3/25/2022
Broadway Las Vegas
Many Southern Nevada families will forge happy memories watching Broadway classic “Annie” when it runs November 22 to 27 at The Smith Center — but they might not realize they’re part of a long and heartwarming legacy.
In fact, audiences have been waiting for the sun to come out since 1977, when “Annie” first premiered on Broadway.
And getting there took nearly a decade.
Taken From the Page
The journey of “Annie” to the stage began in 1970, when lyricist-director Martin Charnin bought a coffee-table book titled “Arf! The Life and Hard Times of Little Orphan Annie.”
This offered a full compilation of the comic strip by Harold Gray — chronicling the adventures of a fearless, redheaded young heroine — which premiered in the 1920s in the New York Daily News. It became one of the most widely read strips in the ‘30s and ‘40s.
Although Charnin had bought the book as a Christmas gift for a friend, he became so enamored with the story that he kept the book for himself. He secured the rights to the story within the week of Christmas.
He spent the next several years adapting “Annie” for the theater, alongside writer Thomas Meehan and composer Charles Strouse.
Although Meehan took characters from the famous comic strip, he developed the musical’s original storyline himself, setting the plot in New York City during the Great Depression. He specifically chose this downtrodden period as a parallel to the challenges of his own era during the Vietnam War.
The trio saw the curtain go up in what is now the Neil Simon Theatre on April 21, 1977. And their hard work proved worthwhile.
Audiences flocked to The Great White Way to experience the uplifting story of Annie, her dog Sandy, the benevolent billionaire Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks and the mean Miss Hannigan. Many of the show’s songs became instant hits, including “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “Easy Street,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You,” and the iconic melody “Tomorrow.”
The musical ran for 2,377 performances, stretching to January 2, 1983. Along the way, it garnered seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Choreography.
From Stage to Screen
The massive popularity of “Annie” led to Columbia Pictures purchasing the film rights for $9.5 million, the highest ever paid for a stage musical at the time.
While the 1982 film swapped out several of the show’s tunes and changed elements of the plot — which Charnin apparently disliked — the story still charmed audiences, earning the movie two Oscar nominations.
More film adaptations would follow, including a hit 1999 TV film on ABC with Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming, which secured 12 Emmy nominations.
A 2014 film produced by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith offered a modernized take on the story, which followed with a live TV performance of the musical in 2018.
Unpopular Sequels
With “Annie” so beloved, the theater industry made two attempts at sequels to the smash musical.
The first, “Miss Hannigan's Revenge,” premiered at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1989 to disastrous reviews. The second production, “Annie Warbucks,” opened at Off-Broadway's Variety Arts Theatre on August 9th, 1993, where it ran for 200 performances.
‘Annie’ Lives On
The legacy of “Annie” continued with a Broadway revival in 2012 for the musical’s 35-year anniversary. The show’s original director Charnin then took the show on a national tour, a highly popular production that visited The Smith Center.
The show promises an uplifting holiday experience for all ages — with the perfect opportunity for new generations to discover this spunky, red-headed orphan.