NewsPHOTO ARCHIVE: Annie on Broadway and BeyondThe original Broadway production of the beloved Great Depression-era musical Annie closed on Broadway Jan. 2, 1983, after 2,377 performances. Playbill.com looks back at the original Broadway production, a few notable subsequent stagings and the infamous 1993 sequel.
By
Matthew Blank
January 02, 2013
The musical had its world premiere in August 1976 at the Goodspeed Opera House, with Kristen Vigard in the title role. She was replaced by Andrea McArdle, who would go on to originate the role on Broadway in 1977.
Annie won the 1977 Tony Award for Best Musical, as well as a Best Actress Award for original Miss Hannigan Dorothy Loudon. It ran 2,377 performances, closing in January 1983.
Over the next 35 years, the show would go on to enjoy multiple national tours and stagings in London and countries all over the world. It was revived on Broadway in 1997, in a production starring Nell Carter.
There have been two attempts at stage sequels: Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge opened in 1989 at the Kennedy Center, and Annie Warbucks ran for 200 performances at the Off-Broadway Variety Arts Theatre in 1993.
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40 Years Later: Celebrating Annie on Broadway and Beyond
40 Years Later: Celebrating Annie on Broadway and Beyond
The original production of Annie opened on April 21, 1977. Look back at the original Broadway production, a few notable subsequent stagings and the infamous 1993 sequel.
49 PHOTOS
Annie Marquee
Martha Swope
Reid Shelton, Andrea McArdle and Sandy Faison in the original Broadway production
Martha Swope
Diana Barrows, Robyn Finn, Donna Graham, Danielle Brisebois, Shelley Bruce and Janine Ruane in the original Broadway production
Martha Swope
Dorothy Loudon in the original Broadway production
Martha Swope
Robert Fitch and Alice Ghostley in the original Broadway production
The new revival began previews at the Palace Theatre Oct. 3.
Annie will star two-time Tony Award winner Katie Finneran as Miss Hannigan, Australian star Anthony Warlow making his Broadway debut as Daddy Warbucks and 11-year-old Lilla Crawford as Annie. The musical that gave the world the songs "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life" is based on the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," about a billionaire who adopts an orphan in Depression-era New York.
Brynn O'Malley (Wicked, Hairspray) will play Grace Farrell, Daddy Warbucks' devoted personal secretary; Clarke Thorell (Hairspray, Mamma Mia!) will be Rooster Hannigan, Miss Hannigan's crooked brother; and J. Elaine Marcos (Priscilla Queen of the Desert, A Chorus Line) will be Lily St. Regis, Rooster's floozy girlfriend.
Next year, Carnegie Hall's house band will perform Bernstein’s “Kaddish” Symphony, unfinished works by Schubert, and the final concert of Conductor Bernard Labadie.
