Annie JR.

Book by Thomas Meehan. Music by Charles Strouse. Lyrics by Martin Charnin. Based on "Little Orphan Annie" by permission of The Media Tribune Services, Inc.
Presented at the Kay Meek Theatre in July 2018.
With a beloved book and score, Annie JR. features everyone’s favourite little redhead in her very first adventure. With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone's hearts through her journey to find her parents. Annie eventually finds a new home and family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary, Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy. This irrepressible comic strip heroine takes centre stage in one of the world's best-loved, award-winning musicals.

"I think that Annie holds a special place in our hearts because at its core it tells a story about family. In approaching this production, it was very important to me to explore how family can get us through the many struggles and challenges that come up as we navigate through life. I chose to have the play framed through the lens of a group of rag-tag orphans acting out the comic-book story of Annie. This way, every performer would have to work as a member of the team in order to tell our version of this story. Because within our conservatory, you could say that we have created a pretty big family that includes 45 children, myself, and a dedicated team of creatives, designers, and assistants. 
​When you leave the theatre today, I hope that you feel a sense of pride for the person that you know who was a part of our family. I hope that you share your love for them and I hope that you continue to spread that same love throughout the world. Because maybe, just maybe, that will be how we can ensure that the sun will continue to shine through until tomorrow."
~ Jacob Wolstencroft, Director's Note for ​Annie JR.

Director: Jacob Wolstencroft
Choreographer: Kristina Linden
Musical Director: Kimberly Markarian
Scenic Design: Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
Costumes: Gina Pistilli
Projection Design: Haley Allen
Program Director: Kimberly Markarian
Program Assistants: Haley Allen, Sylvi Booth, Lizzie Menzies, Jen Shannon

"Jacob is an imaginative Director. In order to provide more opportunity for the students in Annie, he reimagined the story as kids in an orphanage reading the Annie comic strips and acting out the story. It allowed us to double, triple, and quadruple cast parts to share the roles between kids. He was able to maintain the flow of the story and characters through use of props and costume pieces that signified specific characters."
~ Kimberly Markarian, Conservatory Program Director