Award-winning musical 'Annie' comes to the RiverCenter
Garrett Deagon says it is "fun to be bad."
The actor portrays the villain Rooster Hannigan in the national tour of the popular musical "Annie," which makes a stop at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts on Jan. 19.
And he is obviously good at portraying evil. A review on nola.com called him "wonderfully sleazy," and one in the Baltimore Sun said he "oozes slime deliciously."
"I try to make the audience love me and hate me at the same time," Deagon said.
He is enjoying the tour, which is now in its second year. Stops have included Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and Dallas.
Deagon enjoys seeing different places and visiting historic sites along the way.
"Staying healthy, eating properly is the hard part," he said.
"Annie" made its Broadway debut in 1977 and won the Tony Award for best musical. It is based on the Harold Gray comic strip "Little Orphan Annie"
The story takes place during the Great Depression. "Annie" is an orphan taken temporarily into the home of the wealthy Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks who tries to help her find her parents by offering a reward. Rooster and his girlfriend pretend to be her parents in a get-rich scheme.
"It is a universal story about finding family," Deagon said. "There is a message about staying hopeful."
He said the show has great generational appeal with grandmothers, who saw the show or movie years ago, bringing their daughters and granddaughters.
"It is just a great family show," he said.
"Annie" features terrific songs including "Tomorrow," "It's the Hard Knock Life" and "Easy Street."
Deagon is among those performing Easy Street and says it is a little different from other songs in the show, a little more jazzy.
"The song really takes off," he said.
Deagon has a degree in fine arts from the University of California-Irvine. He spent three years in New York seeking work, just trying to stick it out, doing about 400 auditions, and was considering quitting when he landed the role of Rooster.
"As a career move, it is so big," he said. "I am really savoring it."
The director of the show is Martin Charnin, who wrote the lyrics to the "Annie" songs and was the original director.
Deagon said he saw a movie version of "Annie" as a child and loved it, but he has not watched it recently.
"I don't want to imitate," he said.
He was involved in theater in high school and it was in college he decided that he could possibly make a living in show business.
Special talents listed on his resume include yodeling, making balloon animals and juggling. He laughed and said he hasn't been able to work any of those yet into Annie or other shows.
IF YOU GO
What: Tony Award winning musical "Annie"
When: Tuesday, Jan. 19 7:30 p.m.
Where: RiverCenter for the Performing Arts at 900 Broadway in Columbus.
Admission: Tickets are $49.50 and $59.50. The box office is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Go to www.rivercenter.org.
This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Award-winning musical 'Annie' comes to the RiverCenter."