By Dana Klosner-Wehner
The musical chronicles a group of orphans set during the depression.
"Annie represents the hope of the country, her glass is half full," said artistic director, Laura Wallace-Rhodes. During the show Annie is taken by billionaire Oliver Warbucks for a week at Christmastime. He falls in love with the child and wants to adopt her. But when she was left at the orphanage she was left with a note from her parents that they would return. Warbucks does everything to he to find her parents. I can't tell you the rest that would spoil the story.
There are 22 cast members and twelve of those are kids. Rehearsals have been every night except Sundays for two to three hours a night. But the kids in the cast are having a great time and love every minute of it.
"I loved this show ever since I was little," said 10-year-old Alexa Joseph a fifth-grader from Smithtown, who is one of the two girls that play Annie. "I thought it would be a really good opportunity." Alexa is no newcomer to acting. She has been in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the Smithtown Performing Arts Center and "Oliver" at the Township Theater Group twice.
Alexa said there are similarities between her character and herself.
"She's very happy and hopeful all the time," Alexa said. "I always try to be."
Alexa enjoys acting.
"I like getting to be someone else," she said. "I get to learn everything about another person's life."
And acting benefits her when she's off the stage. "Acting gives her confidence," said Rose Diaferio, Alexa's grandmother. "It gives her a chance to get her inner feelings out...It gives her insight into different kinds of people in the world."
Christina Parsons, who goes by the stage name Mehera Woods, 13, a seventh-grader at H. Frank Carey High School in Franklin Square loves playing Pepper - the mean girl.
"It's more fun to play mean people than good people," Christina said. "You can make more of a back story [as to] why they're mean. There's always a reason why someone's mean." The story Christina has come up with as to why Pepper is mean is that she has been in the orphanage the longest. She wasn't dropped off when she was a baby, she was dropped off when she was two-years-old. She remembers her parents and she's very jealous of Annie.
Christina has been in "Madeline's Christmas," twice, "The Velveteen Rabbit," and "Evita" all at the Broadhollow Theater, and "Turtletales," a series of original plays at the Performing Arts Center in Manhattan. She loves acting.
"It's an escape from the real world," Christina said. "It gives you a chance to let go and have fun. What you do in a play can't have consequences in your real life."
The BroadHollow Theatre is a regional theater company. About 30 kids auditioned for the twelve roles, Wallace-Rhodes said.
"We look for people who can take direction," Wallace-Rhodes said. "We look for people that are not so stuck in the way they perceive a role. They can be open to interpretation."
The kids get a lot out of being involved in the show.
"It definitely helped her to grow as an individual," said Val Losquadro, whose 14-year-old daughter Gianna plays July, the oldest orphan. Gianna, who lives on the Queens side of Floral Park, started with the BroadHollow Theatre two years ago. She is currently a 9th grader at the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan. "Her self-esteem has gone up so much since she started with Laura at the BroadHollow," Val Losquadro said. "She teaches them the basics of acting."
Wallace-Rhodes also has the children do research for their roles.
"[The kids] had homework like watching Depression-era movies. They had to do research on the Depression and learn about Herbert Hoover and FDR," said Tracy Mullahey, who's 8-year-old daughter, Madison, is one of three girls that play Molly, the youngest orphan. "They learned about what Hobovilles are, what the Depression was about and how it started."
"It's been amazing for her," Mullahey said. "It's amazing to see how she totally gets into character. She thrives on it. It's great to see her so focused and work so hard on something without it being like a job. I never hear complaints about the long hours."
"It's a lot of time and it's worth every minute of it," said Gianna Losquadro. "The cast, Laura and everyone are such a pleasure to work with. It's fun to listen and watch and take in tips."
The theater is an integral part of the community.
"I think the theater at the Elmont library is a treasure for the community," said Deborah Woodhouse-Parsons, Christina's mom. "It educates the children. Live theater is so different from movies and videos. There is energy between [the performers and the audience.] That to me is really exciting."
"Children have a chance to audition and perform," Woodhouse-Parsons said. "And if they're not interested in doing that they can come see kids doing it."
