The Royal Masque Presents ~ Annie! ~ The Musical

The Royal Masque

The Royal Masque of Bishop McDevitt High School Presented:

On April 29th through May 1st

The Smash Hit of 2005!

Scroll down for more scenes, pictures, synopsis and more!

It is December of 1933 and America is deep in the midst of the Great Depression. On the Lower East Side of New York, the Municipal Orphanage, Girls' Annex, has been the drab home of eleven-year-old Annie for all but the first two months of her life, when she was left on the front steps of the Orphanage with an unsigned note saying,

"Please take good care of our little darling. Her name is Annie... We have left half of a silver locket around her neck and kept the other half so that when we come back for her you will know that she's our baby."

Miss Agatha Hannigan the mean-tempered spinster who is in charge of the Orphanage, is furious at finding Annie and the Orphans awake at 4:00 A.M. and puts them to work scrubbing the floor. Annie and the Orphans angrily lament the fact that they are living The Hard-Knock Life. Later that morning, Annie seizes opportunity to escape from the Orphanage by hiding in a laundry bag that is toted off into a truck. If her parents aren't coming back for her, Annie is going to go find them.

In New York's St. Mark's Place, city dogcatchers pursue stray dogs, but they miss one, a sad-faced mutt that is immediately adopted by Annie, who has been wandering alone through the wintry streets of the city. "They're after me, too," Annie tells the dog, and then assures him that "Everything's gonna be fine for the both of us.

If not today then... Tomorrow." Officer Ward of the NYPD suspects that Annie's dog is a stray, but she tells him that the dog is hers: "I call him Sandy because of his nice sandy color."

Sandy responds to his new name when he is called by Annie, and Officer Ward is reluctantly persuaded that the dog indeed belongs to Annie.

Underneath the 59th Street Bridge is a so-called Hooverville, a Depression-style shanty town that is home to an assortment of unemployed New Yorkers who sarcastically let it be known that We'd Like To Thank You, Herbert Hoover. Annie turns up with Sandy, wondering if anyone in the Hooverville had ever left a baby at an orphanage. Her sunny disposition endears Annie to the Hooverville-ites, who inviter her to join them in a cup of Mulligan stew. The police raid the Hooverville, and Annie is arrested, although Sandy escapes.

Annie and Grace arrive at Warbucks's Fifth Avenue mansion, where a platoon of servants is busily cleaning. Annie is delighted to learn that, as a guest, she herself won't have to do any cleaning (I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here). Oliver Warbucks arrives home from a business trip and is unhappy to discover that the orphan invited by Grace isn't a boy. Still, he agrees to take Annie to the movies, to the Roxy Theater, and Warbucks, Annie and Grace walk forty-five blocks to Times Square, through the streets of the city that Warbucks loves best (N.Y.C.) And, while walking with Annie, Warbucks finds himself unexpectedly growing to like her.

A week later, Grace Farrell turns up at the Orphanage to tell Miss Hannigan that Warbucks has decided to adopt Annie. Miss Hannigan is not happy about this news, to say the least. As Grace is leaving, she bumps into Miss Hannigan's ne'er-do'well con artist brother, Rooster, who is broke, just out of prison and looking for a handout from his sister. And with Rooster is his floozy girl friend, Lily. Miss Hannigan, Rooster and Lily dream of better days for themselves on Easy Street.

In his Fifth Avenue mansion, Warbucks is about to tell Annie that he wishes to adopt her. But he first gives her a present - a new locket from Tiffany's to replace the old, broken one she always wears. Annie, however, breaks down in tears - she doesn't want a new locket because the old locket had been left with her by her parents. And the one thing she wants in the world is to find her mother and father. Crushed, stunned, Warbucks promises Annie that he'll find her parents for her. Grace and the Servants assure Annie that Warbucks will find her mother and father (You Won't Be An Orphan For Long).

Cast of Annie

(in order of appearance)

Orphans

Molly ~ Julie D'Agostino
Kate ~ Ashley Berger
Tessie ~ Sarah Sweeney
Pepper ~ Amanda Antonelli
July ~ Keri Durkin
Duffy ~ Rosemary Cochrane

ANNIE ~ Beth Serowsky

Miss Hannigan ~ Alison Whartenby
Bundles/Laundry Man ~ Tim Sidorick
Lt. Ward/Policeman ~ Stephen Cantwell
Grace ~ Megan Kenney
Drake/English Butler ~ Charlie Hogan
Daddy Warbucks ~ Mark Ryan
NYC Star-To-Be ~ Leah Sawick
Rooster ~ Dan Sweeney
Lily ~ Liz Levy
Bert Healy ~ James Hogan
Boylan Sisters ~ Brooke Wittek, Cassie Ward, Cara McKibbin
President Roosevelt ~ Father Bill Chiriaco

President's Cabinet

Ickes ~ Sean Moser
Perkins ~ Brooke Wittek
Hull ~ Kevin Niewood
Margenthau ~ John Erb
Howe ~ Dan Dutch

Eddie ~ Dan Dutch
Sophie ~ Jessica Reidel
Housekeeper/Mrs. Greer ~ Lauren Kelly
Cook/Mrs. Pugh ~ Kim McCallister
Maid Cecille - Jessica Reidel
Maid Annette ~ Cassie Ward

Company

David McDermott
Kevin Niewood
Tim Sidorick
John Erb
Michael Jaecks
Sean Moser
Stephen Cantwell
Dan Dutch
Shaun Slusarski
James Hogan
Lauren Kelly
Cara McKibbin
Moira Carr
Brianna Muller
Jessica Reidel
Danielle Showmaker
Leah Sawick
Brook Wittek
Mary Kate Bailey
Nicole Barrett
Lindsay Budnick
Meghan Kraenbring
Katie Grande
Natalie Pastelak
Alysia Sforza
Mary Ward
Helen Watson
Holly Wiacek
Amanda Allen
Jacqueline Hungerford
Kate Knorr
Danielle Metzger
Cassie Ward