Cornerstone Youth Theatre’s production of Annie hits the stage Nov. 9th.

The performance follows the life of little orphan Annie. Determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City orphanage ran by the cruel Miss Hannigan, Annie, with the help of others in the orphanage, escapes to the big city.

“I love our production of Annie, our little Annie is a little tomboy onstage and it’s all about being found,” said Artistic Director Stephanie Orr.

Annie finds a new home and family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary Grace Farrell and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

The Cornerstone Youth cast for the production consists of 65 people, one of their larger productions.

“It’s full of great comedy bits and characters, and we have 25 orphans onstage so it’s a big, ‘hard-knock’ life number,” said Orr with a laugh.

“We always like having shows that are really challenging vocally and big dance shows. It’s fun when our little kids can be featured dancers.”

Annie is played by 10-year-old Coryn Tardif from Sylvan Lake.

Orr described her as, “A great little actress with a beautiful little voice, just so much fun to work with. We love having shows where we can actually work a lot with the younger kids.”

They also have Miss Hannigan and Oliver Warbucks, who are played by twins Jack and Jaimie Marchuk of Red Deer.

“It’s interesting that they’re both playing each other’s nemesis.”

One of the other major leads, who plays Grace Farrell is 16-year-old Kailyn Hall.

Orr said something interesting about Annie that many people may not get from the movie is that it ends with a big Christmas scene.

“We’re excited to have our dates be a little bit later this year because it’s very much a Christmas show. People don’t know that from the movie because it’s not really a Christmas movie but the Broadway show, the theme is very heavily Christmas.”

Opening this Friday, the show runs until Nov. 18th. More information can be found on cornerstoneyouththeatre.org.