Wanda Sykes as Miss Hannigan?

[CJ N2N]

Posted: 9/17/12 at 7:21pm

I heard somewhere that Wanda Sykes starred as Miss Hannigan in some regional theater production of "Annie".

Any one here see it or hear what people said about it?

I'm a huge fan of hers but I can't imagine her grating voice transferring well into singing.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 9/17/12 at 7:22pm

Did you try google?

[CJ N2N]

Posted: 9/17/12 at 7:27pm

I was asking peoples opinions on it, but excuse me. I'm sorry...

[OKBroadwayFan]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 12:30pm

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/153238/wanda-sykes-to-play-annies-miss-hannigan-at-pennsylvanias-media-theatre/


Updated On: 9/18/12 at 12:30 PM

[OKBroadwayFan]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 12:31pm

I too would be interested in hearing how she was in this production.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 4:25pm

[willep]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 5:31pm

I think I remember hearing not so good things, but I could be mis-remembering

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 5:43pm

If I recall correctly, the production wasn't professionally reviewed. I'm sure that if you do a search of the boards there is probably a thread or two from back when it was running.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 6:57pm

God, I love her. I would've killed to see her in this role.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 7:08pm

I adore her, too, but is that supposed to be Rooster in that two-shot?

I'm not crazy about a casting scheme that turns the story into black folks trying to rob the rich white folks. Let's don't create pageants for the Tea Party.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 9:31pm

That's really reaching. With an African American actress playing Hannigan, it more than makes sense that an African American actor would play her brother.

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 9:51pm

I've been dying to hear a little bit about her performance. I don't know about vocally, but I think she must have been pretty terrific acting wise.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 10:09pm

I found an interview that stated she herself had more fun with "Easy Street" and was more nervous about "Little Girls," but that's not necessarily the best indication of her performance.

[Here I Am]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 11:39pm

I was lucky enough to see Wanda Sykes as Miss Hannigan at the Media. I bought tickets immediately as I am a super fan of hers. I really thought she took the gig to show people she had musical talent, possibly as a hint to the Broadway producers of the 'Annie' revival, which was already announced at that point. However, that obviously did not happen.

The Media's production of 'Annie' was surprisingly amateur for a "professional" regional theatre and most of the cast was very lackluster. In fact, Ms. Sykes was the highlight of the evening. No, her singing voice is not brilliant, but she was hilarious. She proved that she could deliver a joke in a script as well as she delivers a joke in her stand up. She played a frumpy, bitter, sassy Miss Hannigan and didn't dissapoint in the slightest.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 9/18/12 at 11:58pm

Rooster was played by my friend Reggie White. He had nothing but good things to say about Wanda.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 9/19/12 at 5:26am

I was wondering what that ugly black spot was on her forehead, at first I thought it was a smudge in the picture...upon closer inspection I realized it was a body mike...LOL!

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/19/12 at 9:09am

A lot of people on here speculated at the time that the production was some kind of audition for the Broadway revival. What seems more likely is that Sykes wanted to do a play in a low-key environment where she wouldn't be reviewed or scrutinized too heavily, and this provided that opportunity.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 9/19/12 at 10:04am

Based on the interview I saw, she saw their production of Rent (as a matter of fact, I think someone commented on meeting her there on this site) and went backstage and was very enthusiastic, and the next thing she knew, the theater's artistic director had talked star power lady into doing a play. I very much got the impression this wasn't something she'd want to repeat long-term.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/19/12 at 10:40am

^ Yes, it wasn't that SHE planned on doing a long-term theatrical production. People saw that she was doing it and assumed, because of the planned revival, that she would be in the running since she was doing a production. Sykes owns a home in Media, PA, where the theatre is located, and I understand that is why she chose to do it there.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/19/12 at 4:36pm

That's really reaching. With an African American actress playing Hannigan, it more than makes sense that an African American actor would play her brother.

I don't know about "reaching", AC. Visual imagery has meaning or it doesn't. We have a cultural history whether we like it or not.

But I had forgotten that Rooster was Hannigan's brother, so thanks for the reminder. Let's hope they cast Lily as white, at least, and diversified the Warbucks' household a little.

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/19/12 at 6:48pm

In any version of the story, we get an interesting juxtaposition through the naming conventions and social standings of the characters. Annie's unruly red hair and ambiguous last name mark her as (traditionally) white, but of a lesser stock- possibly Irish, not a highly prestigious lineage in the Depression era. She has no last name and thus no past, no history. She could be anyone.

The Hannigans are outsiders both as poor grifters and ethnically- their last name "Hannigan" implies the poor Bowery world that Cohan never fully escaped. It's not too different casting them black than Irish, as it's still an element of the distinctly and permanently lower class sneaking into the upper as best they can. Even their alias, "Mudge" is a decidedly drab, almost white-trash last name.

Warbucks, on the other hand, is admittedly a pseudonym (which is, I believe, addressed explicitly in one of the two film versions). Whatever his ethnic background (implied to be poor and European), he has changed his name and "become American," and rich. The names that surround him are just as WASP- Farrell, Drake. When Annie is adopted by him, she is briefly considered "Annie Mudge," a return to the lower class whence she came. But no, a last minute reveal is that her name is Bennett- an upstanding, decidedly WASP name. Not even Irish, as her red hair and freckles would seem to imply.