history with the theater. This production has deep roots at Chanhassen, making Annie an especially fitting show to launch this new chapter. Better yet, the production gives me plenty to celebrate.
Annie at Chanhassen, Then and Now
In 1971, lyricist Martin Charnin got a book of Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie comic strips for Christmas. He saw a musical in it. He teamed with composer Charles Strouse and book writer Thomas Meehan, who set the story in Depression-era New York in 1933. The idea was to answer the gloomy mood of the 1970s with a story about hope. After years of rejections, it debuted at Goodspeed Opera House in 1976. It opened on Broadway on April 21, 1977, ran for 2,377 performances and won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. A sequel (Annie Warbucks) never made it to Broadway, but the original returns there in 2027 for its 50th anniversary.
Annie and Chanhassen go back a long way. Its first Annie opened in 1983 under founding artistic director Gary Gisselman. It ran 56 consecutive weeks, still the longest-running musical in Main Stage history. Annie returned in 2004 under Michael Brindisi, and now, 22 years later, it’s back again. This time it’s directed and choreographed by Tamara Kangas Erickson, who played one of the orphans in that 1983 cast. On opening night, the original 1983 leads were in the house: Andrea Bebel (Annie), Phil Ross (Warbucks) and Claudia Wilkins (Miss Hannigan). Isabella Dawis and Tara Schwichtenberg, who shared the title role in 2004, were there too.
Now in its 58th year, Chanhassen is a family affair. Children and grandchildren of former company members turn up onstage, or on the wait staff hustling your meal out before the show. Explore the labyrinthine building beforehand for nods to past productions, like a beautiful model of the 1971 Fiddler on the Roof set.
"Tomorrow," Without the Eye Roll
I’ll admit it. A few short years ago, the word Annie made me roll my eyes at another chorus of “Tomorrow.” I’d seen bad productions and good ones, including one where Annie was played by a boy. Er, Andy. Then last year I saw the Stratford Festival production in Canada. It was a splendid, straightforward telling that put acting first, then dancing, then singing. I ended up on my feet with tears streaming down my face, and the same thing happened here.
It’s New York City, Christmas 1933, and Annie is stuck in Miss Hannigan’s orphanage. Then billionaire Oliver Warbucks invites her to spend the holidays at his mansion. Annie still hopes to find the parents who left her, though, and Hannigan has her own ideas about how to cash in.
Eve Scharback (alternating with Alayna Gardner) has to belt “Tomorrow” earlier than you might expect, and she does it beautifully. Her harder job is keeping Annie’s optimism from tipping into the saccharine sweetness that sets off the show’s skeptics. Scharback’s Annie is scrappy but sincere, honest but tender, direct but never rude. She’s lived the hard-knock life without letting it dim her spirit. That’s why the character was created in the first place, to bring joy in a time of great struggle. One line, “Maybe I’ll forget how nice he was to me,” had me in tears. I was dabbing my eyes with my dinner napkin long after I thought I was safe.
Warbucks, Hannigan and the "Easy Street" Crowd
Danté Jamar Lamonte Murray is still easing into Warbucks’s gruff, irascible side early on. He’s right at home with the warm, fatherly side, though, the man who wants to adopt Annie and wants only the best for her. By the end of the show, Murray makes you believe Warbucks has learned that being wanted for your love beats any stack of Wall Street bills. His singing is rich and warm, and he’ll only get stronger as he settles in.
The hardest job for any Hannigan is erasing Carol Burnett‘s performance in the film many of us grew up with. Serena Brook makes the role her own. Her line readings punctuate Hannigan’s boozy timing at unexpected moments, and her brassy alto can stand out or blend right in. As written, Grace Farrell can fade into the background, which is why Ann Reinking got extra dancing in the film. Anna Hashizume never lets that happen, and her bell-clear soprano has some steel in it. She plays Grace with, yes, grace, even when the script hands her scraps.
As Rooster Hannigan and Lily St. Regis, Thomas Bevan and Daysha Ramsey are leggy hoofers with terrific comic timing. Paired with Brook, they turn “Easy Street” into a rousing highlight of Act 1. Bevan’s limber limbs and Ramsey’s sky-high kicks would be enough on their own, but both characters arrive fully formed. They lean into the broad comedy, too, so these schemers never get too scary for the littlest folks in the audience.
Speaking of little folks, the orphans I saw were an exuberant bunch, and Lucy Anderson’s tiny Molly was an uproarious delight without stealing focus. This is one of the strongest ensembles I’ve seen at Chanhassen in years, with many performers making their debut. Watch for Chris Owusu’s little flourishes on his entrances as a Marine officer, Kaia T. Fitzgerald’s well-sung Star-to-Be and Emily Rose Skinner’s colorful Hooverville resident. Michael Gruber and Andrea Mislan find their own special moments as members of Warbucks’s staff.
And then there’s Mark King, a Chanhassen fixture for years as an ensemble member, dance captain and assistant choreographer, and the associate director here. He plays Franklin Delano Roosevelt and, forgive me for this one, really rises to the occasion. King plays him as more than a historical drop-in, and it pays off. The talk about the state of the country that Annie overhears carries real weight now. Then Annie leads FDR’s cabinet in a reprise of “Tomorrow” on the eve of the New Deal and you can almost believe a girl from the funny pages helped Washington’s stubborn minds find a way forward.
A Curtain Worth Wondering About
Meehan’s book has barely been tweaked, proof of how timeless Annie is almost fifty years on. Strouse and Charnin’s songs still do the heavy lifting, and music director Andy Kust’s ten-piece orchestra fills the room. Russ Haynes’s sound design keeps every voice clear over the band.
I loved the simplicity of Nayna Ramey’s set. She’s been designing for Chanhassen since 1988, and she knows how to use the space while keeping sightlines good from every angle. This time there’s a curtain stretching the length of the stage. As a kid, whenever my parents took me to shows, I always wondered what was behind a drawn curtain. Plenty of kids, and a fair share of adults, will feel that same anticipation over the next five months. Sue Ellen Berger’s lighting moves easily from the middle of the night at the orphanage to Times Square bustling at the holidays.
Rich Hamson’s costumes are, as usual, detailed and practical for whatever Erickson’s athletic choreography demands. Many looks are so convincing that I lost track of actors I know. Part of that is the wig work from Lex Patton, who has a great eye for continuity. Brook and Bevan, playing brother and sister, wear wigs with the same sly blond streaks.
Bet Your Bottom Dollar
Right now, plenty of people feel Washington will never find a way forward. Watching Annie and FDR pull it off so simply was incredibly moving. Maybe it was the history in the room. I think it was that plus a terrific cast Erickson has assembled that seemed to be sharing a story with us rather than telling one. Annie at Chanhassen gives us a standout young heroine who looks for the best, even in the worst of us. That’s a sun worth betting on.
Dinner and a Show
The full dining experience at Chanhassen is always part of the fun, and the menu has been updated again for Annie.
Our table started with the coconut shrimp and pork potstickers, both of which disappeared pretty quickly. Then came the traditional house salad and those warm buns I always want to ask for two more baskets of.
For dinner, we tried the parmesan-encrusted walleye with mashed potatoes and vegetables, along with a new menu item, Annie’s Mac & Cheese with Chicken. Naturally, I had to try the Annie-themed option. It was fine, but a little bland for my taste and definitely needed some extra seasoning to wake it up.
Dessert was much more my speed. We split slices of the sea salt caramel cheesecake and raspberry chocolate cheesecake, and yes, I also had my traditional grasshopper. At this point, I’m not sure a trip to Chanhassen counts unless I end the night with one.
The meal isn’t part of the Spotlight rating.
Where to See Annie
On the Main Stage at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres through February 27, 2027. Tickets are at chanhassendt.com or through the box office at 952-934-1525.
Disclosure: Chanhassen Dinner Theatres provided my tickets and dinner. I performed at Chanhassen in its 2009-2010 production of Oklahoma! and have worked with several members of this cast at Chanhassen and on other stages.
Quoting this review? Please credit: Joe Botten, Off Screen/On Stage (TheMNMovieMan.com)
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