Steadstyle Chicago
	May 2009 Theatre Review by Joe Stead
	Annie It has been a quarter of a century since I wrote my very first theatre review at the tender age of twelve.  The show was "Annie" and the venue a dinner theatre in Orlando, Florida.  My return visit to the renowned Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre in Indianapolis thus felt like a return to a special and familiar place from my childhood.  I wondered how many of the numerous children in the matinee audience I attended were seeing their first live play and if any of them would be touched as indelibly as I had been by those two most glorious words in the English language: musical comedy.  I can't think of a finer place for that introduction to occur than the Beef & Boards, whose reputation for excellence in food, entertainment and service remains unchallenged after 35 years. Ever since 1977, hardly a sun has come up without the plucky red-headed orphan, her wealthy benefactor and adorable pooch.  Those who have only the mediocre film version of "Annie" as a reference point certainly owe it to themselves to experience Author Thomas Meehan, Composer Charles Strouse and Lyricist Martin Charnin's vastly superior live stage version.  That trio memorably took the optimistic heroine of Harold Gray's beloved comic strip "Little Orphan Annie" and brought her to life through an instantly hummable score and an efficient, squeaky clean Broadway libretto.  Annie's message of hope in the darkest days of America's first Great Depression certainly has resonance for audiences of today.  The jobless rate is once again at an all-time high, people are losing their homes and livelihoods, and even the richest Americans are feeling the pinch in the economy and the fear of war.  Our elected leaders and politicians are nothing but empty babble, and yet surely there are bright days ahead, if not today, well...cut to song cue! Director Eddie Curry and Choreographer Ron Morgan have mounted a credible, enjoyable and even occasionally heartwarming rendition of this Broadway classic.  If the show has a certain mechanical formula feel to it, that may be at least partially to do with the familiarity of the show itself as to the Beef & Boards version of it.  In a nod to the reality TV casting stunts of recent Broadway and London productions, B&B chose its current pint-sized leading lady from over 200 girls on a local TV show with the help of online voters.  To all those who still doubt the power of the Information Superhighway, stick that in your bonnets!  10-year-old Kara Oates is a cutie with a clear, bright young voice.  She and some of her fellow cast members often played the show by rote at the performance I caught, especially through the first act.  They should be encouraged and directed to have fun and stay in the moment more often.  They could all take tips from Ty Stover, B&B's Daddy Warbucks.  Stover, who is playing the bald-headed Capitalist with a heart for the third time, is a great big teddy bear with a terrific booming baritone voice.  When he takes the stage in the rousing "NYC" and the tender "Something Was Missing," something in the show magically clicks.  Stover's moments on stage are the best that this "Annie" has to offer.  He's a pro through and through. The so-called villains of the piece aren't really that villainous at all.  Miss Hannigan (Cynthia Collins), Rooster (Jeff Stockberger) and Lily (Carol Worcell) are little more than cardboard comic relief, and their "Easy Street" number isn't the show stopper it could be.  The real villain of the show is the Great Depression, and in true musical comedy spirit even that can be defeated with the right outlook and a song and dance.  The 9 orphans are strong, and young Gwendolyn Stout was a particular delight as Tessie.  John Vessels makes a memorable impression as both Drake, the dapper butler and Bert Healy, the smarmy radio crooner. Bravo as well to Roosevelt University Musical Theatre major Jessica Murphy, whose brief but winning solo as the Star-to-Be was electrifying.  With a voice like that, she certainly deserves her character's title.  Beef & Boards' production looks and sounds great, from the superb voices to the vibrant 5-piece orchestra.  And accompanied by Chef Odell Ward's delicious buffet dinner, it more than justifies the trip to Indianapolis.  Those who have never had the professional dinner theatre experience owe it to themselves to make the pilgrimage to Beef & Boards. Note to parents: While we love seeing young people exposed to live theatre, use some common sense in bringing the kids.  If your children are very young or have short attention spans, a 2 1/2 hour show even with children in it may not be the most appropriate.  "Annie" plays through July 3, 2009 at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, located at 9301 North Michigan Road in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Tickets for dinner and show range from $34 to $57, with $10 discounts on tickets for kids ages 3-15.  Call (317) 872-9664 or visit www.beefandboards.com.      About Joe Stead Joe Stead has enjoyed a lifelong passion for the theatre, which has involved acting, directing, producing, designing and reviewing for the past twenty-five years.  He served as founder, producer and Artistic Director of Curtain Up Productions in Baltimore, Maryland and Four Star Players in Tampa, Florida.  Favorite productions have included "Life With Father," "Deathtrap," "The Odd Couple," "The Miracle Worker," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "Godspell".  He has also performed leading roles in "Fiddler on the Roof," "Pippin," "The Phantom of the Opera," "The Front Page," and most recently as Hucklebee in "The Fantasticks" for Waukegan Community Players.  Joe holds a degree in Commercial Art from Tampa Technical Institute.  As a critic, he has reviewed everything from Broadway to community theatre and major regional theatres throughout the United States including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, and the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, Florida.  Since 1998, he has been a proud resident of Chicago, the greatest theatre city in America.  He served for two years as Theatre Editor for College News and Central Newspapers.  He created the website Steadstyle Chicago in 2000 to showcase the city's outstanding and diverse theatre scene.  Joe was proud to serve alongside a distinguished panel of theatre professionals as a judge for two seasons of Speaking Ring Theatre's "Vitality" Festival of original short plays.  His most fulfilling role, in addition to reviewer and all-around theatre fanatic, was as director of the 2007 production of Peter Shaffer's "Equus" at Actors Workshop (now Redtwist) Theatre, which was nominated for five Joseph Jefferson Award Citations and won for Best Actor (Peter Oyloe).