TWO girls are to share the leading role in Redruth Amateur Operatic Society's forthcoming production of the musical Annie at the Regal Theatre.
Emily Bradley, 12, a pupil of Mounts Bay Academy who has performed in many Playrite Theatre School productions, sang her first classical solo in front of a large audience at the age of 5.
Rachel Millington, 13, goes to Newquay Tretherras School and has been dancing and singing since she was 2.
She played the title role when Annie came to the Hall for Cornwall on a national tour, in which TV's Su Pollard played cruel, embittered orphanage boss Miss Hannigan, and has also been in the HfC pantomime for the past six years.
Gail Angove, directing the show for the Operatic Society, said she and musical director Alastair Taylor were so impressed by Emily and Rachel's auditions that they decided they could share the title role.
She said Emily and Rachel were really enjoying rehearsals, the support from the rest of the cast and making new friends, especially with Daisy-May, an eight-year-old golden retriever who appears in the role of Annie's dog Sandy.
Her owner, society member Heidi Whitehead, said: "She loves children and thrives on attention, although she's not interested in retrieving a stick or ball which is what retrievers are supposed to do."
Set during the Great Depression, Annie tells of a foundling left on the doorstep of the New York orphanage run by Miss Hannigan and determined to find the parents she believes to have abandoned her.
The show runs from October 29 to November 2 at 7.30pm with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm.
Tickets for Annie are available from the Regal Theatre box office on 01209 216278 and can also be booked online at www.merlincinemas.co.uk
