'Dreamcoat' a Final Bow for Graduates

Dover - “Annie,” the uplifting Depression-era musical focusing on never giving up hope, opens this Saturday in the Mudge Auditorium at Dover-Sherborn Regional High School with Broadway star Katherine Doherty in the lead role.

The show made its debut on Broadway in 1977 and is currently on a 30th anniversary national tour. Keith Greenfield, director and artistic founder of Open Fields Community Theatre, is thrilled to be able to produce the popular musical so close to home.

“I’ve wanted to do it for a long time because of the demographics of Open Fields. It is very difficult to find musicals done around children with a story line built around kids,” he said.

It is also difficult to actually get the rights for “Annie” from the National Tour organization. After much convincing, Greenfield said the agency agreed to give him the go-ahead to produce the Open Fields version of “Annie” for the Dover-Sherborn community. The show is a perfect fit for the performing group whose mission is offering a safe haven for children to develop their talents in the creative arts in a warm, nurturing environment.

Since Open Fields was started with the help of parents as well as professionals, it has truly become a second family to those involved. Just ask high school seniors Sarah Clancy and Liz Noonan. Both have been members of the Open Fields family since the sixth grade, either as performers or backstage hands.

In “Annie,” Clancy plays the role of Lily St. Regis, girlfriend of “Rooster,” the conman brother of Miss Hannigan, the cruel manager of the New York City orphanage where the 11-year-old Annie resides initially but later escapes. Noonan is cast as a maid in the ensemble.

Clancy said that Annie, played by Doherty, is incredibly talented and “it’s really great that the younger girls get to take on lead roles.” Noonan, whose eighth-grade sister, Caroline, plays an orphan, agreed. “They finally have a chance to shine … and they are having a blast!” she said.

“We are not just a theater group, we are a family,” Clancy said. In fact, both included the Open Fields experience to answer the infamous college essay question, “What has changed your life?” Noonan added she would definitely be coming home from college for every show, “I want to see Open Fields continue and be successful for all these kids.”

Doherty is one of those kids who landed the lead after being one of four finalists in an open audition. However, unlike most girls her age, the eighth-grader has already been on Broadway in the role of Jane Banks in “Mary Poppins” a couple of years ago and has been in musical theater productions since the age of 8. She is now happy to be performing with her friends again.

According to her mother, Lauren, her daughter has had no real formal training except for some local dance experience “like everyone else” and a few voice lessons. Doherty credited Open Fields for her daughter’s success on Broadway, and added that since Annie is a lead role, Doherty continued “without question” to learn the many different aspects of performing from the Open Fields family.

Carol Hamilton, another parent who has been involved in the theater group in some way since its first production, “The Wizard of Oz,” said, “This is a great chance to see a high quality show at a local level with a Broadway performer.” This time around, Hamilton is in charge of publicity and costumes. Both her daughters Page, a sophomore at DSHS, and her 10-year-old sister, Jae, are in the show.

Greenfield said even though the cast of approximately 100 consists of mostly boys and girls, many adults spend time working to develop the talents of the children. Greenfield plays one of his favorite roles of all times, Oliver (Daddy) Warbucks, a billionaire who wishes to have an orphan stay at his home for Christmas for various reasons.

Luckily, Johanna Perri was available to play the role of Grace Farrell, Warbucks’ secretary. Farrell finds Annie living underneath the 59th Street Bridge after escaping from the orphanage. Greenfield and Perri have acted together in previous shows. “I respect her as an actress and jumped at the opportunity to have her in the cast, especially with Katherine in the lead role,” said Perri, a resident of East Boston who has performed in 15 area community theaters; she is excited to finally be introduced to the Open Fields family.

Another acquaintance of Greenfield’s, Keith Williams of Needham, plays Rooster. A songwriter and musician by trade, Williams is taking time off from performing with his band in Atlantic City and Las Vegas to be part of the Open Fields family. Miss Hannigan is played by the talented Kip Hollister-Hyde, well known for her roles in other Open Fields performances.

Even though initially Daddy Warbucks requested a boy orphan, after many adventures with Annie, he decides to “open his heart” and adopt her. However, she still wishes to find her real parents. He offers $50,000 on a radio show to anyone who can prove this. The nasty Hannigan trio plots to make money from Annie’s escape by Rooster and Lily pretending to be Annie’s real parents. Fortunately, all turns out well in the end. Much history is intertwined in the story line. During a visit to the White House, Warbucks and Annie inspire Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his Cabinet to introduce the New Deal platform.

Greenfield believed this is the 15th production of Open Fields between its different performances, musical revues and galas. Along with the cast, approximately 100 people are involved in the production in one way or another. A 10-piece orchestra will also play at each performance noted for such popular songs as “Tomorrow,” “It’s the Hard Knock Life” and “Easy Street.”

According to Hamilton, tickets are selling very quickly, and the shows are close to being sold out.

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