Annie At Sheffield Lyceum Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Rachael Briggs
It was a fabulously entertaining opening night at Sheffield’s Lyceum Theatre to see the smash hit west end production of Annie. The lights, the scenery, the costumes, the music, the singing, the whole production was fabulous from start to finish.
From the moment I walked into the theatre and saw the stage set to resemble Miss Hannigan’s orphanage I knew it was going to be spectacular. Then; cue the music and the children entered the stage and I had goosebumps!
Strictly Come Dancing Judge Craig Revel-Horwood played the role of Miss Hannigan. He fully embraced the role and his acting was great however, his accent was a little to be desired. The star of the show; Annie who was played by Harlie Barthram was utterly amazing! Her acting, her dancing, her voice and overall presentation had me enthralled right from the very beginning.
The children who played the roles of the Orphans were all out of this world. I have never seen such fabulous acting from children so young. They were completely in time when they preformed their group dances and each and every one of them had such magical singing voices.
The whole production was great and was made even more spectacular by the music and lighting. My only criticism would be that whilst the music was absolutely fabulous and a combination of familiar songs from the film version of the production and new songs, there were times when the volume of the music and orchestra were slightly too loud and this took away from the singing and voices of the Actors on the stage.
The set, scenery and props were all great and complimented the storyline. The changes between each scene were fluent and fast.
I would definitely recommend this to both adults and children, young and old, couples and families. I viewed this with my 8-year-old daughter and she was captivated from the first word to the final curtain. I particularly enjoyed the moments of humor in the script which added an extra touch to the storyline. It is a long show with a run time of 2 hours and 30 minutes (including the interval) however, it goes by in a flash once you enter the world of Annie in 1930’s New York City.
My compliments go to not only the Actors who appeared on the stage but to each of the Directors for music, choreography, lighting, sound, set and costume. This is a timeless musical which was brought back to life by each and every one of you who work hard both on stage and behind the scenes.
And finally, a special mention to Sandy the Dog. She had the audience in awe of her timely entrances!
The show is on from Tuesday 17th October – Saturday 21st October with a range of evening performances and matinees, with captions and accessibility adaptations too. Tickets are on sale at https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/annie-2023 or you can call the box office on 0114 249 6000. Tickets range in price from £36 – £62.50 and are already limited at some performances, so do not miss out and buy them whilst you can!
Parking is available nearby with options of on street and multi-story parking. If you park in the Q park multi-story then you pick up a discount ticket from the theatre to use after the performance.