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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; When Annie and Daddy Warbucks first meet, it isn&#8217;t exactly love at first sight.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s like, &#8216;I&#8217;m a multi-billionaire. What do I need a kid for?&#8217; &#8221; 13-year-old Madison Chacko, of Larksville, observed earlier this week.</p><p>But as the story progresses, the little red-headed orphan proves irresistible.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all about a family coming together, father and daughter, who were both looking for something that was missing in their lives,&#8221; said Scott Colin, who is directing the musical &#8220;Annie,&#8221; with Chacko in the title role, at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>&#8220;Just watching David (Parmelee, who plays Warbucks) and Maddie connect on stage and form that relationship makes us appreciate the relationships we have with our own children,&#8221; Colin said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a perfect symbiotic relationship between actor and observer.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a wonderful family experience,&#8221; he added, suggesting the show as ideal holiday entertainment for the generations to enjoy together.</p><p>&#8220;Annie&#8221; opens tonight <ins>Dec. 7</ins> and continues through Dec. 16 with shows at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays at 537 N. Main St.</p><p>The villains of the show &#8212; orphanage manager Miss Hannigan, her ex-convict brother, Rooster, and his girlfriend, Lily &#8212; are humorous enough that they&#8217;re not scary, Colin said.</p><p>&#8220;The movie definitely demonizes them a little bit more. We try to make them fun,&#8221; Colin said. &#8220;There&#8217;s a wonderful musical number that softens their villainy. &#8216;Easy Street&#8217; shows they&#8217;re just looking to find the easy way out, without having to work. The way it&#8217;s choreographed, it&#8217;s a very fun number.&#8221;</p><p>The most famous number in the show, one Chacko will sing in her role as Annie, is of course, &#8220;Tomorrow.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s so heartfelt,&#8221; Colin said. &#8220;The show is set during the Depression and &#8216;Tomorrow&#8217; has that dual meaning. Annie is looking forward to tomorrow, when she&#8217;ll have a family, and the nation is looking forward to tomorrow, when they&#8217;ll have food.&#8221;</p><p>The musical is an optimistic story, Chacko said, and Annie is a most optimistic character.</p><p>&#8220;She can be quick-tempered, but she&#8217;s happy most of the time,&#8221; Chacko said. &#8220;At the orphanage, she&#8217;s the one who can calm the other orphans down and cheer them up.&#8221;</p><p>No stranger to lead roles, Chacko has had a turn as TiMoune in &#8220;Once On This Island,&#8221; shared the role of Annie with another young actor at Theatre at the Grove in 2017, and played JoJo in Little Theatre&#8217;s production of &#8220;Seussical the Musical&#8221; in September.</p><p>Between the time the &#8220;Seussical&#8221; run ended and &#8220;Annie&#8221; rehearsals began, Chacko said, she had a quick two weeks that she devoted to playing soccer.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve done a lot of homework here,&#8221; she said of Little Theatre. &#8220;I brought my school books and I wrote an essay on a lap top.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Everyone is always there for each other,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I studied for a Spanish test with some of the cast who play the servants.&#8221;</p><p>It sounds like a big happy family &#8212; and, for some cast members, the show actually is a family affair, right down to their pooch.</p><p>Matt and Kelly Williams of Luzerne and their children 11-year-old Alice Hopa and 6-year-old Severin Williams are all in the &#8220;Annie&#8221; cast, just as they were involved with last year&#8217;s December show at Little Theatre, &#8220;A Christmas Carol.&#8221;</p><p>This year their family dog, a beagle mix named Sampson, has the potentially scene-stealing role of Sandy, the stray dog that befriends Annie.</p><p>&#8220;Cute as can be,&#8221; Colin described the four-legged cast member. &#8220;And there was no nepotism, because my own dog didn&#8217;t make it.&#8221;</p><p>The theater held a dog audition for the role of Sandy, Colin said, and eight dogs showed up.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Annie, played by Madison Chacko, loves to push the buttons on Miss Hannigan, played by Dana Feigenblatt. Hannigan runs the orphanage where Annie and the other girls live. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_annie.miss_.hannigan.jpg</photo0><caption0>Annie, played by Madison Chacko, loves to push the buttons on Miss Hannigan, played by Dana Feigenblatt. Hannigan runs the orphanage where Annie and the other girls live. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_annie.warbucks.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Daddy Warbucks, played by David Parmelee, carries a tired Annie, played by Madison Chacko, after a busy day. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_annie.warbucks.jpg</photo1><caption1>Daddy Warbucks, played by David Parmelee, carries a tired Annie, played by Madison Chacko, after a busy day. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Musical opens tonight in Wilkes-Barre</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO </strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;Annie&#8217;</p><p><strong>Who: </strong>Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre </p><p><strong>When: </strong>Dec. 7 through Dec. 16 with performances at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> 537 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>Tickets: </strong>$20, can be purchased at ticketfly.com or the box office, 570-823-1875</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Optimistic ‘Annie’ arrives at Little Theatre