Toby's Dinner Theatre of Columbia, Maryland, picks a brand new Annie Warbucks musical for their 1994-95 season. For its run from December 7 to March 5, 1995, Annie Warbucks, is the perfect show as a bridge from the holiday season to the winter months of February and March.
Toby's production is both festive and family oriented. To bring holiday cheer, the production starts with the last memorable scenes of Annie. Annie has a home and holidays surrounded by adopted father, Daddy Warbucks, Grace Farrell, and Daddy Warbucks' servants.
The holiday atmosphere has all the appropriate trappings such as a Christmas tree. Also, for their theatre-in-the-round, Toby's uses the walls enclosing the audience seating area for creative lighted panels. For this production lighted panels feature sights associated with Annie's Fifth Avenue mansion.
The above mentioned characters--Annie, Daddy Warbucks, Grace Farrell--and others would not be complete without the adept actresses and actors in these roles. For Toby's fans, the favorites return in some featured roles. Rick Stohler makes a believable Daddy Warbucks. Amy D. Forbes is a perfect fit for her role as Grace Farrell. Lynne Sigler, another Toby's veteran plays Mrs. Doyle, the Child Welfare Commissioner. Lynne Sigler is also the costume designer for this show.
As Mrs. Doyle, Lynne Sigler looks and acts like all those bureaucratic types who are more concerned with procedures than people. For the orphans, Toby's has double cast Annie Warbucks with the orphans' cast appearing on an alternating schedule.
Depending on the night you choose to go to Toby's, you may see either Stephanie Jill Abrams or Jalleh Faye in the role of Annie. You may recall Stephanie Abrams from her appearance in Burn Brae's Annie, in the role of Molly. Also, you may have seen Stephanie Abrams in such movies as Serial Mom and The Pelican Brief.
You may have seen Jalleh Faye in the role of Kate in Burn Brae's Annie. Besides Annie, Jalleh Faye has appeared in South Pacific, The King and I, That Holiday Feeling among other area productions.
For the number of times that I have seen Annie, at Dinner and Community Theatres, I confess to a bias for others in this role. Nevertheless, my bias should not sway you in any way from going to and enjoying Toby's Annie Warbucks.
Toby s makes Annie Warbucks delightfully festive and delightfully dramatic and fun with Mrs Doyle. As the Child Welfare Commissioner, Mrs. Doyle exerts her bureacratic pressure on Daddy Warbucks to find a mother for Annie. At this point the plot's twists and turns lead you on a merry and mysterious chase before Daddy Warbucks finally finds a mother for Annie.
Musical numbers and Toby's cast take you on a tour from Annie's home town to Tennessee. The company's rendition of Annie Aint't Just Annie Anymore takes place in the living room of the Warbucks' mansion. The orphans get to sing The Other Woman, in their downtown Manhatten orphanage. Mrs. Doyle (Lynne Sigler) and Mrs. Kelly (Eileen Ward) show the force of bureaucratic law with a tune entitled Above the Law, at Commissioner Doyle's Office. From among these tunes and others, you can pick your favorite.
Annie Warbucks with book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin continues at Toby's through March 7, 1995. Following this production, Toby's has Fiddler on the Roof, from March 8 to June 18; Beehive, from June 21 to August 13; Forever Plaid, from August 16 to October 8; and Hello Dolly, opening on October 12. For information and reservations call 410-730-8311 (Columbia) or 301- 596 -6161 (Washington). When you call ask about Toby's Youth Theatre Series.
Return to DC, MD, VA Arts Home Page
Return to DC, MD, VA Arts Page