Cranston’s Phoebe Perelman has the lead role in “Annie Jr.,” showing this weekend at the Stadium Theater in Woonsocket. The seventh-grade, high-honors student at Western Hills Middle School will be performing onstage as part of the Encore Kids theater group, a subdivision of Stadium’s in-house reparatory company, The Encore Reparatory Company. Annie Jr. is the fourth performance by the Encore Kids group.

“Annie Jr.,” based on the better-known “Annie,” tells of a spunky Depression-era orphan determined to find her parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan. In adventure after fun-filled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan’s evil machinations, befriends President Franklin Roosevelt and finds a new family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary Grace Farrell and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

Perelman has been singing and acting since 2002, when she began acting with the All Children’s Theater in Providence. She has had leading roles in many shows over the years, including playing the role of Alice in “Alice in Wonderland” for the Fantasy Works Theater, the title role in “Little Red Riding Hood” for Kaleidoscope Theater and, most recently, Martha in “A Christmas Carol” at Trinity Reparatory Company. She’s also placed in the top three spots in various talent shows in the past two years, including winning first place in the Talent America talent competition for her vocal performance in June 2007.

“I think I’ve always been a drama queen,” said Perelman.

Her mom, Wendy agrees.

“I just had a bunch of 8mm movies transferred to DVD and when we watched them, she was constantly singing or dancing. She was in a bathing suit in one movie, standing there singing,” Wendy said.

Perelman started with voice lessons when she was 7 and still continues them today, under the instruction of her voice teacher Amy DelSanto. It is DelSanto who helps her to prepare for her auditions, such as the one she went to in January for Annie Jr..

“She gives me ideas and knows what is good for my voice,” Perelman said. “I always have something ready to go for auditions coming up.”

Perelman has done a lot of acting while in school, playing lead roles in performances at Garden City Elementary School and most recently playing the role of one of the Pink Ladies, Marty, in “Grease” at Western Hills last May. She’s going to be performing “All That Jazz,” from “Chicago” in the Western Hills Talent Show in May.

“She really enjoys doing it [acting and singing] and it’s great for her self-esteem and confidence, even just to get up in front of a large group,” her mom said.

When asked where Phoebe got her talents from, her mom and dad, Richard, both shook their heads.

“I was in one show only in high school,” said Wendy. “I played an old woman in ‘Bull in a China Closet.’ I was more of an introvert than an extrovert.” Perelman hopes to pursue a singing and acting as she continues on through school.

“It’s the thing I most enjoy,” she said. “I’d like to go to Brown for the Trinity Consortium.”

Perelman has two younger siblings, 10-year-old twins Max and Lucy. They attend Garden City Elementary School. Lucy has dabbled in singing and acting and is currently in a show with the Academy Players.

“There are a lot of talented kids out there,” Wendy said. “It’s sad that they keep cutting the art, music and drama programs. Some don’t excel academically, but they can excel in this.”

The Encore Kids production of Annie Jr. will be performed Friday, March 13, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 14, at 7 p.m.; and Sunday, March 15, at 2 p.m. The show will be held at The Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket. Admission is $12 for all seating.

Tickets are available at the Stadium Theatre Box Office or by calling 762-4545 and online at www.stadiumtheatre.com. The Encore Kids production of “Annie Jr.” is made possible with the generous sponsorships of Catholic Family Life Insurance and ETR Consulting.