Last night I saw the National Tour cast of "Annie" at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. It was amazing! The show starred David Barton as Oliver Warbucks and Amanda Balon in the title role.

The opening scene with the orphans was great. I've heard once that you either win or lose your audience with 'Hard-Knock Life'. They definitely won their audience with it. I instantly fell in love with Annalisa DiBernardo as Molly. She was adorable. She played the role with just enough cuteness for it to seem real. I can't see how many Molly's I've seen who tried too hard to be cute and totally lost me. Madison Zavitz as Pepper was great too, as was Marina Rose Macherone as Duffy, Grace Elizabeth Etzkorn as Kate, and Sunny Naughton as July. The only one I really had a hard time with was Abby Spare as Tessie. I couldn't understand half of what she said. I know she's supposed to be the 'cry-baby orphan', but you can whine and cry and still be understood. I also noticed that she was a step behind the other orphans while dancing to "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile".

I could tell from the minute that Lynn Andrews came on stage as Miss Hannigan that she was amazing. By far the best Hannigan I've ever seen. She played the role with an awesome sense of humor. She had just the right amount of sarcasm. I loved her throughout the entire show.

"We'd Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover" was great. The Hooverville-ites each really played up their roles. They each had such character to them. It was great.

The staff at Warbucks' mansion was good as well. Abby Stevens was very good as Grace Farrell. I really liked Ricky Pope as Drake as well. You could tell he was having a lot of fun with the role.

President F.D.R. and his staff were all enjoyable. I especially loved Tug Watson as Ickes. He really hammed his role up. He was really energetic and fun to watch. He also played Justice Brandeis, and he did really well in that role as well.

And where would we be without Rooster and Lily? J. Michael Zygo was great as Rooster. He got his rooster crow down well. He did well as both Rooster and Ralph Mudge. I had a hard time watching Cheryl Hoffmann as Lily though. She just seemed way too fake in my opinion. Her wig was too obvious, and her voice sounded fake. She seemed to be trying too hard to be a ditzy blonde.

Mikey was great as Sandy. I do think they could have made him look a little more dirty though.

The set was beautiful. The backdrop for "Lower Broadway" kind of reminded me of Sesame Street, but it was still good.

Overall, it was a great show. The fact that we got to sit in the orchestra section for only $25 was icing on the cake.