How “Little Orphan Annie” was Envisioned as a Musical

Jennifer Grieves has a background as a Marine helicopter squadron pilot, and earned distinction as the first female pilot ever given responsibility for piloting Marine One, the presidential helicopter. Among Jennifer Grieves longstanding interests is the theater, and she is particularly drawn to Broadway productions.

One of the iconic productions of the 1970s, the musical Annie, has its roots in Little Orphan Annie, a popular comic strip that ran from the 1920s to the 1940s. Featuring a girl without parents but her dog Sandy at her side, the strip embodied qualities of grit and determination that matched the American mood of the era.

The Broadway show had its genesis in a book of comic strips received by lyricist-director Martin Charnin for Christmas in 1971. Captivated by the narrative, he began imagining a musical comedy with the lead character. In order to get the project off the ground, Charnin needed partners, and he convinced Tony-winning composer Charles Strouse and New Yorker writer Thomas Meehan to come on board. The collaborators finished the show in a quick 14 months, but the project generated little interest from the broader theatrical community, and it was shelved for four years.

Ultimately, Annie opened in 1976 in Connecticut, at the Goodspeed Opera House. The original actress selected to play Annie, Kristen Vigard, had an interpretation of the street-smart orphan that after a week was deemed too sweet and gentle for the role. This led to a replacement by Andrea McArdle, who created the well-loved sparky archetype popularized in the 1982 movie. She remained in the lead role for the original Broadway production that opened on April 21, 1977.