Little girls, little girls, auditioning here and there. We had an amazing cast, ready to bring Annie to life – and not just high schoolers, but middle schoolers and elementary kids as well.

Auditions were January 6, 2026 and held in the auditorium, then the ninth of January, the cast list got posted. Ryan Mundy was cast as Mr. Warbucks, and Angelina DiTroia as Mrs. Hannigan. Elementary school student Evelyn Tierney got cast as Annie. 

Not only did the high school cast rehearse long hours, but the stage crew put in a lot of time to recreate specific sets and find specific props. All orphans, from elementary to high school, were patient and talented students!

Dr. Davis states, “It was exciting to see how much talent we had amongst the elementary schools in the district. We had them first submit video auditions and the team sat down and went through all of the videos. I really enjoyed working with that age group. We have some really talented and enthusiastic students in those grade levels.” Indeed we do, and if you didn’t come see the show, you were definitely missing out. The show brought not just a ton of money to Wantagh Theatre, “but also recruited and helped build our program up from elementary schools,” Dr. Davis claims. Another intriguing part of the show was the actor Buddy, who was a real-life dog. The owner, Milana Gimbler, had immediately offered Buddy as Sandy for the play after the show was announced. He was perfect because not only did he look like Sandy, but was hypoallergenic and in training to be a therapy dog. However exciting it was to do Annie, it definitely came as a surprise to the cast since it had been done in earlier years. When asked about this, Dr. Davis said, “I actually was out on maternity leave the last time Annie was done, so I’ve never done Annie here. It was a show that I thought would expose the students to a classical musical and a style of which we haven’t done recently, open it up to a larger audience, and a show everyone recognizes and loves.” However, Dr. Davis hadn’t done it at Wantagh, but as a kid she played Lily St. Regis, making that character her favorite of the musical. And Giada Petrillo certainly played the role well!

Annie was an overall wonderful experience to everyone involved. If you were there, you experienced the magic of Wantagh Theatre, if not, make sure to come see the next show! Now, smile, darn’ ya, smile!