Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 12:00am

Did a quick search and couldn't find a thread that answered my question.

With the 2012 revival approaching, I finally got around to watching Life After Tomorrow (what did I just see?), but the one thing that actually caught my interest was the whole controversy surrounding the casting and eventual replacement of Joanna Pacitti. The documentary didn't really go into much depth about why she was dismissed (in fact, Joanna was only feature for about five minutes), and I was wondering if any of the wiser posters here had any clue or speculation as to why she was given the boot.

Furthermore, I had no idea that the original Broadway production also replaced Kristen Vigard with Andrea McArdle out of town. Seems like the role is a little cursed! Any insight on that would also be fascinating.

[E.Davis]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 12:02am

Wasent Brittany Kissenger a replacement too?

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 12:04am

If I have my facts straight, I believe Brittny was Joanna's understudy, and the one who they replaced Joanna with on the road before coming to Broadway.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 12:06am

All I remember about this was that Rosie was pissed.

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 12:08am

I read some article after a quick Google search (was it Playbill?) that both Andrea McArdle and Sarah Jessica Parker boycotted the production after the whole debacle.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 12:17am

I don't know how being knowledgeable makes me or any other respondent "wiser" but to answer your question:

She was fired before the show opened. It happens. I don't recall if the producers ever provided a specific reason in any sort of press release, but her family was PISSED. They hired a PR person to make them a national news controversy. She WAS, in fact, hired publicly. She was a national contest sponsored by Macy's. I'm not familiar with the terms of the contest, but the argument was that because she won the contest, and the prize of the contest was that she was to star in the Broadway production of ANNIE, she should receive a compensation equivalent to that prize. Many celebrities rallied in support for her. Barbara Walters eventually nabbed the exclusive interview where Joanna spoke about it publicly for the first time. And yes, Rosie O'Donnell voiced her opinion on her talk show (which is how I first heard about it and what I remember most).

[theatreguy]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 12:32am

The situation really wasn't handled well by the producers.

After several months on tour (and just a few weeks before going in to New York) Pacitti got sick and took a night off. The next day she was ready to return, but the producers said she should take an extra night off to make sure she was fully recovered. The following morning she received a fax saying that her services were no longer required. And that was that.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 12:40am

And I would say the situation with the original production and Vigard and McArdle was a bit different. At that point it was a new show and they realized that Vigard was not the right actress for where they wanted to take the role as the show developed. While Vigard was obviously hurt by being let go I get the sense that she realizes it was not done to hurt her but done for the betterment of the show. It also seems to have been handled better, as she was actually told to her in person and told why.

With Pacitti most accounts do seem to agree that she was told via fax and never given a sufficient explanation for why she was let go.

[PattiLover]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 12:51am

I remember it being a big deal at the time, in all the papers. It was like the Challenger disaster all over again. Only worse.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 1:12am

No reason was ever really given publicly. Yes, it was terribly, terribly handled.
If you want to read a rather extensive accounting of the Pacitti incident his (great) book "Broadway Tails". The general synopis of what happened is this:

At some point during the out of town try-out / tour for Annie (Boston), Berloni was instructed to teach Kissinger how to handle the dogs in the show. She was *not* an understudy for the role and he was told to not discuss the matter with anyone.

Pacitti became ill and was commanded by doctors to take several days off, under threat of reporting her parents and the show to authorities if they pressed her to perform. At that time, the understudy first went on, then Kissinger - not the designated understudy - was put on it the show, much to the confusion of the cast and the ire of the understudy and her family.

The producers then decided to split the role between Pacitti and Kissinger, with Kissinger performing at critics' previews and opening night and New York. Pacitti's agents and family became upset and pointed out the contest, as advertised, and signed contract stated that the contest winner would hold the role of Annie, not share it.

At that time, the producers quite literally slid a note under the door of the Pacitti hotel room very late in the night informing them that Pacitti was being released from the show and a car would be waiting in the morning to return the family to their home in Philadelphia.

Pacitti's mother called Berloni and they snuck her out of the hotel at 2am to a nearby hotel where Berloni secured a room and she was able to play with her Sandys. In the morning, Berloni arranged for a child psychologist to be there with her and for a list of cast members that she wanted to say goodbye to to be shuttled to where she was staying and later that day, the Pacitti family returned to Philadelphia.

No one else in the company knew of the firing until that night when the producers called a meeting at half hour and informed the company that Pacitti left the show, was doing well and sent her regards and well wishes and that Kissinger would be the new Annie. According to Berloni it was obviously a very upsetting and emotional meeting and half the company knew very well that what the producer stated about Pacitti to be blatantly false.

Several company members approached the producers and union asking about what happened and were told to let the incident go. Rumor in the company was that the producers had hoped to generate the buzz from the original production when McArdle assumed the role (though THAT was slightly less dramatic). Soon after, seven people, including Berloni, who were vocal about their dislike for what has transpired were threatened with firing if they didn't drop the matter. ABC also came down hard on the producers as they had been filming a documentary special about the show and casting of Annie.

Berloni also pulled his lead dog, Zappa, from the show and gave him to Pacitti. CindyLou, the understudy Sandy, then assumed that role as well.

Many members of the original cast boycotted the show, the press was not friendly..

[E.Davis]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 1:37am

I went to school with Kissinger and we share mutual friends. I never dared ask her about her time in Annie. There were subtle jokes here and there but never mentioned the show by name, just didn't feel appropriate.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 3:05am

And that's why you never work with children or animals, folks.

[KylePKJP]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 3:07am

Really, PattiLover? You're comparing the coverage of casting debacle to the Challenger disaster? Delusional.

I was in the 3rd grade when the Challenger disaster occurred and I remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember hearing about this Annie fiasco, but let's be clear... the world was NOT shocked to the core nor was there an global outpouring of grief over frickin' Annie. Jesus.

[Neverandy]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 9:14am

Martin Charnin is not a nice man. I totally believe that recreating history re the McCardle hiring, is a major reason why this happened. The same exact scenario happened on one of his tours as well. I saw it with my own eyes, and while there is no question that the decision (on the tour) made for a better overall production, the handling of it was awful.

[DivaBrigader]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 9:21am

That was a good synopsis of Berloni's book. The other factor was that ABC had filmed the auditions for a special on the casting. They did not have permission to film the people auditioning who were already in Equity and there was some speculation that the producers felt they had to choose someone non-Equity to film the scenes of her reaction when she found out she was cast. Due to a breaking news story, the original ABC special's airdate was postponed so the special aired pretty close to when the show was scheduled to open in NY. Pacitti got a lot of buzz and had a lot of support because the story was all very feel-good and then a very short time after, was fired, and ABC re-aired the special with an addendum at the end with Pacitti crying and Kissinger getting her hair dyed, etc. That bit of timing just made the publicity even worse. The real question I've always had is how Kissinger became a contender in the first place. She was never in the running for Annie nor was she the understudy. At some point, somebody started teaching her the role in secret but there was never really a reason why she specifically was selected.

And then of course more than a decade later, Pacitti was also publicly DQ'd from "American Idol" after she made it to the top 32 on the air.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 9:27am

It's a marginally interesting tiny scandal, but honestly, that entire revival was so terrible - cheap-looking, directed to move at a snail's pace - one wonders why anyone (other than Pacitti) would actually care.

The revival certainly showed that Charnin must have had a lot of help/oversight from someone more talented on the original, which was directed with an appropriate bright and fast tone. For the revival, Charnin seemed to want to depress the audience simply because the show takes place during the Depression.

[Neverandy]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 9:39am

"secretly teaching the role" is something that Martin would sometimes do (not always personally, he would tell the stage manager and dance captain to start and then he would pop in when it was time to pull the trigger) when he wanted to replace the existing Annie. Practically speaking, the girl playing Annie and the understudy were generally the same age and size. Getting old and becoming too mature physically were often the (very valid) reason for cast changes. Usually a much younger actress in the orphanage would be taught and prepped with the intent of her being ready to go when the eventual transition took place. If memory serves, Kissinger was much younger than Pacitti, and this accounts for that difference.
With Stage Mothers about, and a group of young girls of varying ages, the rumor mill is always furiously churning. Although he might have reveled in the secrecy, it was somewhat necessary for the overall production.
I remember walking into the theater one night, early for my half-hour call somewhere outside Chicago and seeing Charnin onstage teaching one of our swing orphans the blocking for the "tomorrow" scene. He was playing Lt, Ward. This girl was so good it gave me goose bumps. She went on that night.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 9:42am

Regarding stage children and mothers - that "Life After Tomorrow" movie is a macabre parade of unsurpassed grotesqueness. And I'm not only talking about Sarah Jessica Parker.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 9:51am

Mike Nichols produced the original. I am SURE he "assisted" Charnin with the direction and concept of the show. Charnin is a very difficult man. In Strouse's memoir, he said that Charnin would only back down and not direct the show if Jerry Robbins, Michael Bennett, or Gower Champion would direct Annie. (And that was back when it was just a little thing at Goodspeed).

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 10:12am

Regarding the original production, oddly enough, Kristen Vigard was listed as the standby and also appeared in the Charnin directed, "I Remember Mama."

neverandy, do you recall the name of the actress you're referring to?

The original production of Annie was my first Broadway show. I loved everything about it. Whereas, I hated everything about the revival. Brittny Kissinger was serviceable in the title role. Although Sutton Foster was in the cast, I believe in the "Star to Be" track, I don't even remember anything about her.

[Neverandy]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 10:17am

I'm going to decline giving names to protect my (limited) anonymity. She has gone on to have a pretty good film and television career though. It was one of those rare moments when you see an abundance of talent and realize that training and experience only can polish something that is instinctual. As sappy as it sounds It was then that I realized that Mama Rose's quote "You either got it..." was a truism.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 10:54am

I've worked on professional productions of ANNIE, PETER PAN, and OLIVER where the director asked assistants, stage managers, choreographers, producers, even company managers to "secretly" teach another child actor a role or to start learning that character's lines. Sometimes due to being worried the principal child actor wasn't learning it fast enough, sometimes because we learned they weren't good in the role, and sometimes because of the ego of the kid and the bothersome of the stage mom. Never had to replace a child actor, thankfully.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 11:31am

Sarcasm went over my head..it won't happen again.
Updated On: 7/20/12 at 11:31 AM

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 11:35am

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure PattiLover was being facetious, describing how overblown the controversy became. Much like saying, "They acted like it was the second coming of Jesus or something."

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 11:42am

On second thought in re-reading the post I think that is where he was coming from. Definitely taking my rant back. As a sarcastic motherfvcker myself I should really know better...lol