ANNIE at the Hollywood Bowl

[Popular]

Lea Salonga recently announced as Grace.

Didn’t already see a thread to discuss this and future news as it’s announced, so here ya go...

[missthemountains]

I want to start an Indiegogo to buy the rights to ANNIE so that I can buy them and stop it from being performed ever again.

[Demitri2]

Agreed....lol. I think I'd need a lobotomy to enjoy it again. But for others who haven't seen it more than half a dozen times it s a good show in the right hands. The last tour (a bus and truck I believe since it only played for 3 performances) was rather bland.

[lightguy06222]

I liked the last tour!  better than the broadway revival

[Dave28282]

I hope they keep it classy instead of r&b trashy modern.

[BrodyFosse123]

I'd love to see a full-scale authentic recreation of the original 1977 Broadway production.  

I was 12 when I first saw the original production in May 1977 (2 weeks after it officially opened) and though I already had seen over 2 handfuls of Broadway shows by then, David Mitchell's Tony Award winning full-scaled and detailed set designs and the cinematic scene transitions of the original Broadway production of ANNIE were breathtaking.  Set pieces would fly up as new sets would flow in via a treadmill.  I still remember vividly the first scene transition when the orphanage came apart: walls, windows and posts flew up as the beds rode off into the wings via the treadmill.  The other was one of Dorothy Loudon's entrances (as Miss Hannigan) as she rode onto the stage sitting at her desk in the fully detailed office set (full walls, door, props, etc.).  Gorgeous stuff.  This visual scene transitions continued for the rest of the show.  

Sadly, the overexposure and endless community theatre productions and the overexposed song "Tomorrow" (which continues to be referenced as a pop culture joke in itself in many films, TV sitcoms, etc.) that has blurred the impact of the musical as it was when it first opened on Broadway in April 1977.  Dorothy Loudon won a Tony Award for Best Actress and even the musical itself won a Tony Award for Best Musical.  

At the time, ANNIE wasn't seen as the 'kiddie show' it became and its Broadway success continued well into 1980 when it was still selling SRO tickets as performances were still selling out nightly at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre).    







 

[CATSNYrevival]

David Alan Grier is Warbucks and Steven Weber is FDR. When I saw the headline I assumed Steven Weber would be Rooster, but FDR works too!

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/David-Alan-Grier-and-Steven-Weber-Join-the-Hollywood-Bowls-ANNIE-20180612

[darreyl102]

Love Ana, but I was hoping they would get a bigger name for Miss Hannigan.

[Wicked Fanatic]

Bumping this since Annie begins tonight.  

[JBroadway]

I'll be at the show tonight! I'm a little biased, because Annie is such a huge guilty pleasure of mine. I love the show, I loved the revival, I loved the first two movies, and I even enjoyed the most recent movie. So I think it's unlikely that I'll dislike the show tonight, even if it's objectively not very good. 

Arden has obviously proven himself capable of incredible feats, but I'm unsure how much he can do with a show like this in a space like this. I'm not expecting this to be another genius re-interpretation like his 2 Broadway gigs. I just hope he does justice to this heartwarming story. 

I feel like this cast is not as starry as they usually are at the Hollywood Bowl, but they are all just so damn talented!

[DAME]

Children and the Hollywood Bowl during a heatwave.  I will have to think about that. 

[JBroadway]

DAME said: "Children and the Hollywood Bowl during a heatwave. I will have to think about that."

 

It was in the 70s with a light breeze tonight. Very comfortable! 

 

Well, I think my last post pretty much summed up what I did end up thinking of the show. It's such a sweet story, and it's hard for me not to love it. The production is kinda rocky though. I think it's clear that they haven't really had much time to find the texture of the show, particularly in the humor. But that's probably to be expected. I've never seen a Hollywood Bowl show before, so I don't know whether this is the usual standard or not. Arden's big staging choice was clever but not especially pretty to look at. 

Ana Gasteyer's Hannigan is wonderful, and easily the most polished performance of the bunch. Roger Bart and Megan Hilty are also excellent. 

But I just adore this show, and I cried tonight like I do every time I see it. Definitely not the best version of the show I've seen, but it was still worth it for this cast! 

[NoName3]

Thanks for your report, JBroadway, and yes, BrodyFosse, the first production was something very, very special.

[jsg03jd]

I remember the ABC television production with Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth and Victor Garber and have seen the movie with Carol Burnett and Bernadette Peters.  I'm somewhat familiar with the score but not an expert on it by any means.  I saw the BWW TV preview a few days ago and was a bit shocked to hear Lea Salonga singing as a legit soprano and sustaining a G#/A-flat at the end of the clip.  I don't recall McDonald's version pitched as high, and I clearly remember the movie's Grace as singing in the basement.  Anyone know what range the original Grace in New York sang in?

[Wicked Fanatic]

Videos here:

Overture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HFnfWR7IGk

Tomorrow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIioHJ8wn6s

Easy Street (Ana Gasteyer, Roger Bart and Megan Hilty)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP6y5efoPyo

Six Little Girls (Ana Gasteyer)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plKmmOt7ung

 

 

[RippedMan]

Is his one big director decision to have the giant ANNIE? 

[bk]

I don't "get" these Bowl "productions."  They're half-assed nothingness.  What WAS that choreography on Easy Street - one easy lesson in how not to do a showstopper?

[CATSNYrevival]

Looked pretty fun and polished to me for a weekend concert. The letters would irritate me in a full production but it seemed to work well for a concert. The way they moved to set up different scenes with the scenery inside was clever.

[NewYorkHeartAndSoul]

I saw it on Saturday and it was, well, Annie. All the performances were amazing enough to make the show tolerable.

Here is my vlog of the trip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoqHAGcayhg