THE ARTS
You Just Missed Little Orphan Annie!
The Southern Coalition for the Arts just brought America’s most optimistic orphan to the stage!
Rachel Noe-Maynard, director of the production, said the show was perfect to spread the message of the importance of adoption, especially in Logan.
“I’ve been wanting to direct this show for five years,” Noe-Maynard said.
“It has been restricted because it’s been on national tour so I wasn’t able to get the licensing until now. I’ve always loved the show and this particular storyline. I think this is also a great time for ‘Annie’ because November is National Adoption Month. We are also partnering with NECCO of Logan and the PAWS Squad to really get the word out about adoption and how important it is, especially in our area.”
Maddy Noe, who played Annie, said her experiences with her mother Noe-Maynard sparked a love for “Annie” in her.
“I’ve loved Annie since my mom was the costume designer for the show at The Aracoma Story when I was only three years old,” Noe said. “I was so excited to get to audition. I didn’t really care which part I got, but I was super excited to be Annie.”
Lisa Anderson, who portrayed Miss Hannigan and is a teacher in Logan County, said spending time with her students through preparation for the show has been a wonderful thing.
“My favorite moment during the preparation was being able to sing with some of my former and current students,” Anderson said. “It was an amazing feeling to see them perform and know that you helped inspire them. It’s was so fun to sing and dance with them.”
Anderson said she wants to thank her husband and students for their support.
“I’d like to add that I’d like to thank my husband Brandon Anderson for his support,” Anderson said.
“I’d like to give a shout out to my students at Chapmanville Middle School, I love you all.”
Dakota Browning, who portrayed Oliver Warbucks, said the support from his cast-mates has been his favorite part of preparing for the show.
“All of my cast mates have given me encouragement and I could not do this without them,” Browning said.
Noe-Maynard said the work put into “Annie” and other shows done by the Arts, as well as its predecessor Appalachian Children’s Theater, in the last 10 years have been worth it to provide entertainment to the people of Logan.
“I would like the community to be aware of the amount of time and money it takes to produce a show of this caliber,” Noe-Maynard said. “We rehearsed since August. We have spent sleepless nights and all of our spare time to make this a production Logan can be proud to call their own. We worked closely with the City of Logan to mount show after show to keep our little town relevant and interesting for our community and travelers to our area. We love offering an artistic outlet to the hundreds of talented volunteers we’ve worked with through the years.”Other local faces who appeared in the show include:
Kayla Marcum as Grace Farrell, Tyler Kinser as Rooster Hannigan; Brittany Hodges as Lily St. Regis, Scott Abbott as Mr. Bundles/Judge Brandeis, and Adrian May as President Roosevelt.
Orphans include Molly: Heidi Maynard; Kate: Lilly Bell; Tessie: Carmen Mahon; Pepper: Jailyn Hodges; July: Chloe Murphy; Duffy: Emily Ferre.
Mansion Staff/Ensemble: Hunter Napier, Chloe Moore, Angie Baisden, Rachael Stephen, Jaime Robinson, Kennedy Miller, Judith Muncey-Wooten, Leroy Mullins, Josh Runyon, Hillary Gore, Alyssa Goff, Breonia Cook and Candace Maynard.