Annie

Shortly before Christmas, 1971, Martin Charnin, a lyricist and director, bought a collection of “Little Orphan Annie” comic strips and began imagining a musical comedy based on the main character. After convincing librettist Thomas Meehan and composer Charles Strouse to join him in writing the show, Charnin and his collaborators created the musical together. However, it took four and a half years to get to Broadway. No producer thought it stood a chance.

Annie tried out at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut where Andrea McArdle began in the role of Annie shortly before the opening. At Goodspeed, the show won the approval of Mike Nichols, who offered to produce it on Broadway. After a highly successful run at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the show opened on Broadway on April 21, 1977, and was quickly adopted by theatergoers. It won seven Tonys that year, including Best Musical, Book and Score. There were four road companies of Annie, which toured for three and a half years. In 1982, the movie version (starring Albert Finney, Aileen Quinn, Ann Reinking, Carol Burnett and Tim Curry) was released. The show, which cost $800,000 to produce, made a profit of $20 million, including $9.5 million in movie sales.

The sequel to Annie, Annie 2: Miss Hannigan’s Revenge, went into rehearsal on November 6, 1989, and opened at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The show was revised and renamed Annie 2 before re-opening at the Goodspeed Opera House and subsequently touring the country. It was renamed Annie Warbucks prior to the opening to enthusiastic reviews at the Variety Arts Theatre in New York on August 9, 1993.

In 1997, Annie was revived on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony for Best Musical Revival. The film version of Annie was remade by Disney for ABC in 1999, starring Kathy Bates, Alan Cumming, Victor Garber, Audra McDonald, and Kristin Chenoweth. A new national tour, the third since 1997, made its debut in Seattle in August 2005.

Tickets

$40 and $38, depending on seat location
Children 12 and under $25
Mountainlair Box Office
Creative Arts Center Box Office
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