Actress from Palatine sees broader message in anxiety-filled 'Annie King'

Paige Daigle is returning to her roots in a new musical production.

Before moving to Palatine when she was 10, Daigle lived in Louisiana, an experience that helped her relate to her character in Underscore Theatre Company's "My Name is Annie King."

"The show is a little darker, and you get the backwoods feel," she says. "I can relate to the girls who don't know much about the world, and they're shooting cans off the side of the house."

The world premiere musical thriller runs through May 28 at Pride Arts Center.

The production features a bluegrass/folk-infused score and tells the story of Lucas, a young medical student reeling from the death of his estranged father. After an alcohol and drug-fueled episode, he finds himself amid a religious cult in the woods of Missouri, becoming seduced by the cult's leader and his many female followers. He starts to fall for the leader's daughter, Rosalie, played by Daigle, which sets off a chain of potentially deadly events.

The musical, which features cast members playing their own instruments, also stars Lake Zurich native Demi Zaino.

"'Annie King' is a musical unlike any we've encountered: It's a thriller, lives in the lush, natural world of bluegrass, and features almost exclusively women," says Alex Higgin-Houser, the theater company's artistic director.

The show is "full of anxiety and thrill," Daigle says. "There's a very intense storyline."

Her character is intelligent but naive and does a lot of personal growing through the play. "She learns that there's more to life than just what she's known," Daigle says. "She really thinks about the choices that are happening around her."

It's a maturing that many women in modern society can relate to - the process of learning to feel and think on their own, rather than having people speak for them, Daigle says.

But the music is the best part of the show, she says. "It's so beautiful and so catchy," she says. "We're exploring that bluegrass sound, with some of the characters playing their own instruments."

Ultimately, the play's broader message is that there's always room for personal growth and change. "Rosalie thinks she knows exactly who she is and how life is around her, but sometimes what you think is possible isn't really the full capacity of how you can be," Daigle says. "Often, when you open those doors of possibility, that's when you really can start living your life."

With this show, Daigle has the opportunity to come home. Though she has moved around a lot, her father, a professional musician, still lives in Palatine.

"I really think of Chicago as my home," she says, "and to come back and do something that's beautiful and meaningful with a team that's really creative and alive means a lot to me."

“My Name is Annie King”

Location: Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago,

underscoretheatre.orgShowtimes: Preview 1 p.m. Sunday, April 23. Regular run 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Monday. Additional performances 3 p.m. Saturday, May 20 and 27, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 25; through May 28.Tickets: Previews $15; regular run $20-$30