NEW YORK (AP) — Whoopi Goldberg is about to interrupt two ironclad guidelines of present enterprise — by no means work with animals or kids.
The actor and TV host is slipping into the terrifying position of Miss Hannigan when the most recent touring manufacturing of “Annie” lands in New York Metropolis for the vacations.
“I’m having the time of my life,” the EGOT-winning Goldberg says between rehearsals as she readies to inform the story of a spunky younger orphan along with her canine Sandy set throughout the Despair.
“I thought, ‘Who can we cast in that iconic role that would be right artistically and right for a large venue and right for an audience?’ And it just felt like she was the right person,” says Carolyn Rossi Copeland, who’s producing the brand new tour.
Goldberg will assist lead the present at The Theater at Madison Sq. Backyard from Dec. 11-Jan. 5. The tour has a deep connection to the primary model of the hit present: It’s being directed by Jenn Thompson, who on the age of 10 stepped into the position of Pepper within the authentic Broadway manufacturing.
“It’s been a really beautiful journey. I have a lot of ghosts I got to exorcise and revisit and reclaim,” says Thompson, who for the brand new present has chipped away on the layers of productions and charted a course again to the unique manufacturing.
“It had changed a lot over the years. It had gone through many revisions and alterations and it wasn’t even a conscious mission when I started but that’s where we ended up — kind of back at the beginning.”
Goldberg laughs when she says she signed on earlier than realizing how a lot was going to be required of her. “I’m rusty. I’m old,” says the “The View” co-host.
“I got in the middle of it and I thought, maybe this is more than I can handle. And then a little voice said, ‘Really? You know, if you said this is more than I can handle to anyone, they would laugh you off the stage because it’s not.’ It’s exactly what I can handle.”
Hannigan is a gin-swilling orphanage head who calls her fees “brats,” denies them scorching mush and threatens “your days are numbered.” She has two nice songs — “Easy Street” and “Little Girls.”
The musical accommodates musical gems like “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard Knock Life.” Martin Charnin’s lyrics, which earned him and songwriter Charles Strouse a Tony for greatest rating in 1977, are playful and shifting: “You’re never fully dressed/without a smile” and “No one cares for you a smidge/when you’re in an orphanage.”
“I really like the darkish facet of it,” says Thompson. “There’s a lot of joy and there’s a lot of rage and they are in conversation with each other. And it’s what makes it a great musical in my mind.”
“Annie” has been tailored many instances for the display screen, together with a 1982 movie model, one other in 1999 and one in 2014 starring Quvenzhané Wallis, and a reside TV model in 2021 on NBC with Harry Connick Jr. and Taraji P. Henson.
The tour after the brand new 12 months will head to Maryland, Alabama, Illinois, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas and Wisconsin.
The musical was born within the wake of the Vietnam Conflict and the Nixon administration and the creators have mentioned they have been in search of to supply some hope. “I think it is a story about survival and choosing the light when you are in the dark,” says Thompson.
The musical first premiered on Broadway in 1977 and was revived in 1997 and 2012. The 1977 authentic present received the Tony Award as greatest musical and ran for two,300 performances, inspiring excursions and revivals that by no means went out of favor. It final performed New York on Broadway in 2012-14.
“The original show was just endowed with so much hope and optimism and the comedy in it was honest,” says Copeland. “It’s really back to its roots. There’s no gags and gimmicks.”
Others who’ve performed Hannigan embrace Carol Burnett, Kathy Bates, Dorothy Loudon, Nell Carter, Katie Finneran, Jane Lynch and Henson. Goldberg says she’s stayed away from watching any variations “so I wouldn’t copy other people.”
Goldberg has a protracted historical past with New York theater, producing such reveals as “Sister Act,” “Xanadu” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” in addition to performing in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”
“I don’t sound like Cynthia Erivo,” she says. “I don’t sound like Nicole Scherzinger. I don’t sound like anybody. I don’t sound like Audra McDonald. I just sound like me. And for ‘Annie,’ it’s the right sound.”
