The first movie I remember seeing in a movie theater was John Huston’s 80s film version of Annie — the one with Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks and Carole Burnett as Miss Hanigan. Burnett’s drunken spinster entertained little me nearly as much as the film’s climax high atop the steel girders of a New York City bridge terrified me. The story revolves an orphan (Annie), an eternal optimist who tries to make the best of every situation while living in a poorly run orphanage (thanks to the loathsome Miss Hannigan) hoping that someday a nice family will take her in. Tough, clever and ever-persistent, Annie soon becomes an inspiration and a sign of hope to the other orphans. When millionaire Daddy Warbucks enters the picture, life for everyone quickly turns in a new direction.  

Annie first entered our hearts from Day One of its opening on Broadway in 1977. And all these decades and movie versions and various stage productions later, it’s the songs of this show that have still stuck with me. My youngest was a toddler when the latest film version was released a few years back, and she quickly became enamored of Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin’s songs, too—some of her first words were stammered while she danced to “It’s the Hard Knock Life.” So, we were both excited for the new production of the Tony Award-winning musical Annie at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. And, like so many Broadway in Chicago productions, this one does a stellar job of putting on a beloved show full of song after song after song that are, as the kids would say, real bangers. Skillfully directed by Jenn Thompson and wonderfully choreographed by Patricia Wilcox this production checks all the boxes and then some. And Director Jenn Thompson knows a thing or two about Annie having played the role of "Pepper" in the original Broadway prodution at age ten.

(L to R) Krista Curry, Nick Bernardi and Stefanie Londino in the National Tour of ANNIE. Photo Credit_ Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

And, like so many productions of Annie, it’s the kids who make this one special. Emulating the lead character to near perfection, Ellie Pulsifer as Annie looks the part, and charms with the show’s opener, “Maybe” (a song I’ve lullabied my kids with for two decades), but like a pro she holds back until her first time through “Tomorrow”—did I mention this show is full of great songs? —when she lets loose, the applause matches her effort.

The other orphans had set the bar for Pulsifer already, their orphanage dormitory stomp “It’s the Hard Knock Life” and its reprise getting the audience excited from the beginning. My daughter and my beloved Molly shine here, played by Bronte Harrison, but the rest of the children are wonderful, too. They’re only matched when Addison, the rescue dog playing Sandy, arrives onstage. Sandy is trained by Tony Award Honoree William Berloni whose skillset was also utilized in A Christmas Story and Legally Blonde.

The adults in the show ain’t half bad, either. Like most national tour companies, they’re really, really good, and the large ensemble nicely populates Depression-era New York. Stefanie Londino as Miss Hannigan fills the Cadillac Palace Theatre with her voice during “Little Girls,” and shows great chemistry with Nick Bernardi’s Rooster, her ex-con brother, on my favorite, “Easy Street,” along with his squeaky moll, Lily, played by Krista Curry.

And Christopher Swan’s Daddy Warbucks is all heart — both for Annie and for his hometown, especially on “NYC,” a song that hasn’t made it into every production, but should, as it’s as good as the others I’ve already listed.

So, if you’re a fan of this beloved show, of its beloved characters, and of these beloved songs that have become Broadway standards, make your way to the Cadillac Palace Theatre for Annie, now through March 19th. For tickets and/or more show information, click here.