How do we feel about the 1999 Annie?

I'm a huge fan of the 1999 version. Audra, Kristin, and Victor are all excellent.

I much prefer this Annie to the 1982 film. I didn't like that the film removed "N.Y.C."

Even though I watched and liked the 1982 version first, I grew up on the 1999 version and love it! It's the best telling of Annie out of the three movies. I remember when it was first being advertised and I was so excited about a new version of Annie. I remember the night it first aired and I was like "Mommy, we have to get this on VHS when it comes out!" The performances are amazing, the songs are glorious, and the pacing is perfect! 90 minutes really does work for the story. The only song where I got bored as a child was Something Was Missing. I now appreciate it as an adult, but it's my least favorite song from the 1999 score. I also love bragging to my friends that I knew who Kristin Chenoweth was before Wicked! Also, yes, I agree it is sort of stagey. I remember even as a child when it was being advertised thinking whether this was a filmed stage play they would be airing, but somehow the stagey-ness works.

bfreak said: "I grew up on this version and absolutely love it! I totally agree that the show works better in this tightened version. The performances are really great, and Easy Street is SUCH a showstopper I can’t imagine listening or watching that number without wanting to sing or dance along."

Oh AND THIS. I get everyone here is saying that as a hole it was stage-ey but it WORKS. It's as musical theatre as musical theatre pieces can get, and the creatives behind it knew it, and ran with it. Too many creatives being musical films forget this these days so the direction and staging falls VERY flat. Directors can't ignore the fact that it's a MUSICAL, so it needs to be directed as such.

And YES, this movie is a Christmas must-watch tradition for me and my family when I'm home around Christmas...me and my mom BELT Easy Street at the top our damn lungs every time, and fun fact...she never remembers Alan's name, but when we ate at at Sardis a few years ago, she spotted his caricature in a heart beat, saying "Oh...it's East Street guy!"...I was cackling for 10 minutes straight at that.

JennH said: "Aileen plays a street smart and manipulative Annie, which I didn't catch until she startstrying to talk Warbucks into a night out in NYC. It was played so manipulatively that I couldn't root for Annie's end success. If you want an audience to root for Annie and fall in love with her the way Warbucks does, you can't play that.Alicia plays the innocence, and genuine question of "what's NYC like?" and an true yearning for parental figures in her life."



I can't say I totally agree with that take, personally. I haven't seen the 1982 version in quite a while, so I can't really speak to the way the character is portrayed in that movie. But personally, I've always kind of liked Annie's tricky streetsmarts. Even in the 1999 version, she can be pretty tricky in some parts - she sneaky into the laundry, she steals an ear of corn, she lies to the police officer about Sandy, etc. Annie has been toughened somewhat by a difficult life, and personally I find that to be part of her charm. I think the best Annies can find that balance between streetsmarts and earnestness.

My first REAL exposure to Annie wasn't until fairly recently, actually. It was when I saw the revival in 2013. I know many people hated that revival, but as someone who didn't really know the show (besides the famous songs), it really made me fall in love with the show. And I thought Sadie Sink's performance as Annie was a big part of that. I think she really hit the nail on the head in terms of being incredibly cute and charming, but also having a bit of a tough, worldly cleverness to her.

I loved this version. What I remember especially loving about this production was that people like Kristin Chenoweth and Audra McDonald, both who at that point were really only known in NYC theatre circles, were getting bigger recognition. Andrea McArdle's cameo was a definite plus. (What's she been up to?)

I also am a big fan of the 1982 version. I find carol Burnett's Miss Hannigan to be one of my favorite comedic performances.

matt1982 said: "Andrea McArdle's cameo was a definite plus. (What's she been up to?)"



She's performed leading roles at various regional theatres, fairly consistently over the course of the past 20-30 years or so. Though according to Wikipedia her last role was Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes about 4 years ago. She's also played Miss Hannigan a couple of times, once with her daughter as Annie.

I saw her in a cabaret setting about 6 years ago. IMO, her voice has held up quite well, if you don't mind that slight raspiness that, for me, gives her voice character.

She is someone who successfully transitioned from being a child actor, to having a steady-ish career as an adult. But it's a shame that she hasn't really maintained the same attention in New York as some other Broadway performers in her age range. I definitely think she's talented enough. Maybe she doesn't have a good reputation as a co-worker (I'm not spreading rumors - I have no information about this one way or the other. I'm purely speculating/wondering)

One of her first roles, in Milos Forman's Taking Off, was as a folk singer.

As for my response to the thread title, if I could have the '82 cast in the '99 version, I'd be a happy camper.

I think this production has aged best out of all three.

Personally I prefer the 1982 film adaptation. But I also don't think I've ever seen a stage production! I could be wrong, but I don't think I have. So this is all I have to go on.

JennH said: "JBroadway said: "JennH said: "Aileen plays a street smart and manipulative Annie, which I didn't catch until she startstrying to talk Warbucks into a night out in NYC. It was played so manipulatively that I couldn't root for Annie's end success. If you want an audience to root for Annie and fall in love with her the way Warbucks does, you can't play that.Alicia plays the innocence, and genuine question of "what's NYC like?" and an true yearning for parental figures in her life."



I can't say I totally agree with that take, personally. I haven't seen the 1982 version in quite a while, so I can't really speak to the way the character is portrayed in that movie. But personally, I've always kind of liked Annie's tricky streetsmarts. Even in the 1999 version, she can be pretty tricky in some parts - she sneaky into the laundry, she steals an ear of corn, she lies to the police officer about Sandy, etc. Annie has been toughened somewhat by a difficult life, and personally I find that to be part of her charm. I think the best Annies can find that balance between streetsmarts and earnestness.

My first REAL exposure to Annie wasn't until fairly recently, actually. It was when I saw the revival in 2013. I know many people hated that revival, but as someone who didn't really know the show (besides the famous songs), it really made me fall in love with the show. And I thought Sadie Sink's performance as Annie was a big part of that. I think she really hit the nail on the head in terms of being incredibly cute and charming, but also having a bit of a tough, worldly cleverness to her."

I see what you mean, but Alicia's Annie wasn't sneaking into laundry and lying to the officer to just be manipulative. She sneaks away because she has a life goal she wants to attain, like any good leading hero/heroine.She steals corn because she's literally starving.She lies to theofficer because Sandy would have been put down otherwise. She doesn't do any of this to manipulate others. Sure, even Alicia's Annie was tough and still had it's charm,but it was never manipulative. I think I just found the 1982 so distasteful in that way, it was etched into my brain in a not so good way, so one watch was all I needed. I never thought I would have such strong feelings on such a fluffy musical theatre piece..."

I'm certainly not saying the 1982 version is perfect (what in the world were they thinking by cutting the main solo version of Tomorrow?), and maybe I'm biased since it's the version I grew up with, but I find your take on this to be kind of confusing. You make it seem the screenwriters of the '80s version made Annie into some kind of sociopath, which isn't the case. Her motivations are the same as those of the character in every other version that's been produced on stage or film and she isn't doing any of the things you mentioned just for the sake of being manipulative. She sneaks into the laundry basket in order to escape from a rundown orphanage with an abusive, alcoholic headmistress and find her parents. She saves Sandy from being abused by a bunch of awful kids and then lies to the dogcatcher in order to prevent him from being taken away to the pound and presumably put down. Now, whether or not you think Quinn did the character justice is one thing, but the '80s Annie is still written as the spunky and empathetic moppet she's supposed to be. I guess I have strong feelings on this fluffy piece too! :)