Review: Bost Musicals' Annie at Liverpool Empire ****1/2
It’s a big year for BOST. In fact, this is the start of two big years for the Merseyside musical theatre company.
In July it’s involved in one of the first amateur productions of Les Misérables, partnering with the Liverpool Empire Creative Learning team.
The production forms part of the Empire’s centenary year in 2025, but BOST is just behind the theatre with its own 100th birthday coming up in 2026, so expect big news and big shows.
Ahead of all that, the company has another big production on its hands in this cheery, spirited version of family favourite Annie drawing deserved full houses for its four-show run.
While BOST Musicals is nominally an amateur company, it maintains professional production values, and despite not having a safety net of big investors it certainly pulls out all the stops to present polished pieces of theatre.
Where it does have the edge on professional productions – and surely to the envy of their creative teams - is in the sheer size of its cast, particularly in this case the ensemble of sparky orphans, homeless inhabitants of New York’s Depression era ‘Hooverville’ and phalanx of staff in Warbucks' Fifth Avenue mansion.
They fill the Empire’s huge stage and, under James Lacey-Kiggins’ keen direction, together with the production’s full orchestra they create a rousing sound as well as executing the show’s choreographed numbers with aplomb.
Above: The Hooverville ensemble. Top: Thea Baa as Annie. Photos by David Munn.
Meanwhile a glance at the programme reveals that many of the production’s leading actors have training and backgrounds in the industry, and that also shows in their performances – not least those of Linzi Stefanov as the booze-soaked Miss Hannigan and Jennifer Swanepoel as Grace, Oliver Warbucks’ calm and capable female factotum. Both have real stage presence and powerful voices.
Stefanov, sporting tangled Bette Midler hair, forms an entertaining triumvirate with Mark McManus as Miss Hannigan’s scheming chancer brother Rooster and Bridie Round as his squeaky 'moll' Lily.
Meanwhile Jonty Barnes is an assured billionaire businessman whose flinty heart is melted by the glass-half-full Annie, Tony Prince nails it as an instantly recognisable Franklin D Roosevelt, and Michael Pearson gleefully nips off with every scene he’s in as the smooth-talking, razzle dazzling radio announcer Bert Healy.
Above: Linzi Stefanov as Miss Hannigan and Jennifer Swanepoel as Grace. Photo by David Munn.
At the heart of the action of course is the titular ‘little orphan’ and Thea Baa, sharing the role over the four performances with Siena Williams, is very impressive in what is her first full-length production.
The role is a demanding one for a young performer - Annie is on stage for much of the show and in addition to the musical’s plaintive anthem Tomorrow she’s also at the heart of many of its other big numbers.
But Baa shines as a leader among the orphan children (all very good) and more than holds her own in scenes with the adult cast. She even wrangles one of the production’s trio of dogs with seeming ease (and with the help of a sneaky treat).
Proceedings got off to a bit of a slow start last night with a tentative overture, and there was the odd hiatus here and there between scenes, but one suspects given BOST’s attention to detail that these were just first night teething troubles which have already been fixed.