Annie #1
OPENING: April 21, 1977
CLOSING: January 2, 1982
Seen: March 1978
LOCATION: Alvin Theatre
When you think of “Broadway Musicals for Kids”, what’s the first one that comes to mind?
In today’s Broadway landscape, we would be inclined to say anything Disney. The Lion King. Frozen. Aladdin. Beauty and the Beast.
But before Giuliani cleaned up Times Square and Disney took over, there was one musical that would immediately come to mind. One that is still wickedly popular among kids, particularly little girls.
It’s called Annie. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.
I’m not sure why my dad saw it in 1978. It’s not exactly the kind of show that he would see without some kind of motivation, and I wasn’t even a thought yet. If I had to guess, I would say that perhaps he took my cousin, as she was his only niece at the time (Another would arrive a few years later). Or maybe his lady friend at the time wanted to see it. Or maybe I’m reading the situation wrong, because he wanted to see a show based on a comic he read as a kid. Whatever the reason, my preteen self was ecstatic when I found the Playbill in the box.
My teenaged self was even more excited when I revisited it a few years later to find a familiar face in the row of orphans – does the name Sarah Jessica Parker ring a bell to anyone? She would go on to play Annie later on in the run, but like many of the Annies in the course of the original run, she started as one of the other orphans. In Parker’s case, July.
Annie was based on the 1924 comic strip Little Orphan Annie, which in turn was based on the 1885 poem The Elf Child by James Whitcomb Riley. The comic ran from 1924 all the way until 2010, when only twenty newspapers were still running it. There were even two film adaptations and a radio drama series in the thirties.
Theatre Kids, do you remember last Christmas when I gave you the gift of the Superman musical? The fervor that Martin Charnin approached that particular project says to me that Charnin revered his comics. So as far as I am concerned, there was no surprise when he decided to attempt adapting another comic strip into a musical. Only this time, he chose one that did not feature a superhero, but instead a spunky little orphan girl. He obtained the rights in 1972 and immediately contacted Charles Strouse and Thomas Meehan. He hoped that Strouse would write the musical and Meehan would take on the book. He himself would direct and write the lyrics. However, neither Meehan and Strouse had any interest in doing a “Cartoon” musical and it took a lot of work for Charnin to convince both of them that he did not intend it to be a cartoon but rather an adaptation and in response to the Nixon era.
In many ways, Annie resembles the path of many of the shows that I have already covered in this blog. As mentioned above, the origins for the musical came about the same way that Superman did. And like Man of La Mancha, they had a heck of a time trying to find a home for it until Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut swooped in to give it a workshop reading in August of 1976. Once that run was completed and the script and score were updated accordingly, it opened on Broadway on April 21, 1977.
Playing the role of Annie once it reached New York was Andrea McCardle. She had originally played one of the orphans who ultimately was cut from the Goodspeed run but was promoted to the titular character two weeks into the run. She replaced Kristin Vigard, who also transferred to Broadway as the Annie standby. This, surprisingly, foreshadowed the 1997 revival, where Brittany Kissinger had a similar journey into the role. This probably could have turned into what could have been called the Annie Curse, but fortunately Lilla Crawford had a traditional casting in 2012 and to my knowledge there was no drama involved.
The reaction to Annie was immediate. It was nominated for ten Tony Awards and won seven, including Best Musical and Best Score for Charnin and Charles Strouse. Andrea McCardle went on to have a satisfying Broadway career and still pops up on regional stages.
The 46th anniversary of Annie’s opening night is less than one week from the uploading of this entry. In the 46 years since it first opened, there have been two Broadway revivals, three film adaptations, numerous tours, and countless productions in schools and community theatres. Also like La Mancha, it’s underlying message is one of hope. But unlike La Mancha, it also has a secondary theme of joy. Nixon era America needed a musical that reminded them that there was good in the world, and what better musical than one about an orphan girl who finds herself a family?
CAST: REPLACEMENT
MOLLY: Danielle Brisebois
PEPPER: Joy Merri
DUFFY: Donna Graham
JULY: Sarah Jessica Parker
TESSIE: Diana Barrows
KATE: Kim Fedena
ANNIE: Shelley Bruce
MISS HANNIGAN: Dorothy Loudon
BUNDLES MCCLOSKEY: James Hosbein
DOG CATCHERS: Gary Gendell, Donald Craig
SANDY: Himself
LT WARD: Richard Ensslen
SOPHIE, THE KETTLE: Laurie Beechman
GRACE FARRELL: Sandy Faison
DRAKE: Edwin Bordo
MRS PUGH: Edie Cowan
CECILLE: Laurie Beechman
ANNETTE: Ann Ungar
OLIVER WARBUCKS: Reid Shelton
A STAR TO BE: Laurie Beechman
ROOSTER HANNIGAN: Robert Fitch
LILY: Barbara Erwin
BERT HEALY: Donald Craig
FRED MCCRACKEN: Bob Freschi
JIMMY JOHNSON: Gary Gendell
SOUND EFFECTS MAN: James Hosbein
BONNIE BOYLAN: Laurie Beechman
CONNIE BOYLAN: Edie Cowan
RONNIE BOYLAN: Ann Ungar
NBC PAGE: Mari McMinn
KALTENBORN’S VOICE: Donald Craig
FDR: Raymond Thorne
ICKES: James Hosbein
HOWE: Bob Freschi
MORGANTHAU: Richard Ensslen
HULL: Donald Craig
PERKINS: Laurie Beechman
HONOR GUARD: Gary Gendell
JUSTICE BRANDEIS: Richard Ensslen
HOOVERITES, POLICEMEN, WARBUCKS’ SERVANTS, NEW YORKERS: Laurie Beechman, Edwin Bordo, Edie Cowan, Donald Craig, Richard Ensslen, Bob Freschi, Gary Gendell, James Hosbein, Mari McMinn, Ann Ungar.
UNDERSTUDIES: Sarah Jessica Parker (Annie), Diana Barrows (Annie), Raymond Thorne (Warbucks), Ann Ungar (Miss Hannigan), Mari McMinn (Grace), Gary Gendell (Rooster), Joy Merri (Molly, Kate, Tessie, July, Pepper), Kim Fedena (Duffy), Donna Graham (July), Donald Craig (FDR), Edie Cowan (Lily), Bob Freschi (Drake, Bert Healy), and Arf (Sandy).
Ensemble Alternates: Don Bonnell, Jackie Elliott
“136 Years of Annie” Children’s Theatre Company, September 28, 2021. https://childrenstheatre.org/2021/09/28/136-years-of-annie/
Bordman, Gerald. “American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle.” New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1978.
Culwell-Block, Logan. “Cast Changes, Rewrites and More: From Yesterday to ‘Tomorrow,’ Annie’s History on Stage and Screen.” Playbill, December 18, 2014. https://playbill.com/article/cast-changes-rewrites-and-more-from-yesterday-to-tomorrow-annies-history-on-stage-and-screen-com-337596
Meehan, Thomas. “On Making Little Orphan Annie Sing and Dance.” New York Times, April 17 1977. https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/17/archives/on-making-little-orphan-annie-sing-and-dance-making-orphan-annie.html?searchResultPosition=3
