Miss Hannigan (Diedre Tegarden) wakes up the orphans, Marley Mehring (from left), Summer Macedo, Danielle Morton, Olivia Olivit, Tyler Charbonneau, Star Nobriga, Madeline Hamada and Hannah Patrick to scrub the floors in the musical “Annie” opening Nov. 27 at the Historic Iao Theater in Wailuku. ERIC ROLPH photo

Talking with Tyler Charbonneau at the Historic Iao Theater before a rehearsal of “Annie,” it’s easy to see how she got the part of the spunky orphan. “I really wanted it, I tried my best, and I got it!” says the beaming Seabury Hall freshman. Although Charbonneau’s blond hair will be hidden beneath the famous auburn curls, her cheerful, braces-bedecked smile will be out in full force when the show opens Nov. 27. Choosing the girls who would play Annie and her fellow orphans was no easy task, says Alexis Dascoulias, executive director of Maui OnStage, which teamed up with Maui Academy of Performing Arts for the production. “We had over 70 girls audition for the roles,” Dascoulias says. “It was a very, very tough choice because so many of them were extremely talented.” In order to give more girls a chance to be involved, they added a few extra orphans to the cast.