Annie moves fast

STAGING a production of Annie under normal circumstances would probably mean starting rehearsals some ten weeks before the opening night.

Actors would be given time to learn songs, train diaphragms and memorise complex dance routines, while the chorus and orchestra would be able to perfect their melodies at leisure.

But these are not normal circumstances. The cast performing Annie tonight and tomorrow at the Edinburgh Playhouse are engaged in a race against time. The 12-year-old star, stepping up to her first lead role from an appearance in the chorus of last year's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, has had little time to adjust.

The Stage Experience Production, now in its third consecutive year, is an ambitious project. It aims to create a full-length perfor-mance of a popular musical with a cast entirely of locally-sourced amateurs in just two weeks. Last year's production, High School Musical, was a runaway success, selling out for all five performances. The unprecedented takings even allowed The Playhouse to establish bursary funds for students on drama courses at Queen Margaret University and Telford College.

This time the goals are simpler, says Jo Beale, deputy theatre manager and co-ordinator of the Stage Experience Production. "Last year was a bit of a one-off because of the phenomenal popularity of that musical. This year we're planning to break even. The idea is that it's not a profit-making project - everything we do make will go back into the show and making it a better experience for years to come."

Beale says that Annie was chosen for the production after careful thought. "We wanted to do something that would be popular and would work with a big cast of kids," she explains. "Last year the majority were older but Annie gives more younger ones the opportunity to get involved."

An impressive 119 youngsters have been cast for the show, all between ten and 21 years old, and all from Edinburgh and surrounding areas. They were selected from two days of open auditions attended by over 400 people.

Directors have had just two weeks to get them stage-ready for this weekend's three performances. They have been making the most of the time, scheduling rehearsals from 9am to 6pm, or 8pm for principals.

"I think there's one girl who was up at 4.30am this morning to get here for the start today", says Beale. "We do work hard but we make sure it's fun too, that's what the project is all about."

It's clearly fun for Beale, who did it for the first time last year and is effusive about the experience. "For me it's just completely different," she says. "I absolutely love it, it's the best thing I've done at work for sure.

"The great thing is that it gives so many people the chance to do something they wouldn't normally do, it gets a lot of kids involved who otherwise wouldn't be.

"There's a social aspect to it too – as well as learning new skills and having fun, the kids make a load of new friends. We do a lot of socialising throughout rehearsals."

The title role will be played by Kirsty Johnston, from Corstorphine, at 12 the youngest principal in the show. She last trod the Playhouse boards alongside Joe McFadden and Gregor Fisher in the hit production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but that was as a chorus member and this should be a very different experience. In her red dress and trademark curly red wig, she definitely looks the part, and Beale is adamant that despite her modesty, Johnston is more than up to the part.

"It's a big thing for her, she's definitely the star of the show and to do it at that age on the Playhouse stage as well is a really big deal," she says. "But she's got an excellent voice and she's really very good."
She will have the support of able co-stars, many of whom are college or university students. She even faces the potential danger of being upstaged by Wilson, a Cocker Spaniel from Fife who landed the role of Sandy.

At only three, he is younger even than Johnston, and completely without previous experience. How did he get the role? Beale reveals he did not undergo as rigorous a process as the rest of the cast, but brushes aside charges of nepotism.

"We contemplated auditions but we knew him and we thought he'd be so cute," she laughs. "Plus the role needed a sandy coat so he was perfect, though he has tried to lick Kirsty's face in some of the rehearsals."

Let's hope he behaves himself.

Annie, Edinburgh Playhouse, Greenside Place, tonight and tomorrow, 7.30pm, Sunday matinee 2.30pm, £12.50, 0870-606 3424