Last night my sister and I had the pleasure of going to see the musical Annie at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne. We hadn't been to a musical since A Chorus Line back in February so it was nice to go to the theatre again - a place I've been so many times before and I never tire of.
All details under the cut ... no outfit photos sadly. My sister doesn't know about my blog so ....
We arrived in the city around 6pm and grabbed dinner. We went to Time Out Melbourne at Fed Square. It was so cold so we ate inside but it was a nice place and the waiters were really friendly. Our lovely British waiter commented how she liked my maxi skirt - it was so sweet :) I ordered the Pumpkin and Feta Pizza - it was amazing! If you're ever there, I highly recommend it! My sister and I also treated ourselves to a cocktail. Mine was called the Super Lucky Lady (extra luck for hopefully meeting Anthony Warlow after the show couldn't hurt). We ate, talked, drank and with an hour until the show, we headed off to the theatre.
^ my sister ordered the steak sandwich with fries
^ my sister ordered a midori champagne cocktail
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We arrived at the Regent Theatre and there was already a big crowd forming outside. We had VIP tickets so we walked up the red carpet to the VIP counter to collect our vouchers for our free ice cream and beverage. We were one of the first people in the theatre, so with an hour until the show, we took a seat in the foyer, ate our ice cream and drank alcoholic apple cider. We then took our seats for the show to begin.
^ outside the gorgeous Regent Theatre
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The show itself was amazingly good. It wasn't my favourite musical but it was very well done. I enjoyed the sets, costumes, singing, dancing. It was all top quality. My favourite song during the whole musical was It's a Hard Knock Life. I thought the children did an amazing job at really putting anger and passion into the song.
Our Annie for the night was Caitlin Marks. She (in character) was a very polite, well spoken with an amazing voice. I haven't seen the movie Annie in a very long time so I couldn't/can't remember any of the story so whether or not Annie is like that in the movies, I'm unsure. I can't compare her to any previous versions.
My one disappoint of the show was probably the relationship between Daddy Warbucks and Annie. It seemed like it came about too quickly. They go for some visit to the movies and straight away he adores her. I understand why they had to do that, limited time and otherwise they would have had to put in some pointless scene.
I thought that Todd McKinney did a brilliant job as Rooster but I almost wish that his dancing was more sloppy. I feel like sloppy would have matched the character more. Anthony Warlow, as always, was brilliant. I read somewhere that it was his choice to do Annie again and I can't help but think that it's likely that he chose it because he doesn't have to be on the stage as much as previous musical. Consider, Doctor Zhivago where he was on the stage for most of the time. It's understandable that he would want some kind of break. I do however think that his voice was under utilised in this musical, but once again, that's the natural of this musical - he isn't the centre character, Annie is. So it wouldn't have made any sense. Although I do like how they wrote a song for him to sing in this musical. It was a gorgeous song but I know can't remember any of it, lol.
I'm a sucker for a group number so my favourite performances were all the group numbers.
All up it is a great musical - especially if you're a fan of the musical or movies. And really good for all the family. Like usual, there wasn't a lack of oldies in the theatre. Or kids, which is to be expected.
After the show finished, my sister and I went around to the side door so I could hopefully get a photo with Anthony Warlow. I had read that he likes to play games and doesn't always like to leave through the same door. There was only two doors he could leave from and that was the front entrance or the stage door. Sadly though, he must have left through the front entrance because he never appeared to the big crowd that was waiting for him at the stage door. After waiting an hour, we decided to finally leave - we got home just before 1am disappointed but happy to have seen the show. I did see the dogs and Todd McKinney - also many of the other cast. Nancye Hayes was lovely. She chatted with the crowd and signed autographs. I could have gotten one but I wasn't after autographs, I wanted a photo so I decided not to - perhaps if I'd known that Anthony wasn't coming out, I might have gotten one.
It's funny though because I'm not upset that I didn't get to meet him. I just figure that it wasn't supposed to be and I'll just have to meet him next time :)
x
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