Running to Places (R2P) kicks off the holiday season with a spirited production of the musical 'Annie', a perennial family favorite. The story of a plucky young orphan who believes that better times are "only a day away" runs Dec. 21-23 at the State Theatre of Ithaca.

Annie (Torianna 'Tori' Payne) has big dreams: to find her parents and escape the orphanage, run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan (Zoe Klausner). When billionaire Oliver Warbucks (Ike Keahna Uran) has his assistant Grace (Mae Simon) bring an orphan to his mansion for a special Christmas, things seem to be looking up for Annie. But a scheme to fleece Warbucks, hatched by Hannigan and her brother, 'Rooster' (Jack Cecere) and his girlfriend Lily St. Regis (Emma Sosebee), threatens everything.