Review: Annie is a hit at Venue Cymru

Nov 4 2009 By Tony Coates

Su Pollard in Annie

SO now we know who saved America and the world in the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Annie was more than a musical; it was educational and painted a picture – albeit lighthearted – of the effects of a recession similar to the one that we are currently experiencing.

It should have been made compulsory viewing for politicians and audience members converging on Venue Cymru for Question Time a couple of nights after the opening of the musical.

Little Lydia Tunstall was superb in the title role, but even she was upstaged by the cameo appearances of a dog called Danny, an award winner in Crufts and in his eighth tour of Annie.

The blend of nine kids and Annie worked perfectly, with Sue Pollard interacting superbly as the inebriate orphanage manager Miss Hannigan.

The storyline could not fail to impress, and with many families in the virtually sold- out first night, it was just like a pantomime with discipline.

The heartstrings were really tugged, but in a measured, marvellous way by a superb cast sympathetic to the message of love and hope.

The result introduces a fabulous feelgood factor that is way off the scale and a tonic for anyone looking to beat off the depressing news currently being fed to us on a daily basis.