Betty Hutton as Miss Hannigan

[morosco]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 12:19am

Little Girls

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 12:50am

Betty Hutton was filling in for a few weeks for a vacationing Alice Ghostley. Allison Smith was Annie and John Schuck was Daddy Warbucks. If they would have filmed the show a few months earlier they would have captured Sarah Jessica Parker's Annie.

This is the only surviving record (alas a primitive bootleg camcorder video) from the original Broadway run of ANNIE at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre).

Yes... that is the same Rita Rudner who is today a well-known author/comedienne. She played Lily St. Regis before leaving Broadway forever to do stand-up.

Betty, John and Allison:




Updated On: 11/15/08 at 12:50 AM

[hellostar]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 10:35am

Wow! Thank you for that! I've always loved Betty Hutton.

[benny123]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 3:42pm

Amazing.. the Original production always gives me chills, i don't know why!!...
And sorry, was Gary Beach Rooster?? x

[TheatreFreak05]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 4:59pm

The same person put up original clips of the Secret Garden!

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 10:09pm

Yup. Fresh from the Nat'l Tour, Gary Beach played Rooster opposite Rita Rudner's Lily St. Regis.


Bios (circa 1980):



Rita Rudner, Gary Beach and Alice Ghostley performing "Easy Street":


Rita Rudner today... one of Las Vegas' most successful female comediennes:

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 10:44pm

There's an audio recording of the final preview, with the complete OBC.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 11:01pm

There are countless audio recordings from the original Broadway run of ANNIE, several with the entire original Broadway cast.

The most interesting one is the one made during the show's original run in 1976 at the Goodspeed Opera House shortly after Kristen Vigard was replaced by Andrea McArdle, who had been playing Pepper in the production. The original version of ANNIE was quite a different production.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 1:30am

"This is the only surviving record (alas a primitive bootleg camcorder video) from the original Broadway run of ANNIE at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre)."

There is a video in the TOFT collection, though, from when the production was at the Uris. Too bad there isn't one with the original cast.

http://catnyp.nypl.org/search?/tannie/tannie/1%2C124%2C271%2CB/frameset&FF=tannie&1%2C%2C11

[benny123]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 4:34am

Fab thank you :) x

[dramamama611]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 5:51am

I had NO idea that Rudner did b'way. Thanks for the info!!!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 8:25am

NBC ran a special in either November or December of 1977 which featured a lot of material featuring the original Broadway cast of Annie. I remember watching this and hoping that I'd be able to see the show live. Little did I know my mom had already purchased tickets as a Christmas gift to me. Annie was my first Broadway show (1/15/7.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 9:40am

Thanks for the links. The look and style of that original production of Annie has never been duplicated, in either of the movies, or any of the subsequent revivals. David Mitchell's set was kind of a marvel - I remember loving an elaborate drop of a bridge during the Hooverville scene, and was delighted by the Times Square billboards in the "NYC" sequence, and the sidewalk with the quick-changing ensemble appearing to be a cast of hundreds. It was the right show at the right time - particularly in its celebration of New Deal politics at a time of great American cynicism with our world leaders. It entertained children and adults in equal measure. Later productions have pandered more to kids, which has done a disservice to the original material.

I went to see it when Shelley Bruce was playing Annie, but got understudy Sarah Jessica Parker, who was met with groans at the pre-show announcement, but won over the audience instantly. Alice Ghostley was a pretty wonderful Miss Hannigan. Great to see this footage of Betty Hutton in action.

Updated On: 11/16/08 at 09:40 AM

[morosco]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 10:19am

The look and style of that original production of Annie has never been duplicated, in either of the movies, or any of the subsequent revivals. David Mitchell's set was kind of a marvel.

Agreed. The set was magical without upstaging the show. I remember being fascinated with all the stuff that was moving during scene changes. (And this was back when computers weren't making the magic happen. It was mostly muscle.)

ANNIE gets a bad rap these days and that's a shame. I guess because of things like the overstuffed (and just plain bad) movie version and the millions of amateur productions that were unable to be more than just "cute". The original production was a perfectly constructed delight from start to finish.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 10:23am

I have to concur regarding the sets for the original production. I remember being quite fascinated with them and how they moved.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 1:05pm

The one at the TOFT has June Havoc (aka Dainty June) as Hannigan and Harve Presnell as Warbucks!

I just wrote a paper about Annie, and it's differences from the strip and how no one remembers the strip anymore, and after watching the Hutton video for it, I really discovered my love for Annie.

[benny123]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 3:37pm

There is something about the original production that captivates me and i think the fantastic 'Life After Tomorrow' Documentary really intrigued me. I do not adore the musical by any means, but i would have done anything to have sen the Original Broadway run ...
Updated On: 11/16/08 at 03:37 PM

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 12/8/11 at 2:54pm

Betty, Rita & Gary do Easy Street