THS Theatre’s Production of Annie
Annie may have lived the “Hard Knock Life,” but Teaneck students involved with the production of Annie certainly had the time of their lives. The popular show came to Teaneck High and pleased both the cast and the audiences who saw it.
Perhaps fittingly the show about a young orphan girl was led by many of Teaneck’s young performers. Many of the major roles, including Annie, went to freshmen. The school even went down to Thomas Jefferson Middle School in order to bring some young kids up to play the role of the orphans.
Some of the freshmen who contributed to the play spoke about their experience in one of their first productions at the high school.
Amanda Accilien played an orphan and was the understudy for the role of Annie. She said:
“I love interacting with everyone there, it was a very professional experience. I like the theater community and everyone has a place there.”
AJ Manansala played a variety of roles, including Mr. Bundles, Harold Ickies, and a servant for Warkbucks. He really enjoyed his experience.
“For my first production it went great and I’m excited for many more to come. My favorite part of being in the show was hanging out with all the cast and crew. before and after the show.”
Jacob Santos played President FDR and radio personality Burt Healy and really liked the experiences of meeting people.
“I enjoyed meeting different people who have the same interests in common.”
But the show wasn’t just about the freshmen. This was the final production for many seniors, including Devon Wells who has taken part in eight shows during his four years at Teaneck. For Devon, he felt this was a really great way to end his acting career at THS.
“It was fun for me at least. I enjoyed working with my fellow cast members. it was definitely a good way to finish off my senior year.
“The show was really successful. Everyone seemed to love it. We had a great turnout and overall it just was a great success.”
Devon was really proud of the freshmen and how they handled their first performance.
“They were great,” Wells said. “A lot of them pulled through and were great to work with. I really hope they stick around, they definitely have a bright future.”
As for Devon’s future, he plans to continue pursuing his acting career at Ramapo College in the fall. He will also be auditioning for “The Producers” this summer at Bergen PAC. As excited as he is for the future, Devon said he’s really going to miss THS Theatre and all the friends he got to make here.
