SALAMANCA — They may be singing “It’s a hard-knock life,” but you wouldn’t know it when watching the Salamanca youth performing on the Ray Evans Seneca Theater stage last week. The annual Arts Alive program through the Salamanca Youth Bureau presented “Annie Jr.” after eight weeks of rehearsals that kicked off July 1.
“This year’s Arts Alive season has been truly exceptional,” said Markie Phillips, Youth Bureau Director and a former Arts Aliver herself. “We were fortunate to have Janette McClure return as the director, and her vision and leadership have been instrumental in the season’s success.” This year’s program has 41 youth participating in the Arts Alive program, Phillips said, which she said is consistent with past seasons, “reflecting a strong and steady interest in the program.
” Based on the popular comic strip, “Annie Jr.” tells the extraordinary story of the titular little orphan (played by Reagan Brown) who ends up in the lap of luxury with Depression-era billionaire Oliver Warbucks (Talyn Wyatt). Unlike most of the other children at Miss Hannigan's (Rowan Brown) orphanage, spunky Annie believes that her parents are still alive and will one day return to claim her.
So when Mr. Warbucks offers to adopt her, she asks the most powerful man in America to help find her real mom and dad instead, and he agrees. Warbucks' whopping reward for Annie's parents attracts the attention of con artists Rooster (Whalyn Wyatt) and Lily (Lilly Shu.