Annie Warbucks
| Annie Warbucks | |
|---|---|
 Original cast recording |
|
| Music | Charles Strouse |
| Lyrics | Martin Charnin |
| Book | Thomas Meehan |
| Basis | Little Orphan Annie (comic strip) Annie the Musical (1977) |
| Productions | 1993 Off-Broadway |
Annie Warbucks is a musical with a book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Martin Charnin. A sequel to the 1977 Tony Award-winning hit Annie, based on Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie comic strip, it begins immediately after Annie ended.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
On Christmas morning in 1933, when Child Welfare Commissioner Harriet Doyle (replacing the original's Miss Hannigan as the villain of the piece) arrives on the scene to inform Daddy Warbucks he must marry within sixty days or else the child will be returned to the orphanage. Daddy Warbucks' whirlwind search for a fitting bride uncovers not only a plot by Doyle and her daughter Sheila Kelly to strip him of his fortune, but also his true feelings for his long-time assistant, Grace Farrell. A gaggle of cute little girls seeking parents and President Franklin D. Roosevelt return to take part in the shenanigans.
[edit] Background
Annie Warbucks was the second attempt at an Annie sequel. The first, entitled Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge, opened on December 22, 1989 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. to universally dismal reviews. Extensive efforts to get it into shape for a Broadway opening failed, and the project was abandoned.[1]
[edit] Production history
Developed in a workshop at the Goodspeed Opera House, the off-Broadway production, directed by Charnin and choreographed by Peter Gennaro, opened after numerous delays on August 9, 1993 at the Variety Arts Theatre, where it ran for 200 performances. The cast included Harve Presnell as Warbucks, Donna McKechnie as Sheila Kelly, and Kathryn Zaremba in the title role.
The show broke all off-Broadway box office records for the time. Investors were in place to move the production to Broadway. However, with 200 performances, the production had been performed too many times off-Broadway which made it inelegible to be considered for any Tony Awards, putting the Broadway transfer in jeopardy. And, thinking that the theater was going to be vacated, the Variety Arts Theatre Management was under contract to another production, forcing Annie Warbucks to close despite strong receipts. It has become a popular choice for high school, community theatre, and summer stock productions.
[edit] Reception
Annie Warbucks received a strongly positive review from The New York Times, with Ben Brantley saying, "Kathryn Zaremba, can deliver a punch line and tug a heartstring with the best of them. Her face is that of the littlest angel; her resilience that of a dead-end kid. If no one else in the cast of "Annie Warbucks" lifted a finger, Miss Zaremba would still carry the show over the finish line on her tiny shoulders of steel....Happily, the evidence of busy fingers is everywhere. Charles Strouse's score -- full of peppy melodies and bright banjo rhythms -- is one of the composer's best....There are plenty of laughs in the book by Thomas Meehan and the lyrics by Martin Charnin, who also functions as the remarkably clear-eyed director.... Bravely blinking back tears, Ms. (Donna) McKechnie explains that life deals you a lousy hand, "But You Go On," and proceeds to build the first-act torch song to a blaze. . Ms. McKechnie is in great form. ..."Annie Warbucks" provides enough of the familiar fun to qualify as more than a postscript. The predisposed shouldn't be disappointed, while the wary may well be won over."[2]
[edit] Musical numbers
|
|
[edit] References
- ^ Rothstein, Mervyn. "Troubled 'Annie 2' Closing Out of Town; Revisions Planned". The New York Times, January 16, 1990
- ^ Brantley, Ben. "Review/Theater; Singing, Dancing, a Bark or Two". The New York Times. Aug 10 93.
[edit] External links
|
|
|||||
