Rainier “Rainey” Treviño is ready for the sun to come out.
Treviño is starring in the National Broadway Tour of ‘Annie’ as the titular plucky orphan who captures the heart of and finds a home with the billionaire Oliver Warbucks. Audiences can see the 11-year-old in the tour’s Atlanta run Dec. 5-10 at the Fox Theatre.
Treviño has been performing since the ripe age of 3, and has performed with the Virginia family theater company The Hurrah Players, the Virginia Opera, the Virginia Arts Festival and Virginia Musical Theatre. This is the first time, however, that Treviño is taking on a national tour.
“Honestly, [I’m] excited to travel the world with all my friends and perform in nearly every theater,” she said. “I’m just so excited.”
“Annie” – with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and book by Thomas Meehan – first premiered on Broadway in 1977. Since then, there have been a slew of film and television adaptations. Everyone has their favorite (this writer is partial to John Huston’s 1982 film), but Treviño said she first came to the story through one of its most famous songs.
“I probably was introduced to ‘[It’s the] Hard-Knock Life’ first,” she said. “I was in a theater class, and they played ‘Hard-Knock Life,’ and I just fell in love with it.”
Treviño said one of the reasons she loves theater is that it gives her the opportunity to play pretend on a professional level. When it comes to Annie, she said she felt a kinship with the character.
“She’s very optimistic. She’s tough, she’s spunky. I feel like I can really relate to her in that way,” she said. Then, she remembered something very important. “Oh! And there’s a dog!”
Sandy is the lovable stray dog who Annie meets and takes in when she first sings the show’s most famous song, “Tomorrow.” Treviño has three dogs at home, and had nothing but great things to say about the two dogs who share the role of Sandy on tour.
“They’re just the best boys,” she said. “They’re such good dogs.”
“Annie” is playing at the Fox Theatre from Dec. 5-10. Tickets can be purchased online.