Leapin' Lizards, Annie!

The Sun’ll Come Out…       

Ever try singing before a crowd? Ever try keeping a distracted dog in line? Ever try doing both at the same time? Now add the fact that you’re wearing an uncomfortable red wig all the while. Oh yes, and you’re only nine years old.

     A challenge not for the faint of heart.

     Zoë Adam of Winnipeg pulls it all off in the title role of Annie at Rainbow Stage, where 17 children, 18 adults, and one dog present the wonderful rags-to-riches story of a spunky orphan who has known only a hard-knocks life.

     According to an article by Alison Mayes in The Winnipeg Free Press, “When she [Zoë] opened her mouth and effortlessly poured out Tomorrow, Director Donna Fletcher and Choreographer Kimberley Rampersad knew they had their star. ‘She was very, very natural—no pretense, no artifice,’ says the director. ‘She just stood and sang, and the goosebumps just went up everywhere. She’s a powerhouse.”

     Indeed, this kid owns one healthy set of lungs.

     One word of caution when you go: take along a couple of cotton balls. Hopefully they’ll have improved the sound before your arrival, but we found some of the singing came across as shrill. To say nothing of Miss Hannigan’s whistle. With a little scrunched up Kleenex stuffed in our ears, we thoroughly enjoyed the show.

     Go if you can – it runs until August 31.

Clearing away the cobwebs and the sorrow…

     The “we” I refer to included my mom, my two sisters, and me. All four of us have experienced hard knocks of various kinds in the last year and decided we needed to do something fun together and not wait for that elusive day when everything is “fixed.” Sometimes a girls’ night out is just what the doctor ordered.

     We sisters yackety-yacked all the way to Winnipeg. There, we picked up our 80-year old Mom, no less spunky than Annie herself, and found our way to The Mongo Grill for a scrumptious supper. I recommend that place, too. Oodles of delectable options for vegans like me without forcing the omnivores to compromise.

     From there, on to beautiful Kildonan Park where we feasted our eyes on the exquisite flower gardens and  posed for pictures before the show. For Mom, the park holds special memories of playing there while visiting relatives as a preschooler.

     We found our seats as the orchestra warmed up, one of my all-time favorite sounds. “Something electrifying is about to happen,” it says. And indeed, it did.

     “I really needed this,” Mom said on the drive back to her condo. She wasn’t the only one. Nothing like a little mother/daughters/sisters bonding time and a dose of Annie’s optimism to make tomorrow look brighter.

     So, next time you’re stuck in a day that’s gray and lonely, just stick out your chin and grin, and say… oh, you know the rest.