soulmistin said: "Jane Lynch as Miss Hannigan in Annie in the midst of her Glee fame. If I recall it was a short run, but she was very fun as the character. Definitely had the competent talent to do it vocally."
That role in general can be quite a magnet for Celebrity Casting, particularly over here in the UK. Miranda Hart was a less successful example of Celebrity Casting in the 2017 West End Revival (with many feeling that it was impossible to take her seriously* as a baddie). We even had a couple of drag performers (Lily Savage and Craig Revel Horwood) play Miss Hannigan in the West End. Considering Britain's Panto culture, it's not surprising they would be interested in playing an OTT comic villain in a musical set around Christmastime...
However, the most notable bit of Celebrity Casting for Miss Hannigan occurred in a couple of regional American productions where she was played by the original Annie herself, Andrea McArdle. I also think that Aileen Quinn from the 1982 film played henchwoman Lily St. Regis in a Colorado production...
(* - I get we're talking about a comedic villain here, but she has to pose some level of threat in order to root against her and hope her nefarious scheme fails)
Updated On: 4/7/22 at 02:50 PM
