If it had been up to high school students Steven Biss and Jared Wagner, the popular musical about a depression-era orphan with a heart of gold and iron will called "Annie" would have been named "Daddy Warbucks" instead.

"Their parts are bigger, they have way more lines," said Weyburn Comprehensive School Grade 12 student Lindsey Piel, who plays title-character Annie during the Sunday and Tuesday performances at the Comp.

"Yeah, 'Daddy' has more lines. It should be called 'Daddy Warbucks' instead of 'Annie'," argued Grade 11 student Jared Wagner, who plays Warbucks, opposite Piel Sunday and Tuesday.

"Or 'Bucksie', 'Warbucksie'," suggested twelfth-grade student Steven Biss, who plays Annie's adoptive-father, Daddy Warbucks Saturday and Monday night.

Whatever they choose to call it, however, all four lead actors believe the two roles allow them to bring something unique to the stage.

"I just like performing altogether, and to have a part like this-playing a little kid is always fun," said Grade 12 student Dallen Renz, who plays the 11-year-old Annie Saturday and Monday.

"I like to display different ranges of emotion, from super-angry Daddy Warbucks to happy-go-lucky Daddy Warbucks. It allows me to do all that. Otherwise, I just explode in energy and people don't like that so much," joked Biss.

"The thing about Daddy Warbucks is, you get to be in charge of everything. And you're just commanding respect from everyone; they don't even make eye contact with you. It's a pretty hilarious role, I think."

Wagner, the junior year Warbucks, welcomes the opportunity to play a rich dude, a milestone he's happy to reach. "Once in our life, we get to feel like a billionaire," he remarked.

And Lindsay Piel enjoys playing a character with some depth of character, even if she is only 11 years old. "The thing about Annie is she's a smart little orphan. She knows without having a lot she can still have a fulfilling life," she said.

Comp musical director and English teacher Brenda King said she chose to stage Annie, running from Saturday, June 4, to Tuesday, June 7, for the even male-to-female ratio, and because it's a play most of the community would already be familiar with.

"We've got a lot of boys around, so we've started looking for things with more boys," she said. "It'll be very familiar to the community, too. 'It's a Hard Knock Life' and 'Tomorrow' are definitely songs people will know. So I think audiences like coming when they're familiar with it," she said.

"But the community always receives the musicals really well. Ticket sales are always fantastic, and this year we hope to see 500 on all four nights."

King said around 100 students took part in the production this year, with approximately 80 appearing on stage. The remaining helped build sets and sing in the chorus.

Production is ahead of schedule this year, and will be helped with the use of projection, beaming scene images onto the stage rather than relying entirely on constructions.