A 10-year-old from Kilmarnock landed the lead role of Annie in the musical of the same name.
Niamh Lee successfully came through a multiple-stage audition process which included singing, dancing and acting, to land the part of Annie in the production which is being staged by the legendary Glasgow Theatre production company Pantheon Theatre.
Almost 400 youngsters auditioned for the production of the hugely popular musical, and Niamh, aged just 9 at the time of auditions over the summer, was successfully cast as one of two Annie’s who will lead the run in January.
Niamh received the news from the Director on the evening of her 10th birthday while she was celebrating with he family and friends which was a “great birthday surprise”.
This is the third time in just over a year that Niamh will be appearing on the Kings Theatre Stage, having appeared in sold out runs of Oliver in April 2024 and Elf the Musical in November 2023, both productions staged by Glasgow based The Lyric Club.
Following in the footsteps of her older sisters Freya who appeared at Les Miserable at the Edinburgh Fringe this summer and Pippa who appeared in Nativity The Musical & Oliver, Niamh is really enjoying all the hours of rehearsals and the hard work that is going in with her fellow cast members.
Niamh’s dad Barry said: “Niamh is rehearsing for a number of hours every week and is loving every minute of the experience. She has been fortunate to be cast alongside a phenomenally talented group of youngsters, who she adores, not to mention being led and directed by a really experienced and terrific team at Pantheon who have been fantastic with her.
“Our house is filled with the sound of Niamh singing and practising her lines, and it certainly makes for a very lively and fun filled atmosphere at home. We have recently had builders doing renovation work in our home and all the tradesmen have enjoyed hearing Niamh belting out the brilliant soundtrack from Annie as they’ve been busy working away each day. The big hit songs of Hard Knock Life and Tomorrow have been regularly heard around our house!”
He added: “We received the phone call from the Director on the evening of Niamh’s tenth birthday when we had a houseful of friends and family celebrating, so the news that they wanted to cast Niamh as Annie coming on her birthday itself was such a great surprise and made for quite a night of celebration.
“We have been inundated with support and requests from family and friends for tickets to come and support Niamh in her run in January at the Kings.
“Niamh is really appreciative of the support from so many people across her hometown of Kilmarnock, with her own musical theatre company Take A Bow in Kilmarnock running a trip to see and support her when she appears on stage.
“Her two proud older sisters are delighted to see Niamh take centre stage in Annie and think she is very well cast as the cute and charismatic Annie in the big production.
“The people of Kilmarnock are rightly proud of Niamh and can’t wait to see her ‘shine like the top of the Chrysler building’ when the show rolls into town in the new year.”
Tickets are on sale now via ATG Tickets for Annie at The Kings Theatre in Glasgow and the run is on from Tuesday, January 14 until Saturday, January 18.
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