NBC's ANNIE LIVE! (2021) - News & Discussion Thread — Page 25

Exactly. Five million might not seem like much when compared to 18 million, but numbers are down across the board for live TV as opposed to streaming. It was still the top-rated non-NFL program of the night.

For the most part, I loved it, bald cap and all. (C'mon, Harry, Albert Finney and Victor Garber shaved their heads, you couldn't do the same?) But the thing with Miss Hannigan in the end was awfully jarring. I know that a couple of adaptations (if you can even call the 2014 version an "adaptation" seem to want to redeem Miss Hannigan, but at least these versions gave some motivation. Carol Burnett's Hannigan had a change of heart when she realized she didn't want Annie DEAD no matter how much she disliked her, and Cameron Diaz' Hannigan--as lousy as this movie was--had a backstory that explained her choices and mistakes, as well as her desperation to be back on "Easy Street" after her early fame. But there was no motivation here, no buildup--we were supposed to believe Hannigan was just going to turn on her brother when they were on the verge of a huge payout. And Warbucks already KNEW Rooster and Lily were frauds, so it had no impact on the plot anyway! What was going on here? It was the only real blot on a nice evening.

Saw large chunks of it. Lots of hit & misses. Taraji was sloppy but effective. Some choices worked and others flew right by. Nicole and those vocals over-sell. We get it, you can sing. That score isn’t written for all that embellishing. And ouch, the oversight in prop details. In the “I Think I’m Gonna…” the bare wooden basement table? The Target brand mops (with the generic blue mops and red pattern)? The glossy Party City inflatable beach balls? The grocery store wooden handle dusters? This is a billionaire’s mansion! They should be embedded with opulence and elegant details! Even Miss Hannigan’s swivel chair was from Office Depot! They couldn’t rent an antique wood swivel chair from the 1930s from ACME in Brooklyn? WTF?!!!

Finally got around to finishing this and overall I enjoyed it. I watched Act 1 on Friday night after completely forgetting it was on the night prior but luckily had it set to record a week earlier. I definitely enjoyed today’s Act 2 viewing much more than the first act on Friday. I’ll need to go back and rewatch it in one sitting.



I’m someone who actually likes and appreciates the musical Annie and it’s one I would love to direct and choreograph one day even though it’s not the type of show I ever do. This musical is similar to how I feel about Guys and Dolls— I think they’re both excellent musical comedies on paper… but I’ve never seen a production live up to what the show could be. I want revivals of each that give me the same feels I had when seeing 94’ Carousel (well not in the actual theater..), Sher’s South Pacific, Bernadette Gypsy, Cromer’s Our Town…. But I digress.

Some thoughts:

• 10 minutes in and I expected to hate the whole thing (I didn’t) but the overacting and screaming were too much with some wtf Line readings throughout. Luckily it got better throughout the performance.

• Having worked for the creative team of a Lear deBessonet helmed production, from pre-pro to opening night, I immediately could tell this was directed by her and thought she had some innovative ideas and some good choices. Lear is great with a concept and a strong POV for how her shows should look, with innovative staging and casting choices. However, she’s not one to focus on the acting and work needed to give out strong believable performances. Case in point: When Titus and Hilty entered. They’re pros who could do the work on their own and create these characters and absolutely Kill it. But the acting in the book scenes were at times painfully bad from the none broadway veterans. Even some of the single line readings from the ensemble were bad.

• Nicole Scherzinger’s acting was really bad. She got better through out the evening and there were moments when I actually believed her but then she would go back to mugging for the camera and dialogue with no warmth or sincerity. She was fantastic vocally and dancing though. She was a victim of needing a director who could help her develop her character.

• I started out hating Taraji and thought she was too over the top out of the gate and made some odd choices, but I chalked that up to nerves and it being on tv and would probably have worked better in a theatre. But each scene she got better and better and by the end I thought she could give a brilliant performance if she was doing this on stage with time to fully develop her character and choices. I wanted layers though. It was all scenery chewing camp. I wanted to see the terrifying side. The danger. I also wanted to see the human side underneath so the change to her character at the end works and makes sense.

• Celina Smith was the stand out. I absolutely loved her Annie and she honestly gave the most honest and truthful performance of the entire company. She has a bright future ahead of her.

• I really liked the design of the show and the way they utilized the space and sets, I see a lot of people here didn’t like the design- but to me it was a highlight and I thought for the most part it worked.

• Herbert Hoover might have been my favorite number in the whole show. It’s always done as such an afterthought and I thought Lear did a great job with the staging and keeping the number interesting like it should always be.

• Easy Street was missing something and it took me a minute to figure out what that was and I think it was the horniness and weird sexualization in the choreography. It was too tame.

• I liked Sergio’s choreography and the blending of styles. I loved all the tumbling with the orphans. It’s exactly what has been needed in the orphans numbers IMO.

• Obligatory live telecast dancer Alex Wong is a fantastic dancer but he Can. Not. Act. I kept watching when he was in the background and he’s like zoned into his own world or looking out to the audience not engaged in the scene at all. In one scene all the servants are listening to Warbucks with their eyes on him and Alex is looking straight ahead and when HCJ walked right toward where Alex’s spot was then he snapped out of it and started “listening”.

• Harry Connick Jr was such a disappointment…. Until he got to sing and play piano and showed the audience what he’s best at. And I’ll never understand why we still have to have Warbucks be bald. I probably would have enjoyed his performance more if it wasn’t for the distracting bald cap. And I find it hilarious how people on this board and on social media would be so outraged if he had hair. Like why does it matter anymore? It would have been so refreshing to have him play it how he usually has his hair.

By the end of the show I was absolutely loving it and no longer cared about the negative opinions I had at first. I think this was the perfect musical to do at this moment as the first live show back after a long hiatus and even though I thought some things were great and others not so much, I’ll definitely go back and rewatch the whole thing and also think it’s probably one of the better live musicals we’ve seen.

The ELEPHANT in the ROOM was the excessive ad breaks which left the LIVE aspect in the dust. Most egregious was the first of 2 airings of the Wendy's Rip-Off of the Radio Show's Boylen Sisters. The 2nd time it was shown was after the fact which would have been the only time it could have been appreciated - but certainly not before. I was happy that they didn't do the 'Together Forever' staging like they did in the Macy's Parade. Here's hoping Andrea McArdle gets another honorary chance at Star-to-Be or something better. Harry should have just shaved his head & def. worn his mic on his left ear that was not nearly as shown than his right side. Liked the extra songs, esp. the "Sign This" # for Daddy & Hannigan. Bearded chorus man wasn't able to be master-of disguise like the long-standing Bwy tradition - so the director should have caught that & used him less or made him shave it & use a fake for just one of the 'roles' he was being asked to cover? Why can't Annie express her longing for her orphan friends & for Sandy a bit more? Fitting the Bwy into N.Y.C. & using 'Maybe' more frequently was ideal. Would say more about the artistry but all was impaired most critically with too much commercial interference. Ad placement execs should be penalized for contributing to the ultimate contribution to assisting the destruction of the endeavors.

fashionguru_23 said:

Harry Connick Jr's bigger mistake was the Maybe (Reprise) that he wrote for himself. The lyrics were very klunky. After hearing the songs for the upteenth time, you expect to hear the melody and it didn't seem like that.


Uhh, sorry to break it to you, but Harry Connick Jr. didn't write "Maybe" (or the reprise). There was a "Maybe" Reprise that Albert Finney sang in the original film (and Finney didn't write that one either).

JSquared2 said: "fashionguru_23 said:

Harry Connick Jr's bigger mistake was the Maybe (Reprise) that he wrote for himself. The lyrics were very klunky. After hearing the songs for the upteenth time, you expect to hear the melody and it didn't seem like that.

Uhh, sorry to break it to you, but Harry Connick Jr. didn't write "Maybe" (or the reprise). There was a "Maybe" Reprise that Albert Finney sang in the original film (and Finney didn't write that one either).

I just realized that here it is a week later, and I still haven't gone back to finish watching the rest of the show. I had every intention of doing so, and now I'm like "meh." I still think it was one of the better ones, but on a personal level, I just don't care for the show.



(And all I want to see is West Side Story.)

Rorro1736 - I completely agree that Celina has a full strong voice with power and color. There were moments I was on board with her acting. I don’t know…maybe as someone cited earlier, Lear had to do more with the direction (definitely felt this was the case regarding the Rooster & Lily characterizations).


I did the same quick Kakaletris internet search to find out that she was nine but it just seemed like she was on fire in her role. No matter when she was on stage my eye immediately went to her because it seemed like she was alive as the character.

i wholeheartedly agree with you and appreciated less saccharine.

LaVieBoheme said: "Anyone know or have any speculation why they cut all the reprises out of the cast recording? I found that odd."

Several weeks have gone by and you’re the first to notice. I think it’s safe to assume they didn’t think anyone would notice.