Last night, after the conclusion of the final Easter Day service at Memorial Episcopal Church, seventy people swarmed over the premises. Furniture was removed from the chancel; doors were opened in odd corners of the church, the parish house, and the rectory; gangs of adults and children hauled heavy and ungainly-shaped wooden objects into the nave. An ant colony would have looked leisurely by comparison.
When the Memorial Players present their annual production, they do so on a cunningly designed modular stage, assembled to fit over the chancel to provide an elevated platform for the performers. With this year’s production of Annie a mere two weeks off, all those hundred of pieces have to be assembled, bolted, and fitted together to permit the cast to carry out the last feverish set of rehearsals in the actual performing space.
The six performances of Annie have a novel aspect this year: a double cast. Though the adult actors (including a relentless blogger cast as Franklin Roosevelt) will appear in all performances, the lead role and the roles of the named orphans will be performed by separate casts. The two Annies, Holly Hornbeck and Clare Peyton, have been troupers in rehearsal, mastering their lines early and singing ably. You will be impressed by them.
To be impressed, of course, you will have to show up. The performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, April 24, 25, 30, and May 1, and 3:00 p.m. on Sundays, April 26 and May 2.
The performances are free, with the doors opening half an hour in advance, but there are also opportunities to pay for a combined reserved seating/reception package, with details here.
Now that the title of this post has put that insistent earworm in your head – oh, tomorrow, tomorrow, I love yah, tomorrow – you might as well give in and plan to attend.
