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| Birth Name(s) : Annie |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Musician |
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Full Annie Biography
Annie is a musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The musical ran for nearly 6 years on Broadway, spawned numerous productions in many countries, as well as national tours, and won the Tony Award for Best Musical. The popular song "Tomorrow" is from this musical.
Annie is an 11-year old orphan girl living in Depression era New York City. Late one December night little Molly, one of the orphans, is jolted awake by dreams of her parents. Annie shows the little girl a note her parents left her in one half of a heart-shaped locket, which promises that they will one day come for her ("Maybe").
During an improvised party celebrating the eve of Annie's adoption ("I Don't Need Anything But You", "Annie"), Lily and Rooster enter disguised as "Ralph Mudge" and "Shirley Mudge", and claim to be Annie's parents. As the couple has a false birth certificate and the other locket half, Warbucks begrudgingly accepts the two as Annie's parents. Warbucks invites the pair to come pick her up the next day, on Christmas morning.
Warbucks, and surprisingly Annie, are saddened over this turn of events ("Maybe - Reprise"). New news from the F.B.I. is quickly received - Annie's real parents, David and Margaret Bennett, have died. Lily, Rooster, and their accomplice Hannigan are all arrested. All celebrate the adoption of Annie by Warbucks, and the re-uniting of Sandy and Annie ("New Deal for Christmas").
The 1st National Touring Company of Annie opened in Toronto in March of 1978 with Kathy-Jo Kelly in the title role. After playing a few more cities, it landed in Chicago where it played for 32 weeks before continuing on the road in April of 1979 with Mary K. Lombardi as Annie. In the fall of 1980, Theda Stemler took over the part and was replaced in Boston when she grew too old. On May 15, 1981, Louanne Sirota, who had played Annie in the long-running Los Angeles production (see below), took over the role for four months. In August of 1981, Becky Snyder became the company's last Annie, closing the tour on September 6, 1981.
The 2nd National Touring Company (sometimes referred to as the West Coast or Los Angeles Production) opened in San Francisco on June 22, 1978 with Patricia Ann Patts starring as Annie and the then-unknown Molly Ringwald playing one of the orphans. The show landed in Los Angeles on October 15, 1978 for an open-ended run at the Shubert Theatre. On June 12, 1979, Louanne took over the role from Patts. Marisa Morell replaced Louanne when she left to star in Oh, God! Book II in December of 1979. Marisa closed the Los Angeles run and took it on the road continuing with the show through December of 1980. In December of 1980, Kristi Coombs replaced Morell and played Annie until this touring company closed in Philadelphia on January 23, 1982.
The 3rd National Touring Company of Annie was launched in Dallas on October 3, 1979 with Roseanne Sorrentino in the title role. This company toured to 23 cities playing mostly shorter runs of a month or less. On March 27, 1981, Bridget Walsh took over for Sorrentino. Becky Snyder (who had closed the 1st National Tour) joined this company in the summer of 1982 and stayed with it until it closed in September of that year.
The 4th National Touring Company of Annie opened on September 11, 1981 with Mollie Hall playing Annie. This production was a "bus and truck" tour, with a slightly reduced cast, that traveled the country often playing in two cities a week. This company was still touring when the original Broadway production closed in January 1983, making Kathleen Sisk the final performer to play Annie from the original production team. This final production closed in September of 1983.Stage sequels
The first attempt at a sequel, Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge, opened at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in December 1989 to universally disastrous reviews. Extensive reworking of the script and score proved futile, and the project was aborted before reaching Broadway. In 1993, a second attempt (with a completely different plot and score), entitled Annie Warbucks, opened at the off-Broadway Variety Arts Theatre, where it ran for 200 performances.Broadway revival
A documentary film, "Life After Tomorrow," was directed and produced by one of the original Broadway and National Tour orphans, Julie Stevens and partner, Gil Cates, Jr. “Life After Tomorrow” reunites more than 40 women who played orphans in the Broadway show “Annie” and reveals the highs and lows of their experiences as child actresses in a cultural phenomenon. The film premiered on Showtime and will be released by Arts Alliance America on DVD in early 2008. |
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