You can badmouth little girls all you want. You can complain about the cuteness factor. You can fret that the tyke behind you at the
opening night-performance of Annie is going to kick the back of your seat until she's blue in the face.

But the fact is that little girls are the backbone of Annie, that uncommonly cheerful musical comedy where an undersize female shows
FDR the road back to prosperity. If you don't have a grand lot of little girls, your Annie is stuck in Hooverville.

And grand these are, the seven little girls who populate the latest tour of Annie, a non-Equity bus-and-truck production that took over
this summer where a two-year-old national tour left off. The lack of Equity actors can mean a cast that's lean on age and experience.
This time around, a little youth is hardly a bad thing, and there's just enough experience to go around.

Even better for Orlando audiences, three of the seven are hometown girls, and they look as tickled pink as you can look in orphan garb
to be playing for their families and friends on the big stage at Bob Carr.

For this tour, lyricist Martin Charnin has stepped in as director for about the umpteenth time (among others, he directed the original
1977 production on Broadway and the 1997 revival), and he has brought to the show plenty of gloss and humor. The ensemble may
look a bit underpopulated during some of the production numbers, and in the little roles you see the same actors again and again. But
just about everything that matters in Annie is here, and that's enough to keep any 4-year-old happy.

That means an insidiously jolly Miss Hannigan (Lynn Andrews, a big woman with a big grasp of physical comedy) and a deliciously
irascible Oliver Warbucks (David Barton, who delights in Warbucks' gruffness). That means an appealing Grace Farrell (Abby Stevens)
and a droll FDR (Jeffrey B. Duncan, who bears little resemblance, but who cares?).

That means a big whitish scruff of a dog named Mikey, who follows orders and knows how to limp on demand. And it means a lot of
the aw-w-w-w factor for the seven orphans: Annalisa DiBernardo, Madison Zavitz, Marina Rose Macherone, Jaida-Iman Benjamin, Abby
Spare, Grace Elizabeth Etzkorn and Clermont's own Amanda Balon as Annie.

As the tiniest orphan, Molly, 11-year-old DiBernardo shows major spunk. And 10-year-old Balon is more or less a force of nature: She
has good timing, a trumpet of a voice and a grin that goes on forever.

Some of the ensemble numbers feel a bit pallid, and I didn't warm to Rooster and Lily (but surely I can blame the young man next to
me, who insisted on reading his text messages all through their big number).

But who's complaining when FDR's cabinet sings “Tomorrow” in such forceful harmony, or when an entire audience of previously
writhing 4-year-olds sits still and rapt for two hours and 40 minutes? Those little girls will get you – mark my words.

Elizabeth Maupin can be reached at emaupin@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5426.

Theater review
‘Annie'
What: Touring production of Charles Strouse-Martin Charnin-Thomas Meehan musical.
Where: Carr Performing Arts Centre, 401W. Livingston St., Orlando.
When: 8 p.m. today, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
Cost: $35-$64.
Call: 407-839-3900.
Online: BroadwayacrossAmerica.com.
Orlando native, 10 yr old Amanda Balon stars in
the title role in the Broadway Musical Tour at the
Carr Performing Arts Centre. (Seen here with
Mikey as "Sandy")
photo by Joan Marcus
Theater review: In 'Annie,' thank heaven for little girls
Sep 19, 2007
The review will be in the Calendar section of the Sentinel Friday, and the tour continues
here through Sunday night.

By Elizabeth Maupin
SENTINEL THEATER CRITIC