B'way Update: Annie; Princess Bride

Reid Shelton and Andrea McArdle 
in the original Broadway production on
Annie.
Credit: Martha Swope

The sun will come out tomorrow...or next fall. Tony-winning director Sam Pinkleton (Oh Mary!) will direct a 50th anniversary production of Annie, the beloved musical based on the long-running comic strip about the spunky, red-headed orphan who gets adopted by multi-millionaire Daddy Warbucks. 

“If you ask any of my closest friends what I love more than anything on the planet, everyone will have the same answer: Annie,” says Pinkleton in a statement. “Annie is everything I love about New York City: gutsy, fearless, and funny as hell. It’s a perfectly constructed musical comedy that my collaborators and I will run toward with joy and abandon—with open hearts and total adoration for this legendary show that has made generations fall in love with musicals.”

Annie opened on Broadway in 1977, won seven Tony Awards, and ran for 2, 377 performances. There have been Broadway revivals in 1997 and 2012 and a touring production played Madison Square Garden in 2024. Film versions were produced in 1982, 1999, and 2014, and a live TV version aired on NBC in 2021. No word on casting, but there is already speculation on who will play Miss Hannigan, the deliciously evil mistress of the orphanage. Some on social media predict Jinx Monsoon of RuPaul's Drag Race and the recent Pirates of Penzance revival. Others vote for Cole Escola, star and author of Oh Mary!

B'way/Off-B'way Update: Whoopi Goldberg in Annie; Particle Fever

Whoopi Goldberg on ABC's The View
Credit: ABC

Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winner Whoopi Goldberg will play the delightfully mean orphanage mistress Miss Hannigan in the New York City stop of the upcoming national tour of Annie, the beloved musical based on the comic-strip character Little Orphan Annie. The tour begins in Chicago and will then will play the Theater at Madison Square Garden for the holiday season from Dec. 4-Jan. 5, 2025. The tour will then play more than 25 cities including Baltimore, Indianapolis, Costa Mesa, Milwaukee, Austin, Birmingham, and more. Goldberg will play the role only for the MSG engagement. Additional casting will be announced at a later date. 

Annie opened on Broadway with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics and direction by Martin Charnin, and book by Thomas Meehan, in 1977, won seven Tony Awards and ran for 2,377 performances. There were Broadway revivals in 1997 and 2012. Another national tour briefly played MSG in 2006. A sequel, Annie Warbucks, played Off-Broadway in 1993. A previous attempt Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge, closed disastrously out of town in 1989. The 1982 film version was directed by John Huston and starred Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Bernadette Peters, Tim Curry, Ann Reinking, Geoffrey Holder, and Aileen Quinn. A 1999 TV-movie remake featured Victor Garber, Kathy Bates, Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Audra McDonald, and Alicia Morton. In 2014, Will Smith produced an updated remake for theatrical release with Jamie Foxx, Rose Bryne, Cameron Diaz, and Quvenzhave Wallis.

This production will be directed by Jenn Thompson who played the role of Pepper, one of Annie's fellow orphans, on Broadway when she was 10 and who also directed the 2022-23 Annie tour.