MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee, we’ve got “Annie.”
The classic Broadway musical is heading to the Marcus Performing Arts Center for a limited run this spring.
Christopher Swan stars as Oliver Warbucks in the national touring cast of “Annie.” After being on the road for three seasons, the tour will wrap in May, making Milwaukee one of the last chances for fans to see the show.
Swan admitted when he first heard about the role, he simply viewed it as a job, but it very quickly came to mean so much more to him than he ever imagined.
We caught up with Swan before the show:
Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin: What originally attracted you to “Annie?”
Christopher Swan: Well, I’m an actor and it was a job. … And then you start to realize how lucky you are to get a role like this and in a show like this. It’s actually a role — Warbucks — I had been kind of looking at for a while that I had hoped I’d get a chance to do. I was on tour with another show when this when this one started auditioning, and I was I was worried I was going to miss my chance at it, but I did video audition and a couple of secondary callbacks and had a great rapport with the director Jenn Thompson. We really kind of hit it off and had some similar ideas for the role and what the production was going to be.
Spectrum News 1: You said that you and the director were aligned in your vision both for your character and the show. Can you expand on that?
Swan: I always loved kind of doing the classics. “Annie” is funny because it’s a piece that’s actually been done so many times on stage and in the movies and on TV and they’ve gone and every time they do it, they seem to kind of do a little tweak to it. They either modernize it or they’ll cut certain numbers or add certain numbers or kind of focus on certain relationships over others.
Our director was actually in the original production on Broadway. She was one of the orphans. And the show’s always been very, very special to her, although she’s never directed it. And so when she did it … she said, “Well, wait a second, let’s go back and look at the what the original script was and what the original characters were like in their relationships.” … She said, “I think this works.” And it does. So I guess the revolutionary thing about our production is that it’s kind of the original production, which you don’t really see much anymore.
Spectrum News 1: Have you learned anything from Warbucks?
Swan: Appreciate the life you’re in and be in the moment. We all get caught up and what we think are our problems … There’s always something in your life that you have to deal with, you think. And then, whatever it takes — in this character’s case, it took a child to kind of make him take a breath and go, “Wait a second, oh my God, there’s flowers over here. Look at the sun.” And look at these other people that are around that love you and support you and are there to help you if you need it, even if you think you don’t need any help.
You should look around and just appreciate the moment you’re in and the people that you’re with and the people that you care for and the people that care for you.
Spectrum News 1: What is it like working with the kids, specifically Hazel Vogel, who plays Annie?
Swan: Like I said, I’ve done it for three seasons; I’ve had three Annies, along with the understudies and the covers, and they’re all so different. … [Hazel Vogel] has this incredible honesty and kind of maturity, but still in a very childlike way. She has incredible instincts as an actor. And so this year it’s been so wonderful because she’s investing in everything around her on stage and she invests in the other actors, so all they have to do is just look at her and she looks at me and we have this connection that just makes it all so easy and fun and she’s been just a wonderful addition to the show this year.
It’s tough. The show is called “Annie.” It’s a lot to ask of these kids to come in and you’re basically putting it on their shoulders in a way, because, “OK, you’re Annie, and you got to go out there and you got deliver.” And she does, and her voice and her comic timing and in her honesty and in her charm and audience has just really loved her and I have too. It’s been great.
Spectrum News 1: I saw that even Sandy, the dog, has an understudy. What’s it been like working with the dogs on tour, too?
Swan: He does. We all have understudies because you never know what’s going to happen in this business but we haven’t had to put the understudy on this year, because our lead dog Kevin — everyone’s going to brag about their own dogs but I’ve never seen a dog on stage like this before. He’s professional. He does his job, but he loves his job and he loves people and he loves doing his job for people. He loves the applause; he loves the pets; he loves the attention. It’s great. He does everything he’s supposed to do. … He’s just a big old love bug. The audiences have just [loved him]; generally, he always gets the biggest applause.
Spectrum News 1: Do you have a favorite memory you’ve made while on tour?
Swan: The first night, opening night, in Syracuse. … I remember being in my dressing room the very first night before going on and hearing the very beginning of the show, this beautiful overture of “Annie” and the trumpet starts out, just alone … and my heart just went, “Oh my God, I’m here. I’m playing Warbucks, this role that I’ve been dreaming about for a while in this wonderful production and I get to start this journey and I don’t know where it was going to take me.” But it’s taken me all across the country and working with so many wonderful actors and so many wonderful children. …
That’s also a big memory that I’m always going to take away because I was a young actor once, too, at the same age, excited about theater and to see these kids show up every night and do this. You realize at a certain point that it’s a job and that you have to be ready to deliver, but also just their love of it and their love of each other. That’s what I’m going to remember the most about the show, is the kids and seeing how [much being in the show] meant to them.
"Annie" runs at the Marcus Performing Arts Center from April 25 to 27. Find ticket information, here.
Aly Prouty - Digital Media Producer
Aly Prouty is a digital producer for Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin, Ohio and Kentucky. An award-winning, multimedia journalist, she holds an honors B.A. in journalism from Marquette University and an M.A. in journalism and media studies from The University of Alabama.
