When she first performed in a production of “Annie” at age six, Kelsey Shaw would come home from her youth theater and sing songs from the show at the top of her lungs.
Shaw, who graduated from IU in 2015, is now a member of the ensemble in the traveling Tony award-winning production of “Annie,” which comes to the IU Auditorium tonight.
“I still love it, but it’s my job,” Shaw said. “When you go home from the theater at the end of the night, the last thing you want to do is walk around your house singing ‘Annie.’”
“Annie” was one of the earliest experiences that made Shaw fall in love with theater, she said. Now she has been a part of five productions of “Annie” — at ages six and 10, twice in high school and now in her first job out of college.
Shaw said it feels like a full circle to start her professional career with the same show that started her interest in acting.
Even though there is more separation between the theater and Shaw’s life outside of work now than when she was a child, she said she still has an emotional connection to the show.
“Being a working professional whose first job is a production of ‘Annie’ reminds me how much I learned growing up, how much children’s theater taught me and everything in my training that has gotten me from that point to now,” Shaw said. “It’s definitely significant.”
Shaw auditioned in March 2015, got the part several days later and moved to New York after her graduation in May.
She spent the summer in the city, started rehearsals in September and then left to begin the tour in Seattle.
On the tour, the cast has already put on almost 180 shows, and it still has seven more weeks before it ends in May.
The children in the show help keep the touring process energetic and fresh, Shaw said. They travel with one guardian each, and they complete four hours of tutoring each day before shows at night.
“They’re working harder than the adults in a lot of ways,” Shaw said. “They try to maintain somewhat of a normal life. It’s definitely a strange thing, but they work really hard and they’re all great girls. They’re a fun addition to this crazy traveling circus.”
To keep the production fresh even after so many performances, the cast has to experience it every time like the very first time, Shaw said.
Some of the cast members have a ritual of pulling an “angel card” before every show. Each card has a word on it like “hope,” “harmony” or “spirit.”
To keep a different word in mind during each show makes it easier to keep pushing to improve, Shaw said.
The optimism that the story instills in people never goes away, Shaw said. Even after all the time spent on “Annie,” Shaw still leaves every rehearsal and production happier than she came.
The audience feels the positive energy of the story as well, Shaw said.
Almost everyone that comes to see the show already has a connection to it, whether from previously performing in it or seeing a production. The ability for people to bond with the story has made it a classic.
“It’s about not knowing exactly how things are going to work out, but having faith that they will,” Shaw said. “Annie is so spunky and optimistic and determined to make life better. There’s something about that childlike optimism that a lot of adults could afford to have more of. It helps people look on the bright side of life like kids do.”
