Claremont is staging one of the most successful Broadway hits in Annie, and the leads are taking it serious.
So serious, that two of the leads will have to update their hairdos.
Fifteen-year-old Sophie Gans (Grade 10) has dyed her brown hair red as she takes on the iconic lead role. Across stage, Grade 12 student Steven Hao will have to shave his head a couple more times as he’s already gone bald for the role of Daddy Warbucks.
Both made the changes to their hair two weeks prior to the first show on Feb. 28 and will have to update their hair by opening night.
“To have a Grade 10 student [Gans] as the lead is not normal for us,” said drama teacher Colin Plant, “but she was so convincing in her audition. She has an excellent attitude and is a good choice.”
Gans is enjoying her debut at lead, taking centre stage during rehearsal for notable classics It’s a Hard Knock Life and Tomorrow.
“Annie’s a really fun character to play, it gives me more of an opportunity to explore more emotions [on stage] and singing, which I love,” said Gans, who watched the movie multiple times growing up.
The musical fits the bill for many reasons, particularly in addressing Claremont musical theatre program’s four-to-one ratio of women to men.
“We use the whole class in the cast, 40 kids, which is one of the reasons this is a good fit for us,” Plant said.
Annie runs Feb. 28 to March 10, Wednesdays to Saturdays at 7 p.m., with 1 p.m. matinees on March 3 and 10, at Claremont’s Ridge Theatre.
reporter@saanichnews.com
