MARLBORO — A lovable redhead will be coming to the stage at the Marlboro Memorial Middle School when students bring the musical “Annie Jr.” to life.
The show will be performed on March 4-5 at 7 p.m. in the Marlboro Memorial Middle School, Nolan Road. Tickets are $10 each and may be purchased in advance in school lunch periods during the week of the performance. Tickets will also be available at the door on the night of the performances.
The musical, written by Thomas Meehan, with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin, is based on Harold Gray’s “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip.
The story revolves around Annie, an 11- year-old Depression-era orphan who wishes for her parents to rescue her from a New York City orphanage and Miss Hannigan, its nasty headmistress.
In adventure after adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan’s evil machinations, befriends President Franklin Roosevelt and finds a new family in billionaire Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks, his personal secretary, Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.
There are plenty of familiar tunes in the musical, including the title song “Annie,” “It’s the Hard-Knock Life,” “Easy Street,” “I Think I’m Gonna Like it Here,” “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,” “Little Girls” and “Tomorrow.”
Emma Lewis will play the title role of Annie, with Lara Atry as Miss Hannigan, Hugo Santos as Daddy Warbucks and Anna McKeown as Grace Farrell.
Other members of the cast include Megan Freedman, Rachel Nazzaro, Danielle Gutman, Nicole Heligman, Camryn Tepper, Madison Licht, Aidan Benavides, Christie McCarthy, Robert Landi and David Sherman.
The musical director of “Annie Jr.” is music teacher Ryan Guth, with Robin Shatsky as stage director, Lauren Tortora as the set designer, and Randi Maskery as the assistant set designer.