Annie – Storyhouse, Chester

Tip Top productions have returned to the Storyhouse, this time with the classic musical, Annie, 33 years after the company first produced the show.

With Direction from Phil Cross, we follow the journey of an 11-year-old orphan, Annie, who dreams that one day her parents will return to the orphanage for her and makes it her mission to find them. In the meantime, billionaire Oliver Warbucks and his assistant Grace Farrell are looking for an orphan to spend the holidays at their home, and this is where Annie’s story takes a turn.

In the titular role, Emily Allerston shines while leading the company through this journey. With bags of confidence, energy and powerful vocals, we know we are in safe hands from the second she enters the stage. Allerston’s version of “Tomorrow” was beautifully delivered and shows how professional she is as she did the whole song while handling her newly found dog, Sandy (Kobe) who was a little active this evening.

While Annie is in the orphanage we meet the other orphans who also deliver outstanding performances. Putting their all into the incredible choreography (provided by Rhian Lyon) and causing enough mayhem to drive the owner of the orphanage, Miss Hannigan, to complete distraction. Carly Dallen gives us the perfect Miss Hannigan, with fantastic physicality, brilliant facial expressions and outstanding vocals, especially during “Little Girls”. And to make this even more special, Dallen played Molly in that very first performance 33 years ago and so is full circle to be able to come back to the musical playing Miss Hannigan.

The orphans all shone and the amount of talent they showed is off the charts and each one of them brought their own character to life, full of energy and joy.

Calum Craine and Elle Moulson as Rooster and Lily St Regis inject a huge amount of comedy to the show and shine with their impeccable delivery of lines and together with Dallen, bring us a flawless “Easy Street” with wonderful harmonies, fun and amazing choreography.

Rob Lyon brings a new life to Mr Warbucks, showing a lot of heart to the new little girl in his life, realising that no matter how rich you are, it means nothing if you have no one to share it with. The delivery of “Something was missing” was beautiful.  Josephine McSollars delivers a beautiful Grace Farrell, with the most stunning vocals with a gentle, caring side but enough to show the likes of Miss Hannigan, she is not one to be messed with.

Musical direction comes from Simon Phillips and you can hear how much work has been put into the singing side as the vocals are flawless throughout and the harmonies are tight and sound wonderful. The band, also led by Phillips are incredible. They produce the fullest sound and compliment the show perfectly. I did feel they were a little loud at times, especially in the likes of “Easy Street” where it was little hard to fully hear the lyrics, but this did not detract from my enjoyment at all.

Rhian Lyon has produced the most inventive choreography, adding it in to scenes as well as large numbers, all complimenting the show perfectly and showing what an incredible choreographer she is. And all was delivered perfectly, full of energy and precision. Cross’s direction is incredible; adding tiny nuances to scenes to elevate them and make you think of things in a different way.

The set is brilliant, with pieces being flown in and other pieces being moved by cast and stage crew, with other cast being used on stage to cover the changes happening and keeping the show flowing. Well done to stage manager Nick Roberts and team. Lighting provided by Ollie Price is brilliant and adds lots of depth to the piece and sound by Tom Maurice is great with sound levels for the most fantastic and cast were able to be heard during all scenes. Costumes by Molly Limpets and Jo Mason looked fantastic and in keeping with the era of the piece.

Annie is a classic and Tip Top productions have delivered the highest standard of show that deserves to be seen by all and fully deserved the standing ovation it received at the end.

Annie runs until 19^th July 2025 at Storyhouse with tickets available at www.storyhouse.com

Reviewer: Damian Riverol

Reviewed: 16^th July 2025

North West End UK Rating: