Westwood bringing family favourite Annie to Peterborough stage

The five-night, six-show run follows on from their musical adaptation of Made in Dagenham, which graced The Cresset in 2023.

Annie has become a world-wide phenomenon and was the winner of seven Tony Awards including Best Musical making it the perfect family-friendly show guaranteed to please audiences of all ages with instantly recognisable songs such as Tomorrow and It’s A Hard Knock Life.

With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone’s hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City.

Abandoned years ago, on the doorstep of a New York City orphanage run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan, Annie hatches an escape plan to find her parents.

With the perfect combination of street-smarts and determination Annie embarks on adventure after fun-filled adventure into the wonderous world of NYC.

Capturing the hearts of Oliver Warbucks and Grace Farrell, and even befriending President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Annie finds the new home and family she always dreamed of.

Simon Knighton, Chairman of the Society commented: “We are delighted to have been able to land such a well-known and heart-warming show and we cannot wait to bring the show to life at The Key Theatre.

“We have assembled an incredibly talent cast, showcasing so much local youth talent across the city and continuing our trend of putting on shows with talented local actors too.

“We as Westwood have been performing in the city for over 95 years and each year our performances get bigger and better, and this year will be no exception.”

Simon also added: “We are delighted to welcome back Monique Benoiton-Smith who is Directing and choreographing the show and joined by Musical Director, Steve Hession, who has taken the society’s vocals to the next level.

"The society cannot wait to welcome you all to relive this hugely popular story about resilience, optimism and the power of kindness.”

Westwood Musical Society are delighted to welcome back many familiar faces to the on and off-stage crew as well as welcoming some new members to the society.

In addition, Westwood are very excited to be working with some incredible young actors from across the city and are delighted to be able to give them the opportunity to perform at such a wonderful and iconic venue in the city.

Sasha Barnes and Charley Griffiths-May will be playing Annie for the run, supported by understudy Harriette Symondson. Graham Chapman will bring Oliver Warbucks to life, with Emily Norman as Grace and Chloe Milne as Miss Hannigan.

Performances will run each evening with a matinee on Saturday.

Tickets are available through the Key Theatre box office on 01733 852992 or through their website www.keytheatre-peterborough.com