Upcoming Events

As one production finishes, it is time to start looking ahead and we are so excited to announce the launch night of Peter Pan - A Muscial Adventure is now confirmed .

SUNDAY 8th SEPTEMBER

6.30pm - 8.00pm

The Arch, Station Lane, Chandler's Ford, SO53 4DD

Come along and meet members of the Creative Team, find out more about the production itself, find out key dates and information and most importantly of all a chance to chat and catch up / meet new people.  

The evening is completely informal and please feel free to spread the word.  There is an event on Facebook which can be shared.

It is always a treat to see a Centrestage Youth production and Annie is no exception. With a ‘chorus’ of 49 girls and boys, in addition to the 21 characters named in the programme, it is frankly impossible to select any individuals for extra praise, which is fortunate because the entire cast operate brilliantly as an ensemble.

This is massively to the credit of directors, William Ross-Jones and Mike Mullen, and the choreographers, Kiera Moorhouse and Ashley Sheath. 99.9% of the ensemble look like they know exactly where they are meant to be and what they are meant to be doing 99.9% of the time. This is no mean feat to achieve with a large adult cast, let alone a cast aged 8 – 18. The orphans in particular are well into their roles, particularly the irrepressible Molly (Anna Pearce-Williams). Chorus numbers are delivered with gusto and clear enjoyment, especially Hard Knock Life and the closing number,New Deal for Christmas.

Annie asks a lot of its heroine as she has one of the most iconic numbers of ‘children’s’ musicals in Tomorrow. Lily Rochford, in her first major role, shows herself more than up to the task. Opening the show with Maybe (not the easiest song) she shows her ability to sing and act. She also has the job of working not only with children but with an animal, Milo (Sandy) in his slightly reluctant debut. All credit to Lily for singing straight out to the audience while surreptitiously palming dog treats from pocket to pup and keeping a firm hand on the leash!

For anyone who doesn’t know the story (apparently this is possible), Annie is left at an orphanage as a baby, with a note promising that her parents would return for her. This makes her different to the other orphans, as she has hope. The orphanage is run by Miss Hannigan (a great performance from Danniella Green in her first show for CPYT) who reveals how much she hates her charges in Little Girls and she longs to make it to Easy Street. Both of these numbers are delivered by Danniella with humour and a maturity belying her years. Easy Street is an entertaining comic trio with Rooster Hannigan (Sam Archer-Scott) and Lily St Regis (Immie Crabtree).

When the secretary to billionaire Mr Warbucks arrives to select an orphan to join his household for Christmas, Annie enchants Grace Farrell (Ciara Harman in another nicely controlled and mature performance) and goes back to the Warbucks mansion. Warbucks (Karcsi Wright, occasionally a little hesitant), expecting a boy, is initially reluctant but comes to love Annie.

Other highlights are the Roosevelt cabinet, (led by Hayden Deadman as Roosevelt) harmonising Tomorrow and the Boylan Sisters (Holly Standfield, Jessie Love and Millie Harrison), You’re Never Fully Dressed without a Smile.

This is a show with several locations and the stage manager (Alan Pawley) and backstage crew are to be congratulated on changing the well-designed pieces of scenery with minimal fuss. Sound and lighting are effective, although there are minor issues with hearing a few characters, particularly Roosevelt, but to mention this is picky considering the issues of getting the levels right for such a large cast.

Amazingly, hidden somewhere is an excellent 20-strong band, led by musical director Nigel Finch.

This show is huge fun and is highly recommended, if you can get there. It runs for three more performances.

With perhaps one of the best-known songs in the history of musicals as its anchor, Annie gives children of all ages the perfect opportunity to show off their acting, singing and dancing talents to the full, and Directors Will Ross-Jones and Mike Mullen have made the most of the abilities of the show’s huge cast to create a most enjoyable evening’s entertainment.

Originally based on the Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, the Tony Award-winning Broadway show premiered in 1977, followed in 1982 by the film version which starred Albert Finney and Carol Burnett. Since then it has continued to be revived all over the world.

The story revolves around the fortunes of our heroine Annie (Lily Rochard), who we first meet in an orphanage run by the alcoholic dragon who is Miss Hannigan, the matron (Danniella Green). Lily, in her first major role with CPYT, showed a maturity way beyond her 12 years, and never put a foot wrong, taking ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘I Think I’m Going To Like It Here’ in her stride, while Danniella delivered a great comic character, ‘Little Girls’ being the stand-out number, showing her utter dislike of her orphaned charges.

During the course of the show we meet billionaire Oliver ‘Daddy’ Warbucks (a slightly diffident Karcsi Wright), who plucks Annie out of the orphanage and ultimately adopts her, Ciara Harman’s nicely-judged Grace Farrell (Warbucks’ secretary), and the scheming pair ex-con Rooster (Sam Archer-Scott) and brassy Lily St. Regis (Immie Crabtree), both intent on conning Warbucks out of the huge reward on offer by posing as Annie’s long-lost parents, their ‘Easy Street’ number with Miss Hannigan, Rooster’s sister, signalling their clear intent to defraud the billionaire.

Of course the main strength of CPYT is the chorus, with a huge and varied cast of boys and girls of all ages, and they were never better used than in the many ensemble numbers, ‘Hard Knock Life’, ‘Hooverville’ and ‘A New Deal For Christmas’ being particularly strong.

Great credit, too, to Choreographers Kiera Leech and Ashley Sheath for their achievement in getting so many children to move in the same direction at the same time, to Musical Director Nigel Finch and his excellent band of musicians and to the huge Wardrobe team under the direction of Nicki Moohouse.

The show may only be running until the end of the week, but there’s an awful lot of enjoyment packed into those three nights.

REVIEW: ANNIE, CPYT - The Berry Theatre

Annie is the latest production to be staged by Centrestage Productions Youth Theatre (CPYT) and this young cast have certainly worked hard to put this production together.

12 year old Lily Rochard played the leading lady "Annie" and with her superb singing voice and clear diction it was clear why she was chosen for the role. Huge congratulations - this is the best I have seen this role played for a long time!

Ciara Harman who confidently and professionally played the role of Grace Farrell was a joy to watch on the stage. A star of the future!

Karcsi Wright (Daddy Warbucks) and Daniella Green (Miss Hannigan) confidently owned the stage while Sam Archer-Scott (Rooster) and Immie Crabtree (Lily St. Regis) clearly had lots of fun performing the well known 'Easy Street'.

The main orphan gang were slick and delivered their lines clearly and with pace. These girls were supported by the whole cast and the first half favourite was definitely 'Hard Knock Life' which was the best I have ever seen! CPYT's smallest members shone bright, and had the audience smiling everytime they came on stage. Choreographers Kiera Leech and Ashley Sheath should be extremely proud of their efforts - especially in the number previously mentioned.

Other members of the production team (Will Ross-Jones, Michael Mullen, Nigel Finch) should all be congratulated, striving to achieve the best of the all of the children in the cast, no matter their age, ability or role. I am sure the production team are incredibly proud of their completed project.

The audience thoroughly enjoyed the show, and CPYT certainly enjoyed performing! How lucky are we to have such amazing talent within our community.

You "betcha bottom dollar" that this one excellent show that CPYT should be very proud of.

Annie runs at The Berry Theatre until Saturday 3rd August.