Mineola Middle School Students Preview “Annie, Jr.”

A portion of the cast of “Annie, Jr.” performed a scene from this weekend’s production on January 19 before the board of education’s regular meeting at the .

“They’re talented girls as you can see,” DeLuca said, pointing out that it was “a little awkward” to do the scene with the lights in the board room switched on, “but they’re brave.”

The girls performed “Maybe,” the second song of the first act, and just before “Hard Knock Life.” The setting is in the orphanarium’s bedchambers with Annie and the others roused by one of the orphan girls crying out for her mother.

“You were expecting ‘Tomorrow’ but you have to pay obviously,” DeLuca joked.

One of the oddities of having the scene in the board room was the presence of a  “giant” musical interlude in which they remained still. “You can picture what you will during that part,” DeLuca said, as the production will have other things happening on stage.

The “Jr.” version is specifically edited with children in mind in a shortened production of the immortal Broadway play. The middle school’s production this year is under the direction of Matt DeLuca with performances on and two performances on Saturday including a and the final show at 7:30 p.m.