During the orphans' second musical number, 11 girls stomp their feet, slam their buckets to the floor and lament the "hard knock life" so convincingly that one might never guess they are having the time of their lives.
"It's hard not to smile in that song because you're having so much fun doing the dance," said 12-year-old Marin Wilts, who plays the orphan Kate.
Twenty-five local kids ages 10 to 17 are spending their summer mornings and afternoons singing, dancing and living the young actor's dream in Stages Theatre Company's production of the musical "Annie Jr." After tryouts in early May and six weeks of rehearsal, they opened last weekend and will present the show 39 times during a five-week run.
"This musical has been around a long time, and to see the contemporary young people know it as well as they do really lets you know that it's quality material," director Sandy Boren-Barrett said. "It's stood the test of time."
The "Jr." version of "Annie" is shorter -- approximately 65 minutes in length -- to better fit the attention span of the small children for whom it is intended. But die-hard Annie fans need not worry: The story, the beloved characters and the hit songs are intact.
"I really like that it's so classic," said 14-year-old Tori Adams, who plays the spunky redheaded heroine.
"The character Annie is already basically set up for me. It's all there ... so instead of it being our job to introduce a story, it's our job to just show it to [the audience] again and make it better than the last one they saw."
Only two characters in the production are played by adults: Bruce Rowan plays the wealthy Warbucks while Jennifer Kirkeby portrays the frustrated Miss Hannigan.
