Hello from Annalisa DiBernardo (Molly)

Hi everyone! It’s Annalisa! I play the part of Molly, the youngest orphan, but in real life I am 11 years old. The tour is going great, but we are getting close to the end. We only have 3 and a half weeks left! All of the orphans are reminiscing about what we did when we were in rehearsals and throughout the tour. Being on tour for almost 9 months has made us become like sisters.

Even though I’m not as young as Molly, I can relate to my part because Molly can be very mischievous and so can I! She also does a flip into a basket and I’m a gymnast as well as a dancer, singer and actress. When I’m older, I think I want to become a singer, actor or Marine Biologist. Who knows, maybe I’ll be a performing Marine Biologist!

Now, I get a lot of questions from kids like, “Who does your hair and make-up?” and “Who is your personal secretary?” I also get asked, “Do you each get your own dressing room?” and “What is it like not to do school?” To start off, we don’t wear make-up, we do our own hair, none of us have a personal secretary and the orphans share a dressing room. And, trust me, we DO SCHOOL! We have a tutor who travels with us and we go on fieldtrips whenever we can. They are always so much fun! The traveling can be hard and we miss our families, but we are doing what we love…performing! My favorite part of performing is making people happy. I absolutely have loved this experience and couldn’t be happier with the show.

On-The-Road Update

Greetings Everyone!

Today is our last day in Salt Lake City and let me tell you we have really enjoyed our stay here! The week started out kind of dreary and damp here in SLC but as the week progressed the weather has turned absolutely gorgeous! When we arrived you could hardly see the mountains for the fog and clouds and now you have a clear shot from wherever you stand. It is sunny and warm but the mountain are still snow capped and majestic.

This week was also great for keeping the company busy. We had two big events, Wednesday night at the hotel we had an "Around the World" party. Countries included: France, Italy, Germany, India, Israel, 3rd World, Desserted (ha!) Island, and Andalasia (for all you "Enchanted" fans)/NYC. Each room was decorated to the nines and had a great sampling of their local cuisine. Some of the rooms were actually educational and a great time was had by all!

Thursday afternoon we had a lovely time at the Hogue Homestead. Verlin, one of our truck drivers, invited us over to his daughter’s home for a visit and meal with his family. What a lovely afternoon. The Hogue clan put on quite a feast. The only thing that could have surpassed such great company and food was the view! Verlin's daughter lives in the mountains, her front yard is a view of the city and the backyard is the side of the mountain (which some of the crew members were brave enough to climb).

Well, as I said before, this was a busy week for us, and fun to boot! This week we passed the 1 month date, only 1 month left to the end of tour. Everyone has mixed emotions about the end, it will prove very bittersweet. I am sure the time we have left will just fly by.

Well time to get back to the show... catch up with you next week!

Hello from Abby Spare (Tessie)

Hi! I’m Abby Spare and I play Tessie. I am from around Boston, Massachusetts, which is cool because we just finished some shows in Boston. This tour has been a lot of fun. My favorite town was either Madison, Wisconsin or Athens, Georgia. I liked these towns because they were very cute and sometimes reminded me of home. We will be heading to Salt Lake City, Utah next week. I am looking forward to that because we get to be there a whole week! One of my favorite things I did with the cast was celebrating New Year’s in Birmingham, Alabama. This was the first year I stayed up to watch the ball drop!!! Altogether, this tour has been the best experience of my life!

On-The-Road Update

Well, it has been a blustery week here in Boston, but despite the weather everyone has enjoyed their stay in Beantown. Many company members have had family and friends visit throughout the week so that has kept many people busy. The majority of the company made the most of being in such a historic area. Many of the cast members took the long walk and toured the Freedom Trail. Others just decided to meander around the streets on a self-guided tour.

The Wang Theatre is absolutely beautiful and we have had great crowds all week long. Standing ovations and hoots and hollers all around. Well come Monday we will be taking quite a jump from here in Boston to Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Hope this finds everyone well, and have a wonderful week!

On-The-Road Update

Greeting from Oklahoma City!

Well it is our last night here In OKC, and we are just wrapping up the 200th show of the tour! Everyone is surprised that that we are already on the 200th show, seems just yesterday it was Christmas time and we were in New Haven, CT celebrating our 100th show.
Well it was a highly enjoyable week here on the Annie National Tour. Everyone was able to have some normalcy and run errands like everyday normal citizens (we love rental cars). The girls and Ms. Lori went horseback riding one sunny day. The crew took a nod from the girls and made a family day of horseback riding as well. We have also heard rumors that management had a sunny day picnic. All in all our stay in Oklahoma city was nice and relaxing. This week we are off to Asheville, NC, where we have a golden day (yea!) and then we jet-set to Philadelphia for the remainder of the week. Hope everyone has a great week, we'll catch up with you soon!

Oh! P.S. - A little luck of the Irish to 'ya on Monday... Happy St. Patrick's Day!

On-The-Road Update

Hello Everyone!

Well here we are again at the end of yet another one week sit-down, rested and doing well. The company has enjoyed their week here in Tulsa. The theatre is large and has a friendly and dedicated house staff. It was incredibly convenient this week, our hotel was adjacent to the theatre so everyone could walk, no bus or metro needed (there was also a Starbuck's right out side the door, a company favorite and necessity). The girls and Ms. Lori took yet another field trip this week (we thought they would be tuckered out by last week) to the Gilcrease Museum of American Art History. The girls followed their curriculum for American History and viewed pieces from 1776-1876, choosing a favorite they drew their own interpretation and wrote a short piece about it. They also received the opportunity to view original copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation.

This week we are taking a short jaunt south to Oklahoma City, where we will be for another week. The weather looks great and we are all looking forward to getting to know another great city!

Catch up with you again next week!

On-The-Road Update

Well, I must say that this week has been great. The company hoofed it all over Washington, DC this week. Cast members caught up on sleep and then tuckered themselves out just as quickly by walking miles around the city. The girls and Ms. Lori, their tutor, took trips to the Smithsonian and The White House this week. On Friday, they had a free day and were able to go explore what they wished.

It was so great to stay in Washington, DC proper. We were in a great area, Dupont Circle, which was filled with shops and restaurants. We had a super fun-filled night on Thursday. Some members of the office came to visit and joined the rest of the company for a few rounds of bowling.

We are all loving having the opportunity to have some free time to see the sights and relax. For the next few weeks we will continue to have the opportunity to do just that. Next week we are off to a week long engagement in Tulsa, OK and then the week of the March 10th we will have another week long in Oklahoma City, OK. Hope you all have a great week, catch up with you soon!