North Carolina Theatre is the region’s only producer of professional Broadway musical revivals. Annie opens July 24 and runs through Aug. 2 in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh, presented by BlueCross and BlueShield of NC.

Avery Hoerdemann is in the orphan ensemble in Annie. A ten-year-old student at Oak Grove Elementary School in Cary, Avery has been involved with the North Carolina Theatre Conservatory for several years, taking classes and training with Broadway veterans. This is her first main stage production at NC Theatre. Payton Prince will play the role of “Duffy” in the production. She has performed in Theatre in the Park’s A Christmas Carol as the Baker’s Daughter and in lots of productions in California before moving to North Carolina. Payton also takes classes at the NC Theatre Conservatory.

Mary Kate Englehardt of Cary has been cast in the production as “Molly.” She has been in TV’s One Tree Hill as “Lily Roe Scott” and in several commercials including Glaxo Smith Kline, Progress Energy, Atlantic Coast Conference and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. At nine years old, Mary Kate takes classes at the NC Theatre Conservatory and enjoys singing, dancing, piano, tennis and golf. Last year, she made her NC Theatre stage debut as “Gretl” in The Sound of Music.

NC Theatre has a tremendous cast for this summer’s production starring Andrea McArdle, the youngest female ever nominated for a Tony Award in a leading role category. She starred as the original orphan Annie in the 1977 Tony Award-winning Broadway production, and will now star as the villainess Miss Hannigan on the Raleigh stage.

Soap opera favorite, Robert Newman, of CBS’s Guiding Light, stars as Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks. He joined the cast of Guiding Light as Joshua Lewis in 1981 and continued with the show through its final episode in September 2009. The role garnered him two Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2002 and 2006.

All other casting for the production is comprised of 14 adorable local little girls who make up the orphans and 22 actors from Broadway, New York City and the Triangle area. Ticket Information Tickets are $26-$76 and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Walk-ups are also available at the N.C. Theatre Box Office. For groups of 10 or more, please call 919-831-6941 extension 6944.