VISION Arts’ Annie - The Smash Hit Musical at Milford Haven’s Boulevard Theatre was a beautifully delivered celebration of innocence, generosity and optimism.

The Broadway musical is more feel-good than its comic strip roots as ‘Little Orphan Annie’, and Vision Theatre Company combined the best of both with this upbeat adaptation packed with bold colour, big characters and a real sense of fun.

Hallie Nelson took to the titular role naturally, radiating charm, humility, courage and relentless positivity, her clear voice and happy smile just muted enough to reflect her tragic background and her long-thwarted wish to be reunited with her parents.

To see Hallie’s Annie interacting with Sandy the dog was such a joy. In common with many of the cast, her American accent was consistent and convincing - oh boy!

Equally delightful was Director Drew Baker as Billionaire Oliver Warbucks: affable, loveable, Powerful yet world-worn - and childlike in his gradual warming to Annie. And this naivety is important in preserving the innocence and warmth of his adoption of Annie.

Drew used his remarkable, loud, operatic voice to create a unique space for his eccentric, generous character. The adoption party is the happiest moment of Oliver Warbucks’ life and you really feel for both Annie and Oliver when the party is interrupted by the apparent arrival of the ‘real parents’, the greedy Rooster and his girlfriend Lily.

Tinging the feel-good musical with necessary darkness, Janine Lewis as Miss Hannigan oozed drunken selfishness with every lithe movement. However, the orphans themselves - a delightful bunch of children who had uniquely opened the show emerging from bedclothes - took every opportunity to make fun and win little victories at her expense. Miss Hannigan’s villainous brother (Rhys Williams) and his girlfriend (Sami Samaani Rodriguez) made a great pair: without the need to create any audience sympathy they acted for all they were worth, and they made their dances moves tight as they plotted their journey down ‘Easy Street’.

Timing was down to talented pianist Clive Raymond who played throughout the performance, accompanying colourful dance routines and classic songs like ‘Tomorrow’, ‘It’s A Hard Knock Life’ and the poignant ‘Maybe’.

By the end of the show, the imposter parents have been detected, Miss Hannigan dethroned, and the children promised “no work… lessons instead!” and Annie has charmed almost everyone - including President Roosevelt (warmly played by Dean Richards) - with her untiring positivity.

It’s a refreshing fantasy that an orphan girl could be so rescued from rags to riches and remain unchanged in spirit, provoking no jealous reaction from her fellow orphans, and go on to save America from Depression with optimism. With its glitzy, tap-dance numbers and ingenuous plot, the musical Annie could come off as cloying and precocious, but in the hands of this local company and its irresistible cast of characters, it was a big, warm bundle of fun.

One audience member summed it up: “What a fantastic show with everyone on stage giving it their all. I took my daughter and she absolutely loved it. Wonderful!”