Ulverston Amateur Operatic Society’s new star Natalie Heal was set to win hearts in October 1993 as Annie opened at the town’s Coronation Hall.

Under the headline ‘An Orphan you can’t refuse’, The Mail wrote that it would be the first big show for Natalie, 11, who had won the part in June when 40 hopefuls auditioned.

By October a pupil at Ulverston Victoria High School, Natalie had been a member of Sir John Barrow School’s dram club and had appeared in the school’s Christmas plays.

“She’s been super,” said the show’s director Barbara Springthorpe.

“It was hilarious on Monday night when she put Annie’s wig on for the first time.

She has straight dork hair and the wig is red and curly. The kids who play the other orphans had hysterics.”

Barbara said rehearsals had gone very well and the girls who played the orphans had been brilliant.

“They’re like bottle of pop,” she said. “They’re fizzing all the time, but as soon as I say quiet, they’re quiet.

“They are brilliant. I’ve worked with them separately from the rest of the cast for two-and-a-half months and they know precisely what they are doing.

“I have done the choreography and whatever I’ve told them to do they’ve done. They know every step and where every foot should be. I’m very pleased.”

Also in the cast were Russell Palmer as Warbucks, Lindsay Jackson as Grace Farrell, Elaine Parkinson as Miss Hannigan, Steve Low as Rooster, Sue Little as Lily, Katherine Smith as Mollie, Bill Springthorpe as President Roosevelt, Andrew Bond as Bill Healy and Fiona Pate and Tracey Jackson as the other two Boylan Sisters.

The opening night's show was in aid of St Mary's Hospice.

The original Broadway production of Annie opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years, winning seven Tony Awards, including the Tony Award for Best Musical. Among its most popular musical numbers are Tomorrow and It's the Hard Knock Life.