" Annie " Live at the Fisher Theatre Sept 26 – Oct 4

I’m a big fan of the 1982 movie Annie, but I had never seen the musical before, so I was excited to attend a matinee performance this Sunday at the Fisher Theater in Detroit. With the 2014 revamp of Annie out this Christmas, Annie is more relevant than ever, and I definitely enjoyed seeing it as a live musical.

We were seated on the main floor, but I have sat in the balcony at the Fisher before, and all of the seats are great there. I went with a friend who had also never seen Annie as a live musical before, and both of us were very impressed. All of the kids who performed in the show were great, and Issie Swickle (as Annie) gave a standout performance. Gilgamesh Taggett was also great as “Daddy Warbucks” (aka Mr. Warbucks, or Oliver Warbucks), and Ashley Edler as Grace Farrell, his secretary.

I do have to say that Miss Hannigan (Lynn Andrews) definitely stole the show, in my opinion. She made the audience laugh in almost every scene she was in – from her swilling from a liquor bottle, saying “I need my medicine” (one orphans’ response: “you must be very sick, then!”), to bossing around the orphans and bemoaning her life and her job in general, she was great.

This may sound strange, but another standout was the dog (“Sandy”) in the musical! Apparently it even has an understudy, too. It must be very well trained, because it performed perfectly when interacting with “NYC policemen,” Annie (Swickle), and the other cast members.

I’d recommend Annie for adults of all ages and kids ages 10+ – there were a few younger children in attendance, but they seemed to get a bit fidgety during the second act, as the musical is 2 hours and 45 minutes long, including a 15-minute intermission. Personally, I loved it, and would see it again the next time it’s in town, too; until then, I guess I’ll have to wait until Christmas for the next Annie feature film, with Quvenzhane Wallis in the title role.

Annie is in Detroit until October 4th, and tickets can be purchased here.

Liz Parker writes for her film blog (Yes/No Films) and book blog (Books I Think You Should Read), as well as travel articles for Blogging is a Trip, and “Best of Detroit” articles for CBS Detroit. You can follow her on Facebook and on Twitter.