Annie Warbucks
Encyclopedia
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.
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.
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.
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.
, 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."
Act 2
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book by Thomas Meehan
Thomas Meehan (writer)
Thomas Meehan is an American writer, best known for Annie, The Producers and Hairspray.-Life and career:Meehan grew up in Suffern, New York, and graduated from Hamilton College...
, music by Charles Strouse
Charles Strouse
Charles Strouse is an American composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Strouse was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ira and Ethel Strouse...
, and lyrics by Martin Charnin
Martin Charnin
Martin Charnin is an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist of the hit musical Annie....
. A sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to the 1977 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning hit Annie
Annie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
, based on Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie
Little Orphan Annie
Little Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and made its debut on August 5, 1924 in the New York Daily News...
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
, it begins immediately after Annie ended.
Plot
On ChristmasChristmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
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
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
. 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
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
return to take part in the shenanigans.
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 ArtsJohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to universally dismal reviews. Extensive efforts to get it into shape for a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
opening failed, and the project was abandoned.
Production history
Developed in a workshop at the Goodspeed Opera House, the off-BroadwayOff-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
production, directed by Charnin and choreographed by Peter Gennaro
Peter Gennaro
Peter Gennaro was an American dancer and choreographer.-Biography:Gennaro was born in Metairie, Louisiana. He made his Broadway debut in the ensemble of Make Mine Manhattan in 1948. He followed this with Kiss Me, Kate and Guys and Dolls...
, opened after numerous delays on August 9, 1993 at the Variety Arts Theatre, where it ran for 200 performances. The cast included Harve Presnell
Harve Presnell
Harve Presnell was an American actor and singer. He began his career in the mid 1950s as a classical baritone, singing with orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States...
as Warbucks, Donna McKechnie
Donna McKechnie
Donna McKechnie is an American musical theater dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer. She is known for her professional and personal relationship with choreographer Michael Bennett, with whom she collaborated on her most noted role, "Cassie" from the musical A Chorus Line, for which she...
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
Community theatre
Community theatre refers to theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community...
, and summer stock
Summer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
productions.
Reception
Annie Warbucks received a strongly positive review from The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, 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."
Musical numbers
Act 1- Overture - Orchestra
- A New Deal for Christmas - All
- Annie Ain't Just Annie Anymore - Annie, Warbucks, Grace, Drake, The Staff
- Above the Law - Commissioner Doyle
- Changes - Warbucks, Annie
- The Other Woman - The Orphans
- The Other Woman (reprise) - The Orphans
- That's the Kind of Woman - Drake, Annie, Warbucks, Servants
- A Younger Man - Warbucks
- But You Go On - Mrs. Kelly
- Above the Law (reprise) - Commissioner Doyle, Mrs. Kelly
- I Got Me - Annie, The Orphans
- I Got Me (reprise) - Annie
Act 2
- Love - Ella
- Love (reprise) - Annie, C.G.
- Somebody's Gotta Do Somethin' - Annie, The Patersons, Roosevelt, Grace, The White House Staff
- Leave It to the Girls - Commissioner Doyle, Mrs. Kelly
- All Dolled Up - The Orphans, Annie, Warbucks, Grace, Roosevelt, The Patersons, Drake, The Staff
- The Tenement Lullaby - Mrs. Kelly
- It Would Have Been Wonderful - Grace
- When You Smile - Warbucks, Annie
- Wedding, Wedding - Company
- I Always Knew - Annie