Leapin' Lizards! Annie's Back

Leapin' Lizards! Winner of 7 Tony Awards, Annie^® continues to capture hearts and delight audiences of all ages! It's a classic theatrical experience for the entire family!

The national touring production of Annie Returns to Pueblo March 9

Shortly before Christmas, 1971, Martin Charnin, a lyricist and director, bought a collection of Harold Gray's "Little Orphan Annie" comic strips and began imagining a musical comedy based on the main character. Annie tried out at Connecticut's Goodspeed Opera House, where Andrea McArdle began in the title role, moved on to a highly successful run at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and finally opened on Broadway in 1977. 

There, the musical continued for 2,377 performances, winning seven Tony^© Awards before closing in 1983.

Now, the fifth national tour of Annie, a production that marks the 20th Anniversary of the Broadway hit, comes to Pueblo as part of Broadway Theatre League's 40th Annual Season on Thursday, March 9 for one performance only. Curtain time is 8:00 pm at Pueblo's Memorial hall (Union Avenue at Elizabeth Street).

Boasting one of Broadway's most memorable scores, including It's A Hard Knock Life, Easy Street and the ever-optimistic Tomorrow, Annie will play over 100 cities in the united States and Canada during this current national tour. The show places the characters Little Orphan Annie, Daddy Warbucks, Mrs. Hannigan and Annie's loveable mutt Sandy in New York City in the midst of the Great Depression. Annie has been described as a "metaphorical figure standing for innate decency, courage and optimism in the face of hard times, pessimism and despair. As a direct descendent of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Lili in Carnival and Oliver in Oliver!, Annie has unquestionably taken her place as Broadway's most beloved waif of all time.

Harold Gray, creator of "Little Orphan Annie" was born in Illinois in 1894. He graduated from Purdue University and went to work at The Chicago Tribune. Gray never revealed the true origins of his title character. One widely accepted legend based the name from a poem by James Whitcomb Riley written in 1885, titled Little Orphan Annie. Another story is that Gray drew some sample strips featuring Little Orphan Otto. when shown to the Tribune's editor, he remarked that Gray's depiction of Otto looked too girlish and said, "Put a skirt of him and we'll call it Little Orphan Annie."

The comic strip debuted in The New York Daily news on August 24, 1924, and is one of the most popular and longest-lasting comics strips in history, spawning a decade-long radio show, three movies and two Broadway musicals. The most recent film premiered in 1982 starring Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney and Carol Burnett.

Tickets for the tour's March 9 stop at Memorial Hall are $35, $30, $25 or $12 each and are available at the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center box Office, 210 N. Sante Fe Avenue, between 9:00am-5:00pm, Monday-Saturday. All seats are reserved. For further information, please call the Box Office at 542-1211.

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