We found out at the audition that Martin Charnin was directing the
play and in charge of the auditions. This is the guy that had the
concept for the original Annie, directed it and wrote the lyrics for
it. I have to admit I was a little star struck. The musical Annie was
the soundtrack of my childhood. To make things even stranger I
discovered that Martin Charnin lives right in Issaquah. He is
neighbors with some of Monti's school mates.
When the girls got into the room for the auditions Martin could see
they were just full of nerves. He told everyone to put down their
stuff and just shake out the nerves. Then he asked parents to leave
for a couple hours while they worked with the group. I left and went
to get some coffee with the other moms. Monti was excited when she
came out because she was asked to come back tomorrow.