Berry Middle School Drama Club presents 'Annie Jr.' musical

The Berry Middle School choir and drama departments are joining together to put on an “Annie Jr.” musical this weekend.

They have scheduled three performances for 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7, in the theater at Spain Park High School.

The show lasts about an hour and features a cast of 56 students and a 12-person stage crew, with students coming from grades 6-8, said Dianne Rowe, the theater teacher at Berry.

The musical is based on the famous comic strip and adapted from the Tony Award-winning musical and tells the story of an orphan named Annie who, in 1933, wants to find her parents who left her at an orphanage in New York City. She ends up finding a new home with billionaire Oliver Warbucks and his personal secretary, Grace Farrell.

This is the fourth year the drama and choir departments have collaborated to put on a musical, Rowe said.

Tickets are $5 at the door, but children ages 3 and younger and all faculty and staff with Hoover City Schools get in free.

The Berry Junior Thespians also have organized a toy drive in conjunction with the show. Anyone who brings a new, unwrapped toy to the show can get a free snack from the concessions table. The toys will be donated to King’s Home, which serves people escaping domestic violence and other extreme and impoverished conditions.