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).