Claire Sweeney will star as Miss Hannigan in the UK and Ireland tour of the musical ANNIE.
Claire will perform from Tuesday 7 July 2026 at the Wales Millenium Centre in Cardiff before playing Milton Keynes, Blackpool, Newcastle, Dublin, Bristol, Nottingham, Hull, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Truro, Cheltenham, Stoke, Crawley, Belfast, Aberdeen, Woking, Bradford, Oxford, Sunderland, Southampton, Norwich, Wolverhampton, Sheffield, Glasgow and Leicester.
Claire will star alongside the previously announced Alex Bourne as Oliver Warbucks, and the newly announced Tanisha-Mae Brown as Grace Farrell, Christian Cooper as Rooster, and Amber Kennedy as Lily St. Regis.
Also joining the company are Jack Buchanan, Harrison Burley, Zoë Canham, Sophie Elmes, Belle Kizzy Green, Issy Khogali, Yujin Park, Elliot David Parkes, Carl Sanderson, Michaela Stern, Matthew Sweet and Jessica Wright.
La Voix will play Miss Hannigan in Wimbledon, Birmingham, Manchester, Plymouth and Canterbury.
ANNIE – The Story
Set in 1930s New York during The Great Depression, brave young Annie is forced to live a life of misery and torment at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage. Her luck soon changes when she’s chosen to spend a fairytale Christmas with famous billionaire, Oliver Warbucks. Meanwhile, spiteful Miss Hannigan has other ideas and hatches a plan to spoil Annie’s search for her true family…
With its Tony award-winning book and score, this stunning production includes the unforgettable songs ‘It’s the Hard Knock Life’, ‘Easy Street’, ‘I Don’t Need Anything But You’ and ‘Tomorrow’.
ANNIE has Music by Charles Strouse, Lyrics by Martin Charnin and a Book by Thomas Meehan. It is directed by Curve’s Artistic Director Nikolai Foster with set and costume design by Colin Richmond, choreography by Nick Winston, lighting by Ben Cracknell and sound design by Richard Brooker.
Claire Sweeney
Claire Sweeney is an actress, singer and TV presenter. She can currently be seen as series regular Cassie Plummer in Coronation Street and is well known for her role as Lindsay Corkhill in Brookside. Her other credits include roles in Clocking Off, Holby City, Merseybeat, Candy Cabs, Scarborough, The Good Ship Murder and Benidorm.
Claire’s many West End credits include:
- Chicago
- Guys and Dolls
- 9 to 5 the Musical
- Crazy For You
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- Legally Blonde
- Hairspray
- September in the Rain
- Educating Rita
- Tell Me on a Sunday
- Sex In Suburbia
- Shirley Valentine
- White Christmas
- Shout!
- Fosse
- The Play What I Wrote
La Voix
La Voix was most recently a participant in Series 23 of Strictly Come Dancing. She previously appeared on Season 6 of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, reaching the grand finale and being awarded runner up. Her other TV credits include appearances on ITV’s Queens For The Night, becoming a semi-finalist on Britain’s Got Talent, and her film credits include Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie. With her live show, La Voix Meets, she’s interviewed legends such as Dawn French, Joanna Lumley, Su Pollard, and Vanessa Feltz, and performed for the British Royal Family at their exclusive New Year’s Eve ball.
She recently released her debut original pop single, The Show Isn’t Over, followed by her second original single, Hitchcock Blonde. Her hotly anticipated EP The Show Isn’t Over was released in autumn of 2025 alongside a UK tour of the same name, with dates in London’s West End as well as Glasgow, Manchester, Cornwall, Brighton and more.
Alex Bourne
Alex Bourne returns to Annie as Oliver Warbucks, having played the role in the West End, in Toronto and on a UK Tour. His other theatre credits include The Wizard in The Wizard of Oz at the Gillian Lynne Theatre and on a UK Tour, Edna Turnblad in the UK Tour of Hairspray, Sam Carmichael in the UK Tour of Mamma Mia!, Khashoggi in We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre, Billy Flynn in Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre and on an international tour, and Lex Hogan in Eugenius! at The Other Palace. He also played Fred Graham in Kiss Me, Kate at the Chichester Festival Theatre and the Old Vic Theatre, for which he was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. On film he can be seen in Sony Pictures’ Cinderella.
Tanisha-Mae Brown’s theatre credits include Singin’ in the Rain at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Brigadoon at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Guys and Dolls at The Bridge Theatre, Evita at Curve, Leicester, UK and Ireland Tours of The Lion King and Chicago, A Mother’s Song at the Lowry, and Pippin at the Garden Theatre.
Christian Cooper most recently played Rolf Gruber in The Sound of Music at Curve, Leicester, directed by Nikolai Foster. His credits whilst training include The Little Mermaid, The Addams Family, A Little Night Music and Spring Awakening. His film credits include The Radleys for Sky Cinema, opposite Damian Lewis.
Amber Kennedy’s theatre credits include the UK Tour of Sister Act the Musical, UK and International Tours of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the International Tour of West Side Story, Dick Whittington and Sleeping Beauty, both at Theatre Royal Windsor.
ANNIE UK TOUR 2026-27 DATES
SATURDAY 23 – SATURDAY 30 MAY 2026
NEW WIMBLEDON THEATRE
La Voix starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 2 – SATURDAY 6 JUNE 2026
THE ALEXANDRA, BIRMINGHAM
La Voix starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 9 – SATURDAY 20 JUNE 2026
PALACE THEATRE MANCHESTER
La Voix starring as Miss Hannigan
MONDAY 22 – SATURDAY 27 JUNE 2026
THEATRE ROYAL PLYMOUTH
La Voix starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 30 – SATURDAY 4 JULY 2026
MARLOWE THEATRE, CANTERBURY
La Voix starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 7 – SATURDAY 18 JULY 2026
WALES MILLENIUM CENTRE, CARDIFF
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 21 – SUNDAY 26 JULY 2026
MILTON KEYNES THEATRE
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 28 – SATURDAY 1 AUGUST 2026
BLACKPOOL OPERA HOUSE
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 4 – SATURDAY 8 AUGUST 2026
THEATRE ROYAL, NEWCASTLE
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 11 – SUNDAY 16 AUGUST 2026
BORD GAIS ENERGY THEATRE, DUBLIN
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 18 – SUNDAY 23 AUGUST 2026
BRISTOL HIPPODROME
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 1 – SUNDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2026
CONCERT HALL, NOTTINGHAM
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 8 – SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2026
HULL NEW THEATRE
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 15 – SUNDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2026
EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 22 – SATURDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2026
LIVERPOOL EMPIRE
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 29 – SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER 2026
HALL FOR CORNWALL, TRURO
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 6 – SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER 2026
THE EVERYMAN THEATRE, CHELTENHAM
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 13 – SUNDAY 18 OCTOBER 2026
REGENT THEATRE, STOKE-ON-TENT
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 20 – SATURDAY 24 OCTOBER 2026
THE HAWTH THEATRE, CRAWLEY
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 27 – SATURDAY 31 OCTOBER 2026
GRAND OPERA HOUSE, BELFAST
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 3 – SUNDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2026
HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE, ABERDEEN
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
MONDAY 16 – SATURDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2026
NEW VICTORIA THEATRE, WOKING
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
MONDAY 23 – SATURDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2026
ALHAMBRA THEATRE, BRADFORD
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 15 DECEMBER 2026 – SUNDAY 3 JANUARY 2027
NEW THEATRE OXFORD
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
MONDAY 18 – SATURDAY 23 JANUARY 2027
THE SUNDERLAND EMPIRE
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
MONDAY 25 – SATURDAY 30 JANUARY 2027
MAYFLOWER THEATRE, SOUTHAMPTON
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 2 – SUNDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2027
NORWICH THEATRE ROYAL
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 16 – SUNDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2027
GRAND THEATRE, WOLVERHAMPTON
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 23 – SATURDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2027
LYCEUM THEATRE, SHEFFIELD
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 2 – SUNDAY 7 MARCH 2027
KING’S THEATRE, GLASGOW
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
TUESDAY 9 – SUNDAY 14 MARCH 2027
CURVE THEATRE, LEICESTER
Claire Sweeney starring as Miss Hannigan
