The Annie Post

This post has been a long time coming. We have known for six months that the show Annie was coming to Manhattan, Kansas, which is a little over two hours from where we live. I have been looking so forward to this because Lily was going to turn five just in time (the perfect age for your first big show!) and Tom's cousin Lynn plays Miss Hannigan.


It was amazing and so many things happened that day, it's hard for me to remember it all. So, I thought I would just give you the highlights.

• We got to go backstage for the grand tour. It was so cool to see all the props, the actors, sound crew and everything else that goes into such a big production.
• We got to have lunch with Lynn. She gave us the scoop (aka gossip) on the tour. I will leave it at that. I doubt any of the people on the tour will ever read this, but I would hate to rat Lynn out!! I loved getting the behind the scenes gossip and trying to keep it straight as we watched the show.
• Lily was bursting with excitement the whole time. It was such a dream come true for her! With the make-up, costumes, dancing and props....she couldn't have been happier. She was all business and focus on the tour. She was really taking mental notes and has been acting out all that she learn since the show.
• When the curtain went up Lily said, "Oh, that's not how this show looks on my TV!"
• Lily met Daddy Warbucks back stage. Later, when she saw his picture, she exclaimed, "There's DOCTOR WARBUCKS!"
• Lily kept telling people that she'd seen Annie (the movie) '100 times'.
• Wigs are a big deal on the tour. They have a girl whose job is to take care of the wigs. I think Lynn called her The Wig Mistress. Lynn's wig has a name, Marge. Lily spent a lot of time asking questions about the wigs, as well as studying them up close.
• As the show began, Lily kept saying over and over, "That's Lynn. She's nice and she's just acting mean. She's not really mean." However, by the end of the show Lynn was actually Miss Hannigan and Lily was saying, "I want Miss Hannigan to go away!! Why is she so mean?" I think that's not only a testiment to Lily's inmagination but also to Lynn's talent.
• Speaking of Lynn's talent. She was amazing and hysterical in the show. She's truly awesome! Plus, she's really cool off stage, too.

This experience was well worth staying up WAY past our bedtime!! Thank you, Lynn!!


Lily posing for a picture with Madison Kerth, or THE Annie.

Posing with Lynn (and Marge).