Annie controversy - Nell Carter

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 11:59am

this was in a broadway.com article about Annie. what is the story behind this? anyone have the scoop?

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/165051/annie-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow-all-about-broadways-favorite-little-orphan/

"The controversy continued when Marcia Lewis (a white actress who went on to win a Tony in the Chicago revival) appeared as Miss Hannigan in a montage TV commercial rather than the revival's star, African-American Tony winner Nell Carter. Carter spoke out to The New York Post: “It's insulting to me as a black woman,” she fumed. The actress later recanted her statement to the Associated Press, claiming she had never accused the producers of racism. Leapin’ lizards, sounds like too much drama for one production! The second coming of Annie closed after 239 performances."

i know that part of this article is wrong because Marcia Lewis did not win the tony for Chicago.

But is there more to this story? why didn't they use Nell Carter in the ads?

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 12:07pm

They probably just wanted to see how many they could piss off with one production.

BTW, wasn't Andrea McArdle actually a replacement for the girl who got fired from playing Annie in the out of town tryout???

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 12:12pm

"Annie received its world premiere on August 10, 1976, at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, starring Kristen Vigard in the title role and Dorothy Loudon as Miss Hannigan, the alcoholic caretaker of the orphanage where Annie lives. Soon after performances began, producers replaced Vigard with a tougher young actress, 13-year-old Andrea McArdle (who originally played another orphan, Pepper)."

[sassylash3s]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 12:15pm

Andrea McArdle did replace Kristen Vigard as Annie, although Vigard was kept on as the standby. At that point, from what I understand, the show was being completely retooled and the creatives found that Kristen no longer suited their new interpretation of the role; that's far from the same situation as the revival debacle.



Updated On: 10/28/12 at 12:15 PM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 12:20pm

>"Annie received its world premiere on August 10, 1976, at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, starring Kristen Vigard in the title role and Dorothy Loudon as Miss Hannigan, the alcoholic caretaker of the orphanage where Annie lives."<

Dorothy Loudon wasn't Hannigan at Goodspeed. Maggie Task played the role, which was rather differently conceived, before Loudon took over.

Updated On: 10/28/12 at 12:20 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 12:21pm

Kristen was directed to play it cartoonish. The directors decided to go more realistic with the production.

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 12:23pm

so what's the controversy with nell carter and not useing her in the ads?

[bobs3]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 12:26pm

Probably finances. Since the revival was not a hit they may not have wanted to spend money on a new tv commercial and just pulled an old one from the original production and started running it again.

Updated On: 10/28/12 at 12:26 PM

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 12:29pm

was Marcia Lewis a replacement hannigan in the orignal production?

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 1:02pm

Yes

http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=73301

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 2:02pm

Ah, so they weren't being racist, just cheap, lol.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 5:17pm

Yes, cheap in the same way that Chicago has a marquee with Ute Lemper. A bunch of Europeans though they were seeing Ute. Boy were they pissed.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 5:44pm

This is great!

[Leadingplayer]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 10:15pm

The Nell Carter production struggled financially the whole time. As people said....running the old commercial was just a financial move to try and drum up box office. They recut an old commercial from late in the OBC run with Lewis (who played Hannigan for along time and was fired in the last months to make way for June Havoc. Carter wasn't at her best mentally during that show and saw slights everywhere. I think the whole thing was humiliating for her since she saw herself as a much bigger star than her return to Bway was met with.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 10:35pm

"I think the whole thing was humiliating for her since she saw herself as a much bigger star than her return to Bway was met with."

But Hannigan is not really a star role. I understand Nell Carter's wanting to return to Broadway, but when it was announced, my thought was that she was too big a name for the role. She was, after all, an actress who had a tv show designed specifically for her. It's too bad she couldn't have done one of the Pearl Bailey revivals "Hello Dolly" or "House of Flowers".

[Leadingplayer]

Posted: 10/28/12 at 10:37pm

"but when it was announced, my thought was that she was too big a name for the role. She was, after all, an actress who had a tv show designed specifically for her"



but the show had been over for a long time. She was kind of a has been by the time Annie came around.

[castlestreet]

Posted: 10/29/12 at 9:04am

Nell Carter was an immense talent, however she had many personal demons and from everyone I've ever talked to who worked with her- she could be a nightmare.

I saw the revival on tour after Broadway and it was lackluster at best. I was a huge fan of Gimme A Break growing up and was so excited to see Nell Carter live on stage- I left the theater very disappointed.

[Tag]

Posted: 11/5/12 at 9:43pm

Interesting to see this listed in the Julien's Auctions' Icons & Idols: Hollywood Auction which is going on this week.

NELL CARTER ANNOTATED ANNIE SCRIPT
Nell Carter’s 1996 annotated script from the 20th Anniversary revival of the
stage play Annie, accompanied by annotated rehearsal schedules and acting
notes. Carter played the role of Annie’s orphanage supervisor, Miss Hannigan.
The Broadway musical held 239 performances in 1997.
Binder, 1 by 11 1/2 by 10 1/2 inches
$400–600
Julien's Auctions

[bobs3]

Posted: 11/5/12 at 10:21pm

There was a 10th anniversary revival of AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' in 1988 with the original cast and there were rumors at the time that there was no love loss between her and the other cast members.