Producing a hit musical sequel to one the most beloved musicals of all time proved to be more than the creative team could muster.
On January 2, 1983, the final bows and curtain call came for the beloved musical Annie. The show had run on Broadway for nearly six years and had amassed a profit of $20 million from an initial investment of $800,000. It also launched the careers of various girls in the title role, from Andrea McArdle to Sarah Jessica Parker. But the ending of this musical was really the beginning of another, because during the curtain call, the show’s lyricist and director Martin Charnin brought up the composer Charles Strouse and book writer Thomas Meehan onto the stage. It was then he announced plans for another Annie musical and calling it Miss Hannigan’s Revenge. The crowd went wild.
Now this idea of an Annie Part II had actually been floating around since 1982, while the original Annie was still on Broadway, and rather than a traditional sequel, the production was framed as a continuation of the original story, beginning six weeks after the events of Annie, with Miss Hannigan devising her revenge from prison. Now, this continuing story was initially set to open on Broadway in 1983, just months after the original closed. However, it would take until June of 1989 before the show would finally announce an opening date, first in Washington, DC then on Broadway.
That’s because producing a Broadway musical in the 1980s had become a riskier and much more costly and venture since the original Annie, so high that pricey musicals had to be blockbuster sensations or else be closed almost immediately. The middle ground, or modest success, had all but vanished, especially for American musicals.
The media buzz surrounding Annie 2 had been immediate and intense with reporters and photographers swarming the auditions as well as the rehearsals. As expectations grew, so did the creative and financial pressures to make this show a hit. The creative team spent years navigating through three outlines and four different drafts. Their ultimate goal? To make something genuinely distinctive from the original that was fresh and captivating.
Yet even during the rehearsal process, composer Charles Strouse had his own reservations about the project. He had already composed another sequel, the disastrous Bring Back Birdie, which closed after only 4 performances in 1981. So he had reason to be cautious in bringing back Annie as well. Unfortunately, those apprehensions would eventually turn into reality as the sequel faltered under all those expectations, and only in hindsight would the creators realize the mistakes they made. Here’s Martin Charnin talking with Charlie Rose:
"I mean we crashed...We were the Exxon Valdez of musicals when this Annie 2 happened. (You sprung a leak?) Let me tell you, I'm trying to turn it around in Washington when we were on its feet was impossible…We told it wrong the first time, I might add. We were entirely wrong. We were smart-alecky and we did not accept its own mythology.”
What started out as Miss Hannigan’s Revenge became a revenge of a different kind altogether. And the events that followed underscore a broader truth about Broadway (one that resonates throughout the episodes of this podcast): that even the most seasoned and award-winning of creators can still produce a flop. So was the tumultuous journey and hard-knocked life of Annie 2.
Welcome to Season Two of Closing Night, a theater history podcast that dives into the stories of Broadway's famous and forgotten shows that closed too soon. I'm Patrick Oliver Jones, an actor and producer based in New York City, and this season I'll be your guide as we uncover the mysteries of productions that never even made it to opening night. Whether they closed out of town or during previews, you'll hear firsthand from those involved, revealing just how unpredictable—and unforgiving—the path to Broadway can be.
"This is Season Two of Closing Night, a theater history podcast that dives into the stories of Broadway's famous and forgotten shows that closed too soon. I'm Patrick Oliver Jones, an actor and producer based in New York City, and this season I'll be your guide as we uncover the mysteries of productions that never even made it to opening night. Whether they closed out of town or during previews, you'll hear firsthand from those involved, revealing just how unpredictable—and unforgiving—the path to Broadway can be."
BEGINNINGS
Annie has remained one of the most beloved Broadway musicals of all time, but it began as a simple idea from one man: writer and director Martin Charnin. His Broadway debut came in 1957 as an actor, playing the role of Big Deal in the original cast of West Side Story. Six years later, his first Broadway credit as lyricist was in a show called Hot Spot, with music by Mary Rodgers. For a brief moment he even replaced the director in this fraught and turbulent production that barely lasted a month on Broadway.
But in 1971, Charnin contacted his friend and composer Charles Strouse as well as Thomas Meehan, a writer for The New Yorker, with the idea of turning the Little Orphan Annie comic strip into a musical. Strouse had already found Broadway success with musicals like Bye Bye Birdie and Applause, but had also flopped with another comic book musical called It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane…It’s Superman, while Meehan on the other hand didn’t have any Broadway credits to his name. Nonetheless, both men listened as Charnin pitched his idea of a musical based on Annie.
Charnin: But both your reactions were similar. I mean I remember very specifically that when I called and said “Little Orphan Annie” to both of you—do your famous ‘ugh.’
Strouse: Oh yes I did a kind of ’ugh’ is because the one thing I didn't want to do was get involved with a cartoon again.
Charnin: But historically, you know cartoon musicals had not had a lot of success.”
In that 2012 interview with Charnin and Strouse, they also talked about how it would take six years of work to finally bring Annie to New York. And its most important stop during those years was the run at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut. But even that almost didn’t happen due to friction between Charnin and the then Artistic Director of Goodspeed Michael Price.
Michael Price: And it's a long story, but I asked for a copy of the script. The script said lyrics and direction by Martin Charnin. I just tucked it under my arm and walked away. When they called, when they hadn't heard from me, I said, ‘Look I'm not working with Martin Charnin. He's the terror of theater in New York City.’ And Marty Charnin said, ‘I'm not working with Michael Price. He's the terror theater in Connecticut.'
And that was that. Except for the fact that Price’s wife loved the music and eventually persuaded him to reconsider. So he agreed to bring Annie to Goodspeed, but not with Charnin as director. However, the authors would have a right of approval of the director. After searching, though, they couldn’t find a director who would do it, so Charnin was finally agreed upon to direct it.
Price: The show had a very rocky opening. The New York Times said it will never cross the river in East Haddam and come to New York. But we worked on it and worked on it. And finally, Mike Nichols came and saw it. He liked it, and became the nominal producer of it for New York.
And as we all know Annie did indeed become a smash hit, playing on Broadway from 1977 to 1983 with a run of 2,377 performances. It won a total of seven Tony Awards, including one for each of its three creators as well as the big prize of Best Musical. And with such great success, you may think that the idea of an Annie Part II would seem like a natural follow-up. However, it would take six years and several false starts for Annie 2 to finally gain momentum. Plans were delayed partly because of difficulties in getting all the creatives together, but also because of doubts from Strouse and Meehan that a sequel could even attain the same degree of success as the original.
But when they did come together, they chose to focus their sequel on everyone’s favorite meanie, Miss Hannigan. And in January 1989, Meehan mapped out the general idea of this story for one of Annie’s producers, Lewis Allen, who actually thought it was better than the original. And from that point on, the whole show began to develop with alarming momentum. So much so that by June of 1989, they gathered at Strouse's studio to present most of the first act and several musical numbers to a small but influential group of producers, who were crazy about the show—much to the delight of Charnin.
Charnin: The second half of the musical was to be told. The first one, Annie 1, which was this, indeed, phenomenally successful musical about Annie's search for parents and the successful finding of a father, Oliver Warbucks. And we had believed for a considerable period of time that there was a second to tell and it was the finding of a mother, the making of a family.
Charnin and Meehan would go on to finish the script by July, and shortly thereafter they booked a 4-week run at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC for December of that year. They also convinced the Nederlanders to bring Annie 2 to the Marquis Theatre, which would mean closing the highly successful production of Me and My Girl by the year’s end. That way Annie 2 could start previews in February 1990 and have its Broadway opening the following month.
CASTING AND FUNDRAISING
Fortunately, two of the lead actors were already in place, led by Dorothy Loudon playing the villainous Hannigan again, and Harve Presnell, the creators' favorite Daddy Warbucks from the Broadway run. In fact, most of the major participants were returning—the set and costume designers, producer Lewis Allen, even the trainer for the lovable canine Sandy.
By September of 1989 all efforts were focused on finding a new Annie. When the original show was first mounted in Connecticut in 1976, finding a child who could measure up to the title role seemed so unlikely that there were jokes of Bernadette Peters playing Annie. I mean, the song “Tomorrow” has a range of an octave and a third, and they found maybe 10 kids who could belt it out. However, after years of listening to the cast recording and movie soundtrack, kids were now ready and able to belt out Annie’s big number.
The creatives and casting directors spent three days in New York, two in Los Angeles, and one in Washington, DC, but they didn’t actually expect to find their star through this process. Rather, this was all meant to hype up the show—not that it needed much help. At the open auditions in New York, there were almost as many reporters and photographers as there were Annie hopefuls. And inside the theater (that’s right, this was still back in the day when they held auditions in theaters) Charnin got to hear almost every possible rendition of “Tomorrow.”
There were girls with booming voices to those who can barely be heard two rows back. There were also girls who were head and shoulders above a yellow rope that was put up to eliminate those taller than 52 inches. And one enthusiastic young auditioner was particularly dramatic in her rendition of “Tomorrow.” She even went as far as dropping to one knee for added effect, just as the original Annie had done. But Charnin would have none of it. "Young lady," he interjected firmly, "Miss! Did I instruct you to sit down? Thirteen years ago, I instructed someone to sit down." The young girl reluctantly rose to her feet as Charnin also requested for her to perform the song in its original tempo.
Needless to say, these open calls didn’t generate any legitimate possibilities. The real auditions came from the agent submissions and appointments. As the number of girls were pared down to 20 and then whittled down to four finalists, they each had to pass a final test by performing with Sandy. And the part would go to the girl who could keep Charnin from looking at the dog.
Well, when it was all sung and done, 11-year-old Danielle Findley from Lee's Summit, Missouri surpassed all the other hopefuls. And according to Charnin her “good thick voice makes a lot of sound." However, her long dark hair would have to be cut, curled, and dyed red—all in service of her new persona—and shortly thereafter Findley was featured on the cover of Life magazine.
RAISING MONEY
Around the same time as casting was taking place, 100 potential investors crowded into a VIP room at Sardi's Restaurant in New York City to hear Charnin present an abbreviated version of what he promised would be a “full-bodied, full-blown, honest-to-God AMERICAN musical comedy." (This was an obvious shot the British king of Broadway at the time: Andrew Lloyd Webber.) And so for the next two hours Charnin delivered a dazzling performance, playing all the parts—not only Annie, Warbucks, and Hannigan, but even Sandy the dog as well—delivering the ballads and brassy anthems in an ever-increasing raspy baritone. And with a budget of $7 million to be raised (worth almost $18 million in today’s value), every note he sang had to count.
Allen estimated that the show would have to draw near-capacity audiences for almost a year in order to recoup its investment. Fortunately, the Kennedy Center was already putting in $500,000, and thanks to Charnin’s performance they were able to raise the rest of the budget from various producers and investors.
REHEARSALS BEGIN
Day 1 of the five-week rehearsal period for Annie 2 began on November 6, 1989 in New York City. The atmosphere was charged with excitement as media crews swarm around the piano, eager to capture the first moments of what promises to be a remarkable journey. Charnin is upbeat as he introduces the creative team, the producers, and the talented cast of 36 humans and two canines.
As the day progresses and the buzz of media attention subsides, only two reporters, who have been sworn to secrecy, remain as the cast prepares for the reading of the script—a momentous occasion, considering that for many cast members this will be their first time reading the story. Each actor is handed a red-covered volume marked "Confidential," due to the well-kept secret plot twist. With Strouse at the piano and Meehan poised to take notes, Charnin advises the cast against growing too attached to any particular element in the show, because changes will be made throughout the process—case in point, two new musical numbers had been added since the initial Sardi's reading.
Here’s a brief rundown of the plot at this point: The show opens in a women's prison in Greenwich Village, where the conniving Miss Hannigan languishes, nursing grievances and plotting revenge, but she ends up escaping during a fire. Meanwhile, a Congresswoman named Marietta Christmas delivers a sobering ultimatum to Warbucks: that it is illegal for an unmarried man to adopt and he must find a wife and mother for Annie or else he will lose custody of her. Determined to find a solution, Warbucks devises a bold plan: he will hold a contest to find a suitable wife, with Annie having the final say in who will be her mother. Intrigued by the prospect of getting back at Annie and having access to all that money, Miss Hannigan decides to disguise herself and enter the competition. And then comes the carefully guarded plot twist: Miss Hannigan's scheme involved kidnapping Annie and replacing her with a believable look-a-like, who would then choose Hannigan as her mother.
Overall, the cast was delighted with this first pass of the script, yet one of the show's producers said there isn’t enough Annie, while someone else wondered why there aren’t any orphans. But the creatives point out that it's not that kind of show; it’s not a repeat of Annie. This show will be more sophisticated and more appealing to the adults—which Charnin would later admit was their first mistake.
Charnin: And we spent a considerable amount of time, effort, energy, money, telling that is it, only we told it from the point of view of the villains, we told it from the point of view of the evil Ms. Hannigan, which sort of was the wrong way to tell it.
PUTTING THE SHOW ON ITS FEET
After learning the music, the cast divided their time between choreography and scene work. And already, the pristine white pages of the original script are being supplanted by revised blue ones. A big musical number celebrating Hannigan's anticipated victory has been cut, and Strouse and Charnin crafted a replacement number as they continue to streamline the script.
Meanwhile, just before Thanksgiving, ticket sales for the Broadway run reached an encouraging $3 million, while at the Kennedy Center, more than half of the shows were sold out. So in a bid to continually bolster ticket sales, the company took to the stage of the Marquis Theatre during the first week of December 1989—while Me and My Girl was still running—to present a condensed hour-long version of Annie 2 to 1,600 theater party booking agents. The response was not an uproar of enthusiasm, but what Meehan termed as "a sitting ovation." And the effort paid off, as the following day 20 theater parties reserved tickets, which was a bright spot amidst a grueling rehearsal process.
You see, fatigue and frustration were setting in as constant changes made it challenging for the actors to get off book. Entire scenes were reshuffled, and the script now sported both blue and pink pages, with Meehan already at work on further revisions to be indicated with yellow pages. Despite all these changes, though, the show remained too long, partly due to the continuous influx of new ideas and material.
To compound these matters, several cast members were nursing injuries, and the actress playing Warbucks' loyal secretary battled a stubborn virus. Sleep problems also became commonplace, with Dorothy Loudon, for example, waking up through the night with lines from the show running in her head, often belonging to other characters. You see, unlike the original Annie, where she only had two numbers, Loudon now bore a greater responsibility as the show revolved around her character's story, so she was feeling the pressure, especially as script revisions and cuts continued, now appearing in orchid-colored pages.
GOING TO DC
So when New York rehearsals came to a close and the cast had their final read-through on December 12, 1989, they were using a much more colorful script than the one they got five weeks before. And once they got to Washington, further modifications ensued as the company tirelessly integrated sets, lighting, and sound into the production during tech rehearsals.
However, due to delays in loading the scenery and the costumes arriving late there was no final dress rehearsal of the full show. Consequently, the first preview was the first time anyone had seen the complete show on stage, and within the first 15 minutes it revealed numerous flaws—namely that there was too much Miss Hannigan and too little Annie. Audience reception was also lukewarm, especially from the 700 children in attendance.
CHarnin: Not only with the young people, with the old people as well. We had told the right story the wrong way.
The show’s runtime of three-and-a-half hours didn’t help either. All this prompted unanimous agreement among the creatives and producers that changes had to be made. And in order to make these changes as well as address various technical problems, the scheduled opening night was postponed a week, from December 28, 1989 to January 4, 1990.
The first change came to the opening two scenes. They were switched so that the play now opens in Warbucks' offices with a song about 1934, instead of in a prison with Miss Hannigan. And a new song is added for Annie called “Changes” about how swiftly life can change when you’re young. And it’s generally considered one of the best moments in the show.
Later on, though, Scene 1 will actually be cut, and Miss Hannigan will never be in prison. It will be revealed instead that after the original Annie ended, Warbucks gave Miss Hannigan a one-way ticket to Argentina. And then in Scene 2, we will learn that she has jumped ship and is back in New York plotting her revenge. When it was all said and done about 20 minutes were cut from the show, and remember all these changes went into effect in just one week—how the actors did it all is a true testament to them.
OPENING NIGHT IN WASHINGTON
Up until that first preview, the creatives were putting on a show that was all about showing off their intellect, their cynicism, and supposed sophistication, as opposed to coming from their heart and spirit. Charnin puts it bluntly: “We outsmarted ourselves.” So come opening night on January 4, 1990, Charnin is very concerned about the reviews, having realized that the musical hadn’t found its character yet. So he was hoping for constructive criticism at least. But later that evening at the opening night party, Charnin’s worst fears are realized as the first review from the Washington Post came out:
“Annie was a musical to take to your heart, but you'll want to take a paddle to Annie 2. What was so disarming the first time around has become witless and belabored. The plot cooked up by Thomas Meehan is preposterous. The score by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin is dull. And this decade's Annie, Danielle Findley, while possessed of a voice that can no doubt be in heard in West Virginia, seems to have acquired a bratty side now that she's living in the lap of luxury. There is little doubt that Charnin, who doubles as director, and his co-workers can whip Annie 2 into a more efficient show. But can they make it a good show? One is skeptical. The warm emotional core just isn't there. Somewhere between Annie and Annie 2, the act of creation seems to have turned into an act of calculation.”
Other reviews would be the same, or worse. The print and television critics react negatively to practically all elements of the show. The only praise will be for the costumes and sets. Later in the evening, Charnin tells the cast that he was responsible, and the performers should not feel bad. He says that he got them into this mess, and that he and the rest of the creative team will get them out of it. He still thinks the show will be a hit, it just isn’t one yet.
EVERYTHING CHANGES
The day after the opening night at the Kennedy Center, backstage is eerily quiet save for a lone stagehand arranging props. Charnin is hard at work backstage, tirelessly revising and trimming the show with a sense of urgency and uncertainty about the show’s future. In the midst of that uncertainty, industry notables like Mike Nichols (a producer on the original Annie) as well as Tommy Tune and Peter Stone offer their insights, urging the team to prioritize authenticity in their storytelling.
In retrospect, Meehan and Charnin regretted the show's direction and its departure from the charm of the original Annie. So significant changes were made like cutting Miss Hannigan's controversial plot-line involving the killing of Annie. Orphans have been added into scenes at the Warbucks' mansion. The romance between Miss Hannigan and her partner in crime has cooled to a friendship. And the contest through which Warbucks was to choose a wife—a scene critics thought was absurd—has been deleted.
However back in New York, despite a substantial investment in advertising, ticket sales for the Broadway run remain underwhelming, prompting Charnin and the producers to reevaluate their options.
Charnin: We didn't even have orphans in the first incarnation, the one that you called the disaster in Washington, which was indeed a very difficult time for all of us. But we instantly began to make what could loosely be called a course correction right at that moment. We couldn't do it, however, in the context of a Washington Kennedy Center engagement, it was too expensive. We had to sort of stop -- we closed it out of town.
Their pivotal decision to cancel the Broadway opening led to disappointment for some as well as relief for others. But then the producers changed gears and announced that the Annie 2 opening would turn into a revival of the original Annie instead, which seemed to offered a glimmer of hope amidst the setback. However, the revival was abandoned the very next day for a host of reasons, among them: Dorothy Loudon said she won’t take part in it, investors pulled out, and it was discovered that the Annie 2 sets and costumes wouldn’t work for the revival. So the idea was to bring the show back to the birthplace of the original Annie—the Goodspeed Opera House.
Price: They called, after the disastrous opening in Washington. It was … I remember it was Sunday morning and the phone rang and it was Martin and then it was I don't know, a list of people associated with the show called and said 'Look, we didn't do well here. Can we come back to Goodspeed?’ And with that, we cleared the decks at our Chester Theatre and brought them back.
The show spent 14 weeks of rehearsals, rewrites, and performances in Connecticut, as the show turned its focus back on Annie and away from Miss Hannigan. A year later, when it opened at the Marriott Lincolnshire in Chicago, only one scene and one song were left in tact from the Kennedy Center production, but the biggest change was that Miss Hannigan was gone, replaced by a new villain—the Child Welfare Commissioner Harriet Doyle.
After Chicago, the continually evolving musical went on tour from August to November 1992, and then once again announced a Broadway opening at the Neil Simon Theatre for March 18, 1993. However, one major investor pulled out and another one had trouble coming up with the financing, thus leading to more delays and another canceled Broadway opening. Finally in August of 1993 the stars all aligned as Annie 2, now called Annie Warbucks, finally opened in New York City…at an Off-broadway venue called the Variety Arts Theatre.
Charnin: Well, the interesting thing is that Annie Warbucks is telling this story, I believe, properly. It's telling the story of her trust, her hope, her faith, her belief that Warbucks can indeed have a wife and that she can have a mother and a father. It's a great a great, it speaks to the spirit of the child. It speaks to her energy and to her optimism and to the country's energy and optimism. It takes place, as a matter of fact, 30 seconds after the first one comes down. The first scene of the new one is, in effect, the last 30 seconds of the first one, and it provides the connection. The scene is exactly the same. It's staged in exactly the same way.
The show opened to better reviews this time and by January 1994, the producers had once again named a date for moving the show to Broadway. They even secured $2.5 million from an investor. But then they discovered they couldn't make the move in time to be eligible for Tony Award consideration, which was a big part of the reason for moving in the first place. So the investor pulled out, and Annie Warbucks finally came to rest on January 20, 1994, after 200 performances and 38 previews.
Charnin: I mean, the dream has been finished, the painting has been signed, in effect, by virtue of the fact that we are in New York. Whatever else happens can absolutely happen from this New York experience if, indeed, it is to be. There will be road companies, there will be record albums, people will be singing the songs.
What a roller coaster, right? The producers and creatives kept hoping that another tomorrow would finally bring their musical to Broadway. But some things just aren’t meant to be. Because after all that work, Variety said that the off-Broadway version still “seems unfinished” and too long.
That original Annie was simply a one-of-a-kind, and no matter how hard they tried, it just couldn’t be replicated. Also in that review, Variety summed it up best: “The show will never make Charnin, Strouse and Meehan the millions they earned from Annie, but it will finally let them get on with their lives, for which we can all be grateful.”
A kind acknowledgement goes to the New York Times, Charlie Rose Show, and theater historian Mark Robinson for their work that was cited in this episode. Closing Night is a production of WINMI Media with Patrick Oliver Jones as host and executive producer of the show. Dan Delgado is the editor and co-producer, not only for this podcast but also for his own movie podcast as well called The Industry. Join us next time as another production makes its way to closing night.
Sources and materials used to create this episode...
Original Annie - https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/29/theater/broadway-annie-s-closing-jan-2-strikes-an-emotional-note.html
In Charnin’s own words - https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Exclusive-Martin-Charnin-Discusses-ANNIE-2-ANNIE-WARBUCKS-In-BroadwayWorld-Message-Board-Post-20140625
VIDEOS:
telethon performance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_taSlQpeo_A
Annie auditions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUXMKld62mg
“Opportunity” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GyIs09azTw
“Tomorrow” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ZPgSBhkos
2013 revival curtain call - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFCr7JOwoqA
Charlie Rose interview - https://charlierose.com/videos/20719
Charnin and Strouse - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db7KhvRvtqI&t=81s
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