Looking for the best way to leave behind the winter blahs and get ready for early springtime fun? Just take in a performance of Whitewater Middle School’s sparkling production of “Annie, Jr.” April 10 and 11 at 7 p.m. and April 12 at 2 p.m. in the James M. Stewart Auditorium at Whitewater High School.
General admission tickets are “Pay What You Can” for the April 10 performance, and $8 adults and $5 students for the April 11 and 12 performances. Tickets are available one hour before the performances.
Prior to the opening, Tom Ganser’s flashback photos from the WMS productions of “Shrek” (2022), “Seussical” (2023) and “Far Fetched Fairytales” (2024) will be shown
Under the direction of Jim McCulloch, Alyssa Orlowski, and MacKenzie Gehrke, the cast includes Alanna Alaniz, Camdyn Avila, Lucy Baldwin, KinLeigh Dvorak, Laylah George-Ortiz, Aurora Gerblick, Suleyka Granado, Raena Hicks, Amelia Lefaive, Karlee Luna, Avery Schultz-Majkrzak, Emma Schultz-Majkrzak, Ava Nass, Samantha O’Donnell, Donovan Ross, Ade Runnoe, Melody Smith, Serina Soto, Sylvia Straight, Lily Tranel, Felicity Volbright, Zachary Welsh, Joseph Werhane, and Mariah Williams,.
Set designer Kat Dunham and scenic painter Kerry Ramsden guide the backstage crew of Evie Baker, Sydney Block, Corbin Bunger, Josie Davis, Shae Onstott, Cora Schimming, Camila Suarez, Paxton Wilson, and Arlo Zotti.
Based on “Annie,” the popular 1977 Tony-winning musical that ran on Broadway for nearly six years, “Annie, Jr.” features a wonderful score, including the Broadway smash hit, “Tomorrow” with its promising message so important today: “The sun’ll come out tomorrow, so ya gotta hang on ‘til tomorrow, come what may. Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya, tomorrow! You’re only a day away!”
With a perfect combination of street-smarts and optimism, Annie warms the hearts of the audience as we witness her rise from next-to-nothing in New York City. She is determined to find her parents, who left her at the orphanage years ago. However, things don’t quite work out the way she has planned. She does however thwart the plans of the evil Miss Hannigan and find a new family with billionaire Oliver Warbucks, secretary Grace Farrell, and her lovable pooch, Sandy.
