[Millie Dillmount]

just been on holiday in ireland, and had a spare evening so we went along to see the current uk tour of annie - i had seen the last london production at the v.p. twice and saw the tour with su pollard, and have a recording with kim criswell, ruthie henshall, clive carter and alison jiear in the cast

its not the greatest show in the world, but it can be a good evenings theatre - how wrong can you be!

the venue didnt help - dont ever see anything at the inec in killarny - its a terrible venue

however the production was AWFUL! the band was out of tune and out of time - the sound man must have been asleep as he was not turning on the mikes in time, and the follow-spot operator stage right should be shot - he had a shaky hand, and always missed the spot! so often the person he was meant to light was either in their own shadow or in complete darkness

the cast was awful. ruth maddock as miss hannigan was the worst piece of casting ive come across - she was terrible. out of tune. shouting or totally inaudible. totally unscary, and her idea of playing drunk was shocking!

david mcallister was playing daddy warbucks whilst you could hear him in terms of audability, but he was so wooden, and he just decided to do it with an english accent!

before the performance started i was delighted to see that claire taylor (guys and dolls 1st cover adelaide) was playing lily st regis and rachel stanley (chichago, once in a life time, always) was playing grace farell, and whilst they both looked the part, and were without a doubt the most talented people on the stage, their talents could not save this dreadful production!

[andallthatjazz1984]

I can totally believe that Rachel Stanley and Claire Taylor were the most talented performers in this show. I am going to see this production within the next couple of months, and the only reason I am going to see it is because of Rachel and Claire. They are two of the most talented actresses I have ever had the pleasure of watching on stage.

I went to see the last Annie tour back last year or so, and I have to agree that Ruth Maddock is the most awful choice for Miss Hannigan...EVER! What they should have done is cast Rachel Stanley as Miss Hannigan and then Claire Taylor as Grace Farell!

[Seriously]

Sounds like a show within a show...an out of tune/out of time band - a sleeping soundman, a shaky followspot operator, a scary leading lady and a leading man with wondering accents syndrome.

I think I'd love it.

[armadillo]

Who is Ruth Maddock? Ruth Madoc I'm familiar with but not Maddock.

[Job]

Who is Ruth Maddock? Ruth Madoc I'm familiar with but not Maddock.

A bit sniffy of you, armadillo. That all-important correction might just have been possible without the sarcasm.

Jowb

[andallthatjazz1984]

It really doesnt matter how you spell her bloody name when she is that crap!

[Seriously]

Who is Ruth Maddock? Ruth Madoc I'm familiar with but not Maddock.

Are you familiar with quotation marks?

[armadillo]

I wasn't actually trying to be sarcastic (and I have no idea what the dig about the quotation marks is about). Ruth Madoc is supposedly a reliable musical theatre performer so I didn't realise that the OP was talking about the same person. And it does seem extraordinary to sugges that it accuracy doesn't matter if you don't like a performance.

[Seriously]

to sugges that it accuracy doesn't matter.

How ironic!

[bananafrit]

What a knob..