Singing in the key of ‘Annie’

Michael Miller

In Andersen Elementary School’s production of “Annie,” Tiffany

Paladin played a poor orphan girl who unexpectedly enters the upper

class. During the course of the production, Tiffany discovered

something unexpected about herself.

“I’ve never really sung before,” said the sixth-grader, who

portrayed the title character in one of the play’s two casts. “I

didn’t know I could do it before this play. But I didn’t have to

practice much -- it just came naturally.”

For a first-time singer, though, Tiffany had a solid support team

behind her. The Andersen spring musical, which ran over the weekend

at Corona del Mar High School’s Little Theater, was the school’s most

elaborate production of the year, with period costumes and scenery,

live musicians, even corporate sponsorships. PacifiCare, Wells Fargo

and Bristol Farms were among the companies that helped fund the

musical by purchasing ads on the playbill.

“It’s really more than a play,” said parent volunteer Rose

Reynolds. “It’s a professional production. The talent that surrounds

the play is amazing.”

Reynolds had two daughters in the cast: sixth-grader Sarah

Reynolds, who played the tyrannical orphanage head, Miss Hannigan,

and fifth-grader Sophia, who had a triple role as a singer, a hobo

and a schoolgirl.

Sarah and Sophia were among the many fifth- and sixth-grade

students who had to learn about the clothes and manners of another

era. The musical is based on Harold Gray’s comic strip “Little Orphan

Annie” and takes place during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when

the gap between rich and poor widened in America as never before.

Even though the subject is poverty, the show still captures a time

when American society was more proper and refined.

“We’re not doing any accents,” said Katy Smith, the musical’s

director. “I don’t think people talked much differently then than

they do now. The costumes were harder. Girls want to wear their pants

around their hips instead of their waist, and that’s not how it was

done back then.”

“We gave them a mini-history lesson about the Depression,” added

Kim Gordon, a parent volunteer who co-produced the show. “We

explained about Miss Hannigan that she hates kids and hates her job,

but a lot of people were without jobs at that time and she couldn’t

give it up.”

Smith, an Irvine Valley College student, made her directorial

debut with “Annie.” During her days at the Musical Theater Academy of

Orange County, Smith had been a student of Margie King, the academy’s

founder, who later directed several Andersen musicals.

Before rehearsals started in December, King offered the job of

directing “Annie” to her former pupil.

The first-time director, who recently acted in Irvine Valley

College’s production of “The Impossible Years,” also served as

choreographer and voice coach for the musical -- often training

first-time singers and dancers, including Tiffany Paladin.

“I think everyone knows it [‘Annie’] who knows musical theater,”

Smith said. “I haven’t been in it, but I’ve seen it about a billion

times.”

In the course of rehearsals, Smith saw it a few times more, as the

cast and crew practiced three times a week for nearly three months.

By the time dress rehearsals finished Thursday, the school had sold

out all four performances.

“It’s one of those things where anticipation is the scariest

part,” Smith said.

* MICHAEL MILLER covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at michael.miller@latimes.com.