Producer John Frost for Crossroads Live today revealed the young actors who will be playing the roles of Annie and her orphan friends in the upcoming Brisbane season of the ever-popular Broadway musical Annie, which opens at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC next month.
Three gifted young performers will share the titular role of Annie: Matilda Casey, Dakota Chanel and Isabella Hayden.
Matilda Casey re-joins the cast after sharing the role of Annie in the Sydney season, Dakota Chanel has shared the role of Annie across both the Sydney and Melbourne seasons, while Isabella Hayden comes fresh from sharing the role of Annie in the Melbourne season.
Playing the role of Pepper will be Stella Shiels-Winters and Kensi Simpson. Violet Knight and Aenorah Wallace will share the role of Duffy. Kate will be played by Jessica Kime and Aubrie Wildman. Tessie will be played by Zara Boldery and Sienna Hannant. July will be played by Tilly Love and Claire Taylor. Molly will be played by Indigo Ohlin and Macy Salvana. Emily Birch, Dakota Bolt, Charlotte Edwards and Aneka Mitchell have been cast as Friday.
They will join the stellar cast led by Anthony Warlow as Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks, the role which took him to Broadway, and Debora Krizak as Miss Hannigan. Rising star Mackenzie Dunn plays Lily St. Regis, Keanu Gonzalez steps into the role of “Rooster” Hannigan, while Amanda Lea LaVergne plays Grace Farrell. The original Yellow Wiggle, Greg Page, plays President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his musical theatre debut.
The talented ensemble cast is comprised of Luke Alleva, Cameron Boxall, Tim Brown, Emily Casey, Nakita Clarke, Andrew Dunne, Sebastian Johnston, Anna Mallows, Chloë Marshall, Kristina McNamara, Tom New, Ryan Orphel, Madeline Pratt, Lisa Sontag, Suzanne Steele and Dean Vince.
Producer John Frost said:
“I’m extremely excited to announced this wonderfully talented group of young actresses who will be playing Annie and her orphan friends in Brisbane. They were chosen from hundreds of girls who registered for an audition, and all stood out as marvellous performers.
They join the rest of the cast led by Anthony, Deb, Mackenzie, Keanu, Amanda and Greg. We have a spectacular company. This is a magnificent new production of Annie for a whole new generation. Line up now to buy your tickets to one of the most delightful and inspiring musicals of all time. Don’t wait until Tomorrow!”
This inspiring new Australian production, directed by Karen Johnson Mortimer and choreographed by Mitchell Woodcock, has been playing in Sydney and Melbourne to packed audiences and standing ovations.
One of the most awarded and loved musicals of all time, with its iconic score featuring classics like It’s the Hard-Knock Life, Tomorrow, Easy Street and N.Y.C, Annie is truly a timeless masterpiece, with a book and score written by Tony Award winners Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin.
Annie is a celebration of hope, family and friendship. This small but mighty young girl will return to stick out her chin and grin once more!
Annie runs at the Lyric Theatre QPAC from 27 December 2025.
Tickets: https://anniemusical.com.au/tickets/brisbane/
Website: https://anniemusical.com.au/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/anniemusicalau/
Photo credit: Daniel Boud
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One response to “Announcing Child Cast For Annie Musical Brisbane”
It’s a little disappointing that no local performers were cast as Annie in the Brisbane production, with the lead roles instead going to talent from Sydney and Melbourne. While auditions were held in Brisbane, it seems they may have primarily focused on casting the orphan ensemble. This might feel like a missed opportunity for Brisbane’s musical theatre community, though I understand there are practical reasons the production company may have chosen this approach.
Of course, this is only an assumption — it’s also possible that the Brisbane auditions simply didn’t uncover a performer who met the specific requirements for the role, prompting the company to re-engage previous Annies from Sydney and Melbourne. Either way, it might have been helpful to provide a little more transparency for young Brisbane performers who auditioned with hopes of playing Annie, only to find that the principal roles were already filled.