On April 21, 1977, the musical Annie opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theater (since renamed The Neil Simon Theatre.) In the title role was Andrea McArdle, a 12-year-old pint-sized girl with a giant voice. “Leapin' Lizards,” as Annie would say, this girl could belt. “Singing has always made me connected to the world,” says McArdle. “It is pure joy.”
Andrea McArdle
Even at 12 she was already developing her performing chops. Just six months after she began auditioning, McArdle had been cast in the hit soap opera Search for Tomorrow. She played Wendy Wilkins, the daughter of the villainess Stephanie Wilkins.
One day during her lunch break for the show her mother was perusing the trade papers searching for various acting jobs. “My mother said, ‘wow, they're looking for kids to play orphans in this new musical about Little Orphan Annie,’” recalls McArdle. And then McArdle asked, “Who's that?”
A self-described “thespian wannabe” McArdle was always at the ready to sing and packed a piece or two of sheet music in her bag. “My mom told me, ‘well, we can walk right over to where they are having auditions,’” she shares.
Broadway Arts was just three streets and several avenues away from the CBS studio on 57th Street where Search for Tomorrow was filmed. But they crossed into another galaxy that would change McArdle's life forever. “I went in and sang “Johnny One Note,” this ball-busting Ethel Merman-esque song, she says of her very first Broadway audition. “It was a huge song, especially for a 12-year-old.”
McArdle later learned from Martin Charnin, who conceived, directed and wrote Annie’s lyrics, that McArdle was the first child to audition for the show. “I ended up getting cast as the toughest orphan,” says McArdle who took over the role of Annie when the show had its pre-Broadway tryout at the Goodspeed Opera House. “And then my Annie journey began.”
To mark Annie's 45-year milestone, McArdle is performing her new show, Andrea McArdle & Friends Celebrate the 45th Annieversary at Feinstein’s/54 Below from May 5 to May 7. The May 7 show will be livestreamed. “We call our anniversaries for Annie “The Annieversaries,” says McArdle.
The concert features songs (think “NYC,” “Maybe,” “New York, New York,” “Broadway Baby”), special guests from the original cast, including McArdle's dear pal Shelley Bruce who was her successor and the second actress to play Annie on Broadway and there will be loads of stories. “This is a Broadway lovers’ soiree,” says McArdle of the show that features music direction by Steve Marzullo. “I have a couple of the other orphans performing and will tell stories about Frank Sinatra, Studio 54 and on and on.”
McArdle, who was the youngest performer to be nominated for a Tony Award as Best Lead Actress in a Musical, reflected on playing such a life-changing role that would take her everywhere from MET Opera House to The White House. “What would I say to that little girl back then? I'd say, “you got this girl,” she says while adding that even at a young age she had a real sense of confidence because she put in the hard work.
“If you get a role anywhere near like Annie anytime in your career, you're so grateful,” observes McArdle of that first Broadway audition. “I was put high on this pedestal and knew nothing. But I was lucky running around with the likes of Mike Nichols [who produced Annie], Joe Papp and all these incredible people around me. And I had three things: sheer determination, willpower, real confidence and a good work ethic thrown in.”
And all that hard work and grit paid off. The year it opened Annie won 22 major theatrical awards including seven Tony Awards and best musical of the year. The musical ran for close to six years, was revived on Broadway twice, is performed around the globe and continues to give people hope, especially with the song “Tomorrow.”
Decades after the show opened Martin Charnin, who passed away in 2019 once said that McArdle singing “Tomorrow” continued to be the ultimate salve for him. “The incredible sound of the audience's response to Andrea McArdle singing “Tomorrow” still resonates today,” he told Playbill. “And gets me through any and all of my darkest moments, onstage and off.”
