★★★★☆
Blind optimism is no cure-all for life’s nasty surprises, but now more than ever we could do with a dose to help to get us through the day. And so while its chief selling point — the West End debut of Miranda Hart — is actually one of the less impressive elements of this Annie (she has comic charisma, while not looking entirely convinced by herself as the nasty orphanage manager Miss Hannigan), Nikolai Foster’s revival is otherwise just what the doctor ordered.
Slickly staged, buoyantly performed, motored by cracking musical set pieces and an expert mixture of naivety, whimsy and wit, it puts a smile on your face and a tear in your eye.
Ruby Stokes as Annie is terrific
PAUL COLTAS
Well, a tear in my eye certainly, which puzzled