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Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy — Page 3

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#51

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/16/13 at 9:29pm

They also got unlucky time-wise. The Walters casting special was supposed to air earlier but got pre-empted by a national news story. Once it finally aired, the producers built up some goodwill for Joanna's Cinderella story and she was fired very shortly thereafter. There was also a theory floating around at the time that the producers were under pressure to cast somebody from the non-Equity call because ABC was not permitted to film the Equity call and it would ruin the crowning moment if the girl couldn't be on camera. It seemed fairly obvious from the special, IMO, that the creators were not really happy with any of the choices but felt that Joanna was the best of what they had to choose from. The real mystery for me has always been why her understudy didn't take over when she was sick. They put Brittny Kissinger on instead, after having obviously secretly been rehearsing her.
#52

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/16/13 at 9:34pm

I remember hearing that (though I can't confirm) that Joanna and was it John Schuck?? who was playing Daddy Warbucks at the time... did not get along...and he was happy that they got a new Annie.

I think Joanna was more the Andrea McArdle - Lilla Crawford type..sort of a street wise tough kid type. Brittany was more like Kristin Vigard who was replaced after the original out of town Annie workshop was done - and pre=Broadway. They were more girly sweet types - much like Taylor who is the alternate Annie most days now.

I hadn't thought about it..but while Lilla has not seemed to have any trouble keeping her role as Annie, Jaidyn Young, the standby that was hired early on, has not gone on for Annie much (or at all) in months..and she was replaced by a younger smaller member of the cast, Taylor Richardson.

I guess when children are growing and changing, it's to be expected. The real problem is when the adults don't treat the children well - they are kids after all. Actresses are replaced all the time but not in such a cruel and unprofessional fashion as happened with poor Joanna.

Updated On: 6/16/13 at 09:34 PM

#53

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/16/13 at 9:43pm

DivaBrigader, that's what I remember feeling when I watched it too - that they werne't happy the way casting was going, but had to pick someone. After the dust settled, they were off to find a solution before the NY opening.

They just handled it horribly.
#56

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/17/13 at 12:31am

It was how they went behind everyone's back and rehearsed Brittny. If Joanna wasn't working in the role they should have figured it out during the rehearsal period.
#57

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/17/13 at 7:00am

The thing that people forget (which wasn't even mentioned in the LIFE AFTER TOMORROW documentary) is that Kristen Vigard wasn't entirely replaced after the Goodspeed run. Perhaps even more humiliatingly, she was kept on as Andrea McArdle's standby once the show moved to Broadway.

I'm not sure if she ever went on as Annie in New York, but she left a few months after opening to play Crissy in the revival of HAIR that began that subsequent fall, which shows how much older she must have looked by that point already.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.

Updated On: 6/17/13 at 07:00 AM

#58

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/17/13 at 8:10am

Cruelly as I may be perceived, I was put off by the footage of Pacitti in the Barbara Walters Turning Point story (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEp-wtqpwCU&t=2m19s).

Pacitti got dillied, as happens to adult actors. It seems more cruel because she was a child, but sometimes it's a cruel business.

There are possibilities for change if actors want to work with their unions to effect it. Women in the workplace (outside of the acting profession) used to automatically face firing if they became pregnant and had to take maternity leave, but change has occurred regarding that situation.

It seems reasonable that similar change could be effected regarding job protection in the theater world as well.
#61

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/17/13 at 4:19pm

John Adams,
There ARE protections in place. Unfortunately, the producers made every wrong choice.
The contest that was held said that the winner would play Annie on BROADWAY, Pacitti was fired before.
The producers / director were rehearsing a replacement in secret with existing company members - that is a recipe for disaster.
They slipped a note under her hotel room door saying "be gone in the morning".. again, not a good way to handle that...
#62

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/17/13 at 4:46pm

Of course, it was not the way to handle it. The producers are the adults and should act as such. I saw Joanna in an out of town preview - she was fine. Not my favorite Annie for sure but certainly not awful. But regardless, they wanted to let her go.

She would be upset of course. But at least she deserved someone speaking to her or to her family face to face, to apologize and say they tried their best but were not happy with her performance, or that she was too old, or too tall, or too whatever. They could have thanked her, praised her for at least parts of her work and let her go with some dignity at least. Instead they basically were throwing her away like yesterday's trash.

That is why so many people involved boycotted the following production. It was not my feeling that Joanna was a brat..she was a kid, not a professional, and had no idea how to handle what happened (who would??). If there were brats around, they were the adults in charge.

Updated On: 6/17/13 at 04:46 PM

#63

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/17/13 at 4:55pm

I remember when this whole thing went down. I was an intern for a regional theater in the Northeast and they had experience with Joanna and her family. As it was explained to me -- her mother made Mama Rose look good -- and the powers that be where I worked were convinced the firing had more to do with an uncontrolled stage mother than anything the kid had or hadn't done.
#64

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/17/13 at 7:34pm

The producers gave Joanna many opportunities to 'fix' her performance/give them the performance they wanted. But from what I have gathered over the years the firing wasn't necessarily sitting solely on Joanna's shoulders.

While it may be perceived Brittny was rehearsed 'behind Joanna's back', she was actually a listed 2nd understudy for quite some time before the firing occurred.

Roger Hess, a producer of The 20th Anniversary, recently wrote a book, "No Biz Like It" and explains his side of the story. They saw in Brittny the performance they wanted and offered to split the performances. Demands started to come from Joanna's management regarding who would perform opening night, be on the cast album etc. A press hold was agreed upon and then broken by Joanna's side and it began being leaked to the media that the producers were going to fire her.

The producers followed all equity rules when carrying out the firing. The letter slipped under the door was addressed to her and explained in legal terms what was happening, pursuant with AEA. It certainly did not say "be gone in the morning".

I believe they did everything they could to protect not only Joanna but her replacement. While they may have waited too long to correct their mistake in the end it seems they were fed up with trying to be bossed around by an actresses management team.
#66

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/17/13 at 10:25pm

Alexandra did go on for the role when Joanna was sick and while the producers found her performance less than stirring they went whith Kissinger. Alexandra was the annie u/s and orphan swing. Replace a valuable player or replace your less than stellar lead? I've said it before and i'll always say it. Kissinger was the best .
#67

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/17/13 at 10:41pm

Charles Strouse denies in his memoir-- which is really quite revealing and moving-- that Nichols "helped" Charnin at all, stating that Martin Charnin directed ALL of ANNIE in 1977.

Charles is a really nice guy, and probably wouldn't want to betray his collaborator if Nichols WAS involved in the direction of the show. It seems very likely to me that that is the case.

I've heard that Martin Charnin would drop in on ANNIE and fire performers after curtain call with no prior notice, and that Equity made a rule stating that what Charnin was doing could not happen anymore. Michael Bennett, I believe, did similar similar firings during A CHORUS LINE's original run.

#69

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/18/13 at 1:55am

ticenewyorkcity.
I appreciate your post and kindly refer to you to William Berloni's book Broadway Tails, where Chapter 12: Annie Gets Her walking papers contains Berloni's experience on the production, from being instructed to rehearse Kissinger with the dogs, though she was NOT designated as understudy at the time, and to keep it an absolute secret, to Pacitti's illness, where tAnnie understudy was NOT put in and Kissinger assumed the role, through the night and day after Pacitti's firing, INCLUDING a letter being slid under the hotel door, instructing them that a car would be waiting to take them home in the morning, and the aftermath which followed, including threats of termination made to company members who questioned the firing.
#72

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/18/13 at 1:14pm

According to Berloni's book, the family calld him immediately after receiving the letter and he went to the hotel room, they removd her to another hotel where she was able to say goodbye to somof the company members and, eventually, he gave her Zappa, who was her Sandy, as he felt that Zappa was too large to work with Kissinger.
#73

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 6/18/13 at 2:14pm

broadwayguy2,
Have we met? ;0)

I've read Bill's wonderful book.

Hold him in high regard.

I don't doubt he was asked to rehearse her secretly and not tell any one. Was it done because they planned to replace Joanna all along or was it done in secrecy so as to not cause drama among the other children and their parents? I'd like to think it was the latter, but who knows.

Once Brittny was listed in the program as a second understudy I assume everyone in the company and on Joanna's side were made aware of this.

Certainly the producers were fed up enough to threaten terminating Bill and the other actors who questioned their decision.

I've met Martin and found him to be very charismatic and thankful.




Updated On: 6/18/13 at 02:14 PM

#75

Annie 20th Anniversary Revival Casting Controversy

Posted: 4/16/15 at 3:08am

"The producers gave Joanna many opportunities to 'fix' her performance/give them the performance they wanted. But from what I have gathered over the years the firing wasn't necessarily sitting solely on Joanna's shoulders.

While it may be perceived Brittny was rehearsed 'behind Joanna's back', she was actually a listed 2nd understudy for quite some time before the firing occurred.

Roger Hess, a producer of The 20th Anniversary, recently wrote a book, "No Biz Like It" and explains his side of the story. They saw in Brittny the performance they wanted and offered to split the performances. Demands started to come from Joanna's management regarding who would perform opening night, be on the cast album etc. A press hold was agreed upon and then broken by Joanna's side and it began being leaked to the media that the producers were going to fire her.

The producers followed all equity rules when carrying out the firing. The letter slipped under the door was addressed to her and explained in legal terms what was happening, pursuant with AEA. It certainly did not say "be gone in the morning".

I believe they did everything they could to protect not only Joanna but her replacement. While they may have waited too long to correct their mistake in the end it seems they were fed up with trying to be bossed around by an actresses management team."


Interesting Joanna's side said the producers who broke the press hold. It is each side blaming the other type of case. It seems.

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