


In 1995, a Made-for-TV Movie called Annie: A Royal Adventure! premiered on ABC. It made such a small, unnoticeable splash, you're probably hearing about it for the first time right here. Didn't know of its existence before coming across this article? Don't worry. Two name changes, tons of rewrites, and three Annies later, the play ended up off-Broadway as Annie Warbucks in 1993. In 1989, Charnin reunited the old team and they created a sequel to the play, Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge. A lot of '80s kids have the damn thing memorized. kept it from being the Summer Blockbuster it was intended to be, but it became an early VHS video store staple. Annie was played by Aileen Quinn, heading up an All-Star Cast of adult players. In 1982, John Huston directed a film version of Annie, which made a goodly number of changes to the play: comic strip characters Punjab and Asp are supporting players, Sandy gets more screentime, songs are added and dropped, and the climax is peril-filled. Miss Hannigan's brother and his sleazy girlfriend pose as Annie's parents to gather the reward that Warbucks has offered to Annie's real parents. Warbucks wants to adopt her, he agrees to help her search for her real parents, who left half of a locket with her when they dropped her off at the orphanage as a baby. Warbucks and his staff, and even the President of the United States! Even though Mr. The plucky orphan worms her way into the hearts of the Mr.

After her latest unsuccessful escape attempt (during which she meets a stray dog she christens Sandy), secretary Grace Farrell decides to take the child home to temporarily live with billionaire Oliver Warbucks over the Christmas season as a publicity stunt for the grumpy tycoon. Eleven-year-old Annie has been living in cruel Miss Hannigan's orphanage her whole life. There have since been two revivals marking the show's 20th and 35th anniversaries (in 19) on top of numerous other professional and amateur productions. After 2,377 performances, four national tours, and five Broadway Annies, the musical ended its New York City run in 1983. With book writer Thomas Meehan and composer Charles Strouse, he created the Broadway musical Annie in 1977, directed by Charnin and produced by Mike Nichols. In 1972, lyricist Martin Charnin bought the rights to the comic strip Little Orphan Annie.
