Annie the musical Sydney: Matilda Casey and Ariana Lorusso are two of the child stars in Annie the musical

Meet Matilda Casey and Ariana Lorusso, two of the child stars of the new production of Annie, playing in Sydney.

Fun fact about kids who star in musicals: there are multiple children cast in each role. In this instance, there are four children playing Annie and three as each of the orphans, including Molly.

The cast also rotates to ensure none of the children are overworked, and if they finish at 10pm they aren’t legally allowed to attend school the next day until 10am.

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This is just one example of the many protections in place for the young stars – all of which were explained to the proud parents who are delighting in seeing their children shine.

Matilda, 12, and Ariana, eight, have attended singing and dancing classes from a young age and their mums have loved seeing their daughters’ confidence grow over the years.

Matilda’s mum Chantelle recalls her daughter’s first dance concert and the many that followed.

“It just gives them that extra level of confidence and ability to talk to people and get up in front of people,” she tells 9honey.

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Matilda grew up watching musicals.

“I’ve seen Beauty and the Beast, Hairspray, I recently just saw Hamilton and lots of other ones, Wicked … and then I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do’,” she tells 9honey.

Chantelle and husband Mark gave their daughters the opportunity to do both sport and dancing, but “there came a time where it all overlapped,” Chantelle says.

“And she had to make the decision, and she decided to dance,” she says of daughter Matilda.

They found out about the auditions for Annie through Matilda’s dance school.

Chantelle told her daughter it would be a good experience and to use it to learn and grow, without getting too anxious about the outcome.

The kids were taken through rounds at the audition, their names being called at the end of each if they made it through.

”You would just be on the edge of your seat like, ‘Is my name going to get called out?'” Matilda says.

When she got the part, they were overjoyed.

“We just started watching the movies over and over again,” Matilda says. They had to keep the news under wraps for a while, which was difficult.

“We got mailed the script, so we weren’t supposed to go straight in and memorise it,” Matilda explains.

“We just had to familiarise ourselves with it and then just keep the singing lessons up and maintain the dancing and just wait till you get all these emails.”

Each email would outline the next steps.

Chantelle took six months off from her work as a school teacher to support Matilda through the rehearsals and performances.

“For us, life is just for living and going out experiencing everything,” Chantelle says.

The first time she and Mark saw their daughter perform was incredible.

“I think she was nervous. I don’t think her nerves compared to her father’s or mine,” Chantelle says.

“We just sat there and yeah, I don’t know, you can’t even describe it. We cried.”

Ariana’s mum Katie has four children, all in activities including singing, dancing and tennis.

“It’s just a lot of running around, but it’s totally worth it to see her up on the stage,” Katie says.

They found out about the Annie auditions through Ariana’s singing teacher.

Katie encouraged Ariana to learn to sing in addition to competitive dancing, knowing her daughter would have more opportunities to make a career out of what she loved if she was “an all-rounder”.

“You don’t have to be the best at dancing or the best at singing or the best at acting. You’ve got to be able to do it all,” Katie says.

Katie and husband Vic make sure not to put any pressure on their children. Instead, they find out what each of them enjoys doing and support them as much as possible.

“I never put the pressure on her. If she doesn’t want to do something, then we don’t do it,” Katie says.

Insane sum child star was paid for 21 minutes on-screen

Ariana explains to 9honey how she approached the auditions.

“I brought all these lucky charms,” she says, “I brought a necklace and a fluffy toy.”

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Ariana was excited to be cast as Molly. 

”She’s like the baby … and she’s cheeky. She gets away with all the stuff because all the other ones are all older and they don’t really get away with a lot,” Ariana explains.

The eight-year-old is used to having a busy schedule, including multiple singing and dancing classes each week, so she coped well with the rehearsal schedule – and now with her performance schedule, sometimes doing two performances in a day.

“All the girls that have been cast, and especially in her little group, they are just so sweet and kind,” Katie says.

“So she’s made like genuine friends along the way, which is so nice.”

Katie says the rehearsal schedule was “more full on than what it is now”.

“We just drop them to the stage door they do their show and we bring them home, whereas they were doing six eight hour days for rehearsals,” Katie says.

Annie also stars Anthony Warlow, Mackenzie Dunn, Amanda LaVergne, Debora Krizak, Keanu Gonzalez and Greg Page.

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All the adult cast have formed bonds with their talented young co-stars and their closeness is certainly what makes the musical so special and one not to be missed.

“It’s just the best opportunity for her and the most fun musical I think you could ever do,” Katie says.

“She gets to jump in the laundry basket and she’s just the cutest little thing and every time I watch her, I’m just so proud.”

Purchase your tickets to Annie here.

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