When asked to do new orchestrations for Troika's national tour of Annie, the first thing I thought is, "Oh God, I don't want to be the guy that ruins Annie!" I only had 10 musicians in the pit, so I justified having a smaller band by creating Annie's world through the sound of a 1930's depression era street band. Jenn Thompson, whose work as a director I truly love, was all in. She wanted to create a more authentic, grittier production. I think we succeeded. Great cast, great musicians in the pit - totally fell in love with our Music Director Elaine Davidson - solid as a rock and so easy to work with. She can play anything and was so willing to try anything I put in front of her. And of course, I LOVE Charles Strouse's music. There's a reason this show has been around this long. Fantastic music. I ended up being very proud of this production, and hope a lot of people enjoy it as much as I did as it starts its journey around the country.
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