IT'S THE HARD KNOCK LIFE

"Did I hear happiness in here?" Sally Struthers screams accusingly at a room full of children. Sally Struthers, you ask, the champion of "Save the Children," actually yelling at children? Yes, Sally Struthers, and she isn't just yelling; she is shrieking.

Struthers, rather ironically, stars as the despotic spinster Miss Hannigan in the 20th anniversary production of the American classic Annie, which appeared at the Wang from November 3-8. And while it may seem odd, Struthers takes on this new challenge with abandon, even going as far as ripping the limbs from an innocent doll while belting out the lyrics to the song "Little Girls": "Little cheeks, little teeth/Everything around me is little/If I wring little necks/Surely I will get an acquittal...Some night I'll straighten their curls/ Send a flood, send the flu/Anything that, you can do, to little girls!"

Aside from the comic irony of seeing her decapitate helpless ragdolls, Struthers' main contribution to the show is her name recognition. She portrays Miss Hannigan as little more than a drunk with a penchant for the laundry man, although she does have a rather entertaining drunken twitch, which starts as merely an annoyance but escalates into a full-body contortion of sorts by the final scene. Her singing is at times a high-pitched and quite realistic whine, and at others a growl worthy of the most horrible of lonely spinsters. According to the playbill, Struthers is the first to admit that she's a "belter from the Ethel Merman school"; as Miss Hannigan, this is a very effective combination. (Although at times it may have been a bit too effective, as a few little hands were seen sneaking up to cover some wide eyes as Struthers hit some of her most prolific notes.) The highlight of Struthers' performance is the vast amount of energy she brings to the stage. Alternately throwing herself on the floor and shaking pint-sized orphans, Struthers concedes, "When I get up there, I'm all over the place. It seems like I've shot out of a cannon. I'm bouncing off the walls...I play her [Miss Hannigan] as a crazed woman."

But Struthers is not the only one bouncing around the stage. Some of the show's most amusing moments come when 6-year-old Victoria Pontecorvo, who plays the orphan Molly, mischievously mimics Struthers' outlandish antics. Pontecorvo's tiny size and huge smile will immediately win any audience over, and her imitation of Miss Hannigan's drunken walk and fondness for the flask are priceless. "It's the Hard-Knock Life," the orphan's second song, is an adorable synchronized number filled with metal wash-buckets and rags, and choreographer Peter Gennaro wisely capitalizes on the charm of his youngest orphan as she tap-dances and cartwheels into the spotlight.

It is in the second scene, however, that another little orphan really comes into her own. Nine-year old Brittany Kissinger is in her second season as Annie, and has a remarkable command of the stage for her years. Kissinger's knobby knees, shaggy bowl cut and slightly crooked teeth make her a refreshingly sincere Annie, with just enough natural charm to make her lovable but not sticky-sweet. It is with this ease that she launchs into "Tomorrow," beginning the song in a conversational tone that briefly masks her vocal power. After the first bars, Kissinger's voice becomes stronger until her clear voice fills the auditorium completely. This is arguably the best song of the show, and the sight of Kissinger singing alone on the stage, undaunted by the packed house in front of her, is truly impressive.

Conrad John Schuck and Kay Story make a delightful pair as Daddy Warbucks and Grace, Warbuck's secretary, in the second half of the first act. Shuck's deep voice and stiff manner are a perfect compliment to Story's soft femininity, and although the set design for the Warbucks mansion is a bit much--The Nike of Samothrace looms in one corner, while Picassos, Mattises, Rembrants and the Mona Lisa also make appearances--it does produce a few chuckles from older members of the audience. Rooster Hannigan, played by Laurent Giroux, and his accomplice Lily St. Regent ("like the hotel, ya' know?"), played by Karen Byers-Blackwell, made a suitably contrasting couple as they scheme their way through the remainder of the show. Giroux demonstrates a wonderfully repulsive amount of sleaziness as well as a convincing rooster call, and Byers-Blackwell plays Lily as the domineering, long-legged, gum-chewing femme-fatal behind the plot to kidnap Annie.

The second act begins rather abruptly with "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile," with Kissinger looking adorable in her new clothes. Ron Wisniski gives a convincing performance as F.D.R. later in the act, a fact which adults appreciate, if the largely child-filled audience fails to notice. But the high point of the second act is the last scene, when the stage is turned into a gigantic Christmas party to the delighted ohs and ahs of the entire audience. After being told by Daddy Warbucks to get "gussied up," Annie descends the grand staircase wearing the classic red dress, shiny Mary Janes and curly wig, doing high kicks that would rival the Rockettes themselves. This happy scene is predictably interrupted by Annie's long-lost "parents"; but Schuck, as Warbucks, saves the scene with a masterful performance and a highly climatic rejection of the impostors.

On the night that this reviewer saw Annie, the show was a hit with the entire audience, especially children. The lobby of the Wang Center was filled with three-foot tall knockouts, dressed in their own Mary Janes and best dresses. A few enterprising young gentlemen could be overheard trying to pick up some of these soon-to-be leading ladies, but most were too busy tap-dancing like Molly or gustily singing, "Tomorrow, tomorrow, the sun'll come out tomorrow" to even notice.