The dark Trinity Rep "Annie" -- anyone see it?
The dark Trinity Rep "Annie" -- anyone see it?
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
The dark Trinity Rep "Annie" -- anyone see it?#0
Posted: 4/15/05 at 8:53am
I was intrigued to read (in the Strouse article in Playbill) about a controversial Trinity Rep production of ANNIE, in which she apparently awakens at the end, still in the orphanage. Anyone see this, or know more? It sounds like a rather bold deconstruction of the show's sentimentality. I'm curious to know what an audience would walk out with, with the feel-good glow replaced by a kick in the stomach. Perhaps an ANNIE for our times. Would love to hear more.
And I'm rooting for any new Strouse score, one of which will be unveiled at Trinity. The man who wrote RAGS (and many others) remains one of our best.
Stand-by Joined: 4/6/05
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#1
Posted: 4/15/05 at 9:06amI used to work down at Trinity Rep. I was soooo mad when I didn't get to see this production until we had to change it back. Amanda (the director) had in fact at the end made the entire 'happy' story a dream Annie had in the orphanage and the show itself, then had a more cheesy, commercial feel. She had written a few additional songs to it. However, upon seeing this version Martin Charnin, the lyricist decided that it destroyed the essense of Annie or something and forced Amanda to change it back. It's something I regret not seeing in time even today. Amanda is a very talented director when it comes to thinking outside the box.
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#2
Posted: 4/15/05 at 9:13amWhoa, a kick in the stomach indeed. What an interesting idea...
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#3
Posted: 4/15/05 at 9:22am
Just a wild thought: I've always thought a darker take on the story is possible WITHOUT changing a single word. First of all the orphanage is semi-Dickensian. Then there's the parent-child love story. The 'bonding' between Annie and Daddy Warbucks is so instantaneous, and in some ways, based exclusively on his showering her with material wealth, possessions, etc. It would be interesting to approach the title character as someone who is desperate to escape her poverty, etc. Her investment in her birth parents' abandonment so informs the story -- she is haunted by that -- it would interesting to see her more shrewdly play Daddy as a means to an end, and then not be so gaga over the end she gets. One of the reasons the sequel was so hard to write perhaps is because the first show was awash in wish fullfillment. Let's face it, Annie and Warbucks barely know each other when they fall in love with one another. She's basically a foster child who is adopted after a few weeks. And why THIS little girl? (No, I'm not suggesting Michael Jackson here, but it's always just a little odd...) I love a happy ending, but I believe you could play the show's plot with more reality. Or not--the show is an instituion.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#4
Posted: 4/15/05 at 9:33am
Amanda Dehnert was the FIRST director to mount the ten-actor, two-piano version fo MY FAIR LADY that has since been imitated (read: ripped-off) by several "prominent" directors at theatres all over the country.
Martin Charnin was furious about the changes in ANNIE, but Charles Strouse was so impressed, he's collaborating with Amanda on a new musical!
Amanda was my Assistant Musical Director on an Equity production of SWEENEY TODD... when she was 15! The girl is talented.
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#5
Posted: 4/15/05 at 9:55am
Martn Charnin has every right to be angry! She is changing HIS show!! She has no right to do that.
If she is so talented then she should write her own show rather than piggy back on someone else's classic. She has no right infringing on another writer's work and artistic intent.
Annie waking up back in the orphanage?? That is RIDICULOUS and WRONG! If I was an audience member, I would have been pissed.
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#6
Posted: 4/15/05 at 9:58am
I've worked at Trinity Rep in the past. Back when Adrian Hall was Artistic Director, he had a vision that couldn't be beat. The productions there were astounding because they would take a show and give it new meaning without changing it. He wasn't trying to be different just to be different, he had a unique vision. Ardian always had purpose behind every production, he always had a message.
I have to wonder what the purpose of a dark Annie is? Is it "just because we want to be different?" What message is being sent? That the sun doesn't always come out tomorrow? If that's the message, then why do Annie?
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#7
Posted: 4/15/05 at 10:33am
EXACTLY!!
I am sorry butI have a hard time dealing with any artist changing another artist's work.
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#8
Posted: 4/15/05 at 10:46amJon, Dallas Theater Center is currently doing MY FAIR LADY in the style of which you speak.
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#9
Posted: 4/15/05 at 11:48am
This Dehner sounds pretty brilliant to me, and hasn't Sam Mendes made his Broadway career out of changing people's work?
That being said, I do believe the author needs to have final approval over any changes made in professional productions.
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#10
Posted: 4/15/05 at 11:52am
"hasn't Sam Mendes made his Broadway career out of changing people's work?"
Yes and it's too bad. I think I'm the only one, but I hated Cabaret. It didn't work.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/04
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#11
Posted: 4/15/05 at 11:59amI, personally, think that what she did was partly fine and partly wrong. It's fine to have her wake up in the orphanage because it's an artistic choice and doesn't change any of the words of the story. TECHNICALLY, though, it does change the story and Martin Charnin has every right to be upset. But adding songs into the show is so illegal. I'm surprised they didn't get sued.
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#12
Posted: 4/15/05 at 12:06pm
"It's fine to have her wake up in the orphanage because it's an artistic choice and doesn't change any of the words of the story."
Her waking up in the orphanage is not artistic choice. The show ends where it ends because the author wanted it that way. Adding extra scenes was not the author's original intent and shouldn't be done.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/04
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#13
Posted: 4/15/05 at 12:25pm
Reminds me of a regional "Sweeney Todd" that played a short season in Australia a few years ago, set in a blood-stained 1950s style diner. During the final reprise of the title song, photographs of contemporary serial killers were projected onto the walls. Gosh, I'm glad I missed it...
Yes, the addition of different songs to ANNIE does sound very naughty, but classic works have been reinterpreted for centuries so it's inevitable that Broadway musicals will be pulled and prodded every which way in years to come. As for Annie waking up still in the orphanage, maybe it's the Rod Serling reading of the lyric:
"Tomorrow...
You're ALWAYS a day away....
Forever...."
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/04
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#14
Posted: 4/15/05 at 12:58pmGothampc, read the rest of that sentence: "TECHNICALLY, though, it does change the story and Martin Charnin has every right to be upset." It doesn't change the dialogue, but it changes intent, so Charnin can be upset. Read everything before you make a comment.
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#15
Posted: 4/15/05 at 1:27pm
bjivie2, I read your entire post. Not only does the change go against the author's intention, but in this case, goes against the original source material. In the comic strip version of Annie, she doesn't return to the orphanage.
I think it's dangerous to allow directors to tack on whatever they feel like. No wonder so many artists are so protective of their work.
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#16
Posted: 4/15/05 at 1:36pm
I would imagine thie biggest issue would have been the adding of music -- does anyone know what songs they added?
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#17
Posted: 4/15/05 at 1:42pm
Michael Bennett
She reworked "Javert's Suicide"
kidding
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#18
Posted: 4/15/05 at 2:26pm
The point of theater and art is for it to be reinterpreted by other people. That's what makes it so interesting. I love seeing shows that ive seen multiple times become re-envisioned by other people. I think it's a fascinating idea.
A high school where I live did Albee's "A Zoo Story" and shortened it for a 45 minute play festival. He's "party" was outraged and demanded that they stop performing it. I think that's stupid just primarily because its a high school and the entire point of high school is to learn, they weren't making a profit off it and they kept his themes and story intacted. But then again, I've never read the entire play, so I guess I wouldn't know.
Updated On: 4/15/05 at 02:26 PM
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#19
Posted: 4/15/05 at 2:36pm
This can be argued many ways.
Would you change the Mona Lisa?
What about colorizing the first 20 minutes of The Wizard of Oz? (and perhaps making the rest black and white)
Do you have the right to take someone's copywritten material and change it and still call it the same (in this case ANNIE)
Re-interpretation yes, but I do believe there's a line that gets crossed between interpretation and making almost a new work out of it.
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#20
Posted: 4/15/05 at 2:47pmwriting additional songs without the author's consent is illegal. she should be ashamed of herslef. especially since there are additional songs that could be used like the additional songs from the movie or "You Make Me Happy" from the revival and Warbucks' "Why Should I Change A Thing" that can be used with the author's consent...
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/9/04
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#21
Posted: 4/15/05 at 3:24pm
She wasn't CHANGING anything. She was ADDING. Theater is alive. Theater is a constantly, morphing, living world and we all have to realize that. It thrives on the experimentation and on the risks we as actors, directors, playwrights, musicians take. IT IS ABOUT CREATION.
Nobody can put her down for creative license.
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#22
Posted: 4/15/05 at 3:28pmTheater is alive. There's a difference between originating a new piece and being creative and taking previous material and changing it and calling it the "same". I'm all for experimentation, but also feel that, as I stated above, there are lines that shouldn't be crossed when dealing with an established work of art.
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#23
Posted: 4/15/05 at 3:55pm
To Iluvtheatretrash....
Um..you can't add ANYTHING to an existing piece unless you are the creator. It's unethical and ILLEGAL. We have copyrights for a reason as well as our wonderful union.
Write your own show if you feel the need to "create and morph."
Are you a working actor or just a highschool wannabe actor?
Well, I am an Equity actor and have spent years in this business seeing people get ripped off and it's dead wrong.
Once you become professional, you will understand how wrong it is to mess with someone else's work and then take credit for it.
Stand-by Joined: 4/6/05
re: The dark Trinity Rep 'Annie' -- anyone see it?#24
Posted: 4/15/05 at 5:50pm
OK OK. Calm down. First of all Trinity and Amanda had gone through the process of getting PERMISSION to change the material. Charnin was just not happy with the final changes.
And Jon, I TOTALLY know what you mean about Amanda's My Fair Lady. I saw it at Trinity and then shortly after read an article about a production elsewhere that sounded an aweful lot a like!
And I can't remember any of the specific songs she added, but as a tidbit at least one of them (I can't remember if there was a second) was kept even when the show changed back. She was allowed to change things.
And Amanda really is amazing at renvisioning shows. She did a production of Peter Pan (the play with her own added music) that was very intriguing and unique.
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