NBC's ANNIE LIVE! (2021) - News & Discussion Thread- Page 6

[BwayLB]

Posted: 5/14/21 at 3:32pm

^ As I much I enjoyed the 1999 version, I know what you mean. Should have kept the red dress for the finale

[joevitus]

Posted: 5/14/21 at 3:39pm

BwayLB said: "^ As I much I enjoyed the 1999 version, I know what you mean. Should have kept the red dress for the finale"

It was in general a very fine production (though I missed the dropped numbers). That was about my only big complaint. Somehow, I thought the performers were intentionally shot in unflattering ways, but thinking back on it now, I can't specify why. The camera angles? The looks on their faces? I remember cringing that you could see Andrea McArdle's veins popping out on her neck as she sang her bit of "NYC."

[BwayLB]

Posted: 5/14/21 at 3:42pm

^ Thats okay if you feel that way. Because I didn’t sit through the whole thing until over a decade later during my senior year of HS. Felt in the mood for something I missed out on my childhood. I also like how the parent disguise subplot was originally written better with Rooster and Lily as the “Mudges” and Miss Hannigan gets arrested for helping them.

[joevitus]

Posted: 5/14/21 at 3:54pm

As it should be! To be honest, I guess I didn't keep watching all the way through because I don't remember that that changed that. I guess I know the wrong dress and hairdo from seeing the DVD cover???

But that wasn't a bad production by any means. The movie was so unspeakably bad, and Marshall gave audiences with no access to theater a better glimpse of the original show, and kids who saw it when it aired loved it. I can't say that movie didn't work. Just that I would have liked to see a few things done differently, even more in keeping with the spirit of the original show--and I hope we get that from NBC.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 5/14/21 at 4:00pm

Well I do hopeful with Neil Meron involved since he co produced the 1999 version and he’s back in this capacity. He and Craig (RIP) had good taste when choosing talent.

[Midnight Radio]

Posted: 5/14/21 at 4:19pm

I am going to shoot for the moon as well, and add my vote for Bette Midler as Hannigan

Updated On: 5/14/21 at 04:19 PM

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 5/14/21 at 4:25pm

Personally, I'm hoping for a trauma-informed production directed by either Daniel Fish or Ivo van Hove.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/14/21 at 4:42pm

It's funny you say that. 

Some years ago, I actually used to joke that I wanted Ivo Van Hove to do Annie, and the sentiment behind the joke was that Ivo's style is essentially always the same, so the way to get more and more interesting work out of him is to keep creating more dissonance between his style and the material. Then I ended up kind of getting what I wanted when he decided to do West Side Story, though Annie would be even more extreme. As much as I think an Ivo Annie would be a ridiculous travesty, I cannot tell you how quickly I how buy tickets to it. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/14/21 at 4:56pm

jlindsey865 said: "Theatrefanboy1 said: "I hope they film this live from New York. It would be a great welcome back for Broadway too. (Use the Today show set, Theatre district, New York STREETS,Carnegie Hall/RADIO CITY, Rockefeller centre, it could all be quite thrilling)"

I imagine the streets of New York look somewhat different than they did in the 1930s."

Hahah. Oh my God, can you imagine? Yeah, let's do it outside in the STREETS of NYC in 2021. The lux condos and Prius' would fit right in! Totally. 

 I'm sure the set will be fantastic, though. NBC has a very unbalanced track record when it comes to live musicals (The Sound of Music was lovely, Peter Pan was a dumpster fire), but I think everyone needs a boost after everything that has happened over the past year. Cannot wait for casting, hoping for Norm Lewis as Warbucks and Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan (I can dream about the latter!)

[BwayLB]

Posted: 5/14/21 at 5:25pm

^ Hairspray is my favorite of the bunch

[BwayLB]

Posted: 5/15/21 at 12:05am

I hate to double repost but I have an idea for Warbucks. If they go for a POC, I would want James Monroe Iglehart

[beatofthedrum27]

Posted: 5/15/21 at 1:40am

CarlosAlberto said: "beatofthedrum27 said: "I can almost guarantee they’ll update the score to make it more “popish”. Kinda like they did for The Wiz especially with the success of the movie from a few years ago."

Ummm, they made The Wiz more pop-ish?!?!? Do you even know what you're talking about? The Wiz never possessed a traditional Broadway score!Do you know anything about the show and it's roots?It was a soul version of The Wizard of Oz and was billed as such. Itsscore is comprised ofR&B/Funk/Soul and Pop.

"

Poor choice of words on my part lol. “More Modern” to by clear. Listen to OBCR of The Wiz and the soundtrack from The Wiz Live! Especially songs like “Slide Some Oil To Me”. The orchestration is revamped and modernized.  The Wiz Live version felt more full and had a killer 808 beat type dance break section. This is what I’m referencing. 

Updated On: 5/15/21 at 01:40 AM

[beatofthedrum27]

Posted: 5/15/21 at 1:42am

LizzieCurry said: "It's WILD to me when people actually go for the clichéd, "UGH, no one asked for this" in earnest. OK! You can go do something else!

Also, what movie of The Wiz from "a few years ago" are you referring to,beatofthedrum27?"

“A few years ago” was referring to the Annie remake from a few years ago

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 5/15/21 at 4:04am

Mr Roxy said: "It was never really tried commercially. Variety Arts is a bad example "

There is no way on the face of the earth that a title with a proven commercial track recorded is a lesser choice than a title the general public have never heard of. They might as well make a Dolls Life and How Now Dow Jones whilst they are at it. The fact it’s a sequel means little. The smart commercial choice, especially in this environment is a known and loved property. 

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 5/15/21 at 4:14am

Sutton Ross said: "jlindsey865 said: "Theatrefanboy1 said: "I hope they film this live from New York. It would be a great welcome back for Broadway too. (Use the Today show set, Theatre district, New York STREETS,Carnegie Hall/RADIO CITY, Rockefeller centre, it could all be quite thrilling)"

I imagine the streets of New York look somewhat different than they did in the 1930s."

Hahah. Oh my God, can you imagine? Yeah, let's do it outside in the STREETS of NYC in 2021. The lux condos and Prius' would fit right in! Totally.

I'm sure the set will be fantastic, though. NBC has a very unbalanced track record when it comes to live musicals (The Sound of Music was lovely, Peter Pan was a dumpster fire), but I think everyone needs a boost after everything that has happened over the past year. Cannot wait for casting, hoping for Norm Lewis as Warbucks and Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan (I can dream about the latter!)"

There are plenty of locations in New York that with period buildings that would be totally suitable with some signage replaced and period cars...what do you think they do in movies? 

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 5/15/21 at 4:31am

joevitus said: "One thing I'm hoping is that, unlike the Rob Marshall version, they follow the thrust of the work in creating, by the end of the evening, the comic book characters. The move from a rather grim Depression setting and more realistic looking characters, to a lighter toned look at the Warbucks mansion, to finallyDaddy Warbucks coming outin his tuxedo and diamond stick pin and Annieshowing up in the cartoon look of tight curls and the red dress with the white collar and belt, and for the first time uttering "Leapin' lizards!"are essential parts of the work that have been somewhatlost. This is one time that costume and hair are essential. The two charactersneed to look like the 30's comic strip characters at that point. It's got to be specific because the musical essentially posesitself as presentingthe strip's origin story (though it actually isn't). Somehow, Annie has stopped having any connection to Little Orphan Annie in some of the adaptations, and to me that's a mistake."

That’s such an interesting point of view. Artistically that’s a really intriguing device but do you think it really resonates with a modern audience who don’t know the comic? As a counter argument to my own question I would say that working it from a sort of Wizard of Oz angle, building up the colour in Annie’s world as she slowly finds her happiness and exploding finally into the comic book costumes would work two levels - it would accomplish what have described but also work for people who have no idea about the comic book aspect. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/15/21 at 9:52am

Yeah. The transformation from realism to comic strip simplicity was a very clever dramaturgical choice in the seventies, but today, almost fifty years later… people know Annie as a musical character almost exclusively. The adaptation was so successful it entirely displaced the thing it adapted.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 5/15/21 at 9:54am

Loopin’theloop said: "Sutton Ross said: "jlindsey865 said: "Theatrefanboy1 said: "I hope they film this live from New York. It would be a great welcome back for Broadway too. (Use the Today show set, Theatre district, New York STREETS,Carnegie Hall/RADIO CITY, Rockefeller centre, it could all be quite thrilling)"

I imagine the streets of New York look somewhat different than they did in the 1930s."

Hahah. Oh my God, can you imagine? Yeah, let's do it outside in the STREETS of NYC in 2021. The lux condos and Prius' would fit right in! Totally.

I'm sure the set will be fantastic, though. NBC has a very unbalanced track record when it comes to live musicals (The Sound of Music was lovely, Peter Pan was a dumpster fire), but I think everyone needs a boost after everything that has happened over the past year. Cannot wait for casting, hoping for Norm Lewis as Warbucks and Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan (I can dream about the latter!)"

There are plenty of locations in New York that with period buildings that would be totally suitable with some signage replaced and period cars...what do you think they do in movies?"

I won’t be surprised if they decide to shoot on the Universal backlot instead in LA

[ggersten]

Posted: 5/15/21 at 10:23am

I guess we now won't get the Diane Paulus version of "Annie" ... in  a circus!

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/15/21 at 1:15pm

There are plenty of locations in New York that with period buildings that would be totally suitable with some signage replaced and period cars...what do you think they do in movies?

Lolz. What do I think they do in the movies? I think they have soundstages, they are not live, and the actual locations they film at have permits for weeks at a time and they shoot for weeks or months at a time. That is what I think they do in movies.

It's funny you think they would shut down any part of midtown in the peak of the Christmas season. Like all their musicals, Im thinking it will be on a sound stage in NY or LA. 

 

[ariel175]

Posted: 5/15/21 at 10:45pm

Don't know if this has been suggested yet but what about the three well-known past Annies (Andrea McArdle, Aileen Quinn and Alicia Morton) as three of the main female servants, Cecile, Mrs Greer and Annette?  It would be a cute cameo alongside the current Annie, like when Ricki Lake and Marissa Jaret Winokur cameoed in Hairspray Live and shared the screen with Maddie Baillio.  

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/15/21 at 11:44pm

Well, Keegan Michael Key just gave a pretty obvious audition for Warbucks on SNL…

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 10:38am

ariel175 said: "Don't know if this has been suggested yet but what about the three well-known past Annies (Andrea McArdle, Aileen Quinn and Alicia Morton) asthree of the main female servants, Cecile, Mrs Greer and Annette? It would be a cute cameo alongside the current Annie, like when Ricki Lake and Marissa Jaret Winokur cameoed in Hairspray Live and shared the screen with Maddie Baillio."

I would LOVE this! I wouldn't be surprised since Andrea did a cameo in the 1999 version and Aileen did a cameo in one of the newer Will & Grace episodes about former 'Annie's'. 

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 11:22am

Is Sara Bareilles too old for Grace? I know Laura Benanti as Grace is too obvious a suggestion but I think she’d be amazing.

I’d love to see Hailey Kilgore cameo as Star-To-Be. Or even Shanice Williams as a nice nod to her role in The Wiz.

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 1:03pm

Sutton Ross said: "There are plenty of locations in New York that with period buildings that would be totally suitable with some signage replaced and period cars...what do you think they do in movies?

Lolz. What do I think they do in the movies? I think they have soundstages, they are not live, and the actual locations they film at have permits for weeks at a timeand they shoot for weeks or months at a time. That is what I think they do in movies.

It's funny you think they would shut down any part of midtown in the peak of the Christmas season. Like all their musicals, Im thinking it will be on a sound stage in NY or LA.

"

Plenty of period movies film on location. If they really wanted to, they absolutely could. It’s highly unlikely of course but it’s an expense they can spare but there is no reason for people to assume it’s impossible. Also, it doesn’t need to be midtown.