Breaking: NBC Will Air ANNIE LIVE! This Holiday Season

The creative team will include Lear deBessonet, Stephen Oremus, Sergio Trujillo and more!

By: May. 12, 2021
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

Breaking: NBC Will Air ANNIE LIVE! This Holiday Season
Lilla Crawford in 2012 revival.

Live musicals are coming back to your living room! According to Variety, producers Bob Greenblatt and Neil Meron will bring beloved Broadway musical Annie to NBC this holiday season. Also on the Annie Live! team are Alex Rudzinski, as the live TV director and executive producer and Lear deBessonet as the director.

Stephen Oremus will serve as music director and orchestrator, Sergio Trujillo will choreograph, Paul Tazewell will design costumes, and Jason Sherwood will act as scenic designer.

Previous live musicals on NBC have included The Sound of Music Live! (2013), Peter Pan Live! (2014), The Wiz Live! (2015), Hairspray Live! (2016) and Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (2018).

"There are few musicals like 'Annie' where you know the words to every song and the overriding message, especially in the trying times we live in, is optimism," Meron told Variety. "The song 'Tomorrow' means more than ever now, and it's not lost on us that even Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal are impacted by this little orphan who simply believes in the goodness of everyone."

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 book by Thomas Meehan.

The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years, setting a record for the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre). It spawned numerous productions in many countries, as well as national tours, and won seven Tony Awards, including the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical's songs "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life" are among its most popular musical numbers.

Annie last played on Broadway at the Palace Theatre in 2012.


Play Broadway Games

The Broadway Match-UpTest and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia? The Broadway ScramblePlay the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
Tony Awards TriviaHow well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends. Broadway World GameCan you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!

 



Videos