Final notes on Annie...Juliet

It's been a joy to work on costumes for both Annie and Romeo & Juliet. Although I'm a quilter and this blog is dedicated to those projects, I enjoyed sewing and altering more than I thought I would. Here's a few closing photos of the past weekend. Megan B., pictured here with Hannah, was the Star-To-Be in NYC. Her beautiful blue dress was made by my longtime friend, Lori W.

Megan C. was superior as Juliet in Reynolds High School's presentation of Romeo & Juliet. She twisted her ankle during dress rehearsal week and needed her dress to be a bit shorter than the other frocks the actresses were wearing. It helped to not trip her up as she had to scale all the high risers onstage.

Zach Speer as Juliet's father gave an emotive performance in his acting debut. Maybe it's just the red hair that gave credence to his fiery performance, but it was the needed spark before intermission.

Daddy Warbaggs was at Opening Night of Annie, cheering on his favorite orphan!

All my girls were together for the Saturday evening performance of Annie. They described the scenes in the orphanage as "just like home!"

Hannah loved being the orphan, July, whose character description is the "quietest" orphan, but we all know better. She was sassy and spunky, a real fun role for her. She tap danced with these four girls (Ellie C., Hannah W., Hannah B., and Anne J.) who received the "rhythm" award at the strike party for their lively rendition of Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile, supported by a cast of 14 additional orphans.

My dad's vintage radio, a 1931 cathedral, was a classic prop in Miss Hannigan's office. I loved the scene where she is sitting with her arm over it while she listens to "hope for women over 35 to find love". Cassie is barely 16 but she played a mature, Carol Burnett version of Miss Hannigan that blew the audience away.

Here's a better look--not covered up by the chair and photo in the foreground--where the orphans are listening to Annie on the radio in Miss Hannigan's office at the orphanage. Thanks Emily W. for taking such good care of it!

Hannah and Alli O. became good pals during the rehearsals and run of the show. Their older siblings went to high school together so they knew about each other years before they had this opportunity to be in a play together.  It was a great experience and memory for both of them!

Copyright ©2011,Sharon Baggs