I want to adopt them all.
I'm pretty sure everyone who was in the audience for the opening night of Royal City Musical Theatre's Annie on Saturday felt the same.
The orphans were the undeniable standout in a production so full of highlights that to describe it would pretty much require every synonym for "marvellous" I can find in the thesaurus.
So let's just get those words out of the way, shall we:
Amazing. Astounding. Spectacular. Wonderful. Awesome. Fabulous. Exceptional. Extraordinary. Stunning. Sensational.
I could go on, but you can look up the rest of the synonyms for yourself. They'll all be true.
Anyone who attends Royal City Musical Theatre performances regularly will know to go in with high expectations. This production, the company's 25th anniversary celebration, surpasses even that standard.
Its success is due in large part to the killer cast of youngsters it assembled for the part of the orphans - starring Julia MacLean in the title role. Julia has the voice, the charm and the stage presence to pull it off with aplomb, and her renditions of Maybe and Tomorrow were spot-on.
She's joined by an outstanding orphan ensemble of Avril Brigden, Aubrey Maddock, Lucy Gill, Nathalie Joyal, Taylor Robinson, Maya Schwartz-Dardick and Sydney Waack - and, most notably, by her own real-life little sister, Jaime MacLean, in the role of the smallest orphan, Molly. (Anyone who didn't want to scoop up Molly and take her home with them has a harder heart than I do.)
Their song and dance routines were note- and step-perfect, and their performances were a delight from start to finish.
The adult stars had the unenviable task of living up to the adorableness of their junior counterparts - and luckily for them, they were more than up for the challenge.
The ensemble was full of such talent that any one of the "background" performers could easily have starred in a show; Burnaby's Gavin LeClaire in particular stood out as Drake.
As the "bad guys," Caitlin Clugston's Miss Hannigan and Mike Kovac's Rooster were particular delights; their vocal prowess and their body language stole the show more than once.
Fortunately, the "good guys" were equally well represented in the persons of New West's own Cassady Ranford as Grace - her sweetness and her clear, pure-toned voice were used to great effect - and by Burnaby's Steve Maddock as Oliver Warbucks. Maddock is such an experienced performer that you expect greatness when he steps on the stage - and, rather like the production itself, he exceeds even his own high standards this time out.
The warm chemistry between him and his young co-star Julia elevates the performance from "excellent" to "more than worthy of the opening night standing ovation and then some."
The performances are backed by the once-again stellar performance of the live orchestra, under the baton of James Bryson for the 25th time.
Add in the lighting design of Gerald King, the sound design of Tim Lang, the always outstanding sets of Omanie Elias and the gifted costuming of Christina Sinosich - and, well, it's a hard-knock life for a critic looking for anything to complain about.
The production was dedicated to the memory of the late Ed Harrington, former artistic director and one of the founding members of the RCMT company.
Director Valerie Easton has done his memory proud.
Somewhere, I suspect, Harrington is beaming - and probably dancing along.
For all the details, see www.royalcitymusicaltheatre.com. To buy tickets, call 604-521-5050 or buy online through tickets.masseytheatre.com.
