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This is a synopsis of the first public preview of Annie 2 on December 22, 1989 at the Kennedy Center's Opera House in Washington, D.C. After that opening performance, the show was constantly changing and evolving from day to day as the creative team experimented to find out what worked best. So, as every show contained changes made from the previous performance, the show of December 22 was unique and will not be seen ever again. Therefore, AP is offering this description of Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge as a historic record of that very first public performance.
The house lights went down at 8:06 p.m. but there was no overture to warm up the full house, since it had not been written yet. The curtain rose on the Women's House of Detention in Greenwich Village, New York City at 3:00 in the morning in early March of 1934. Six beds are lined up in front of large-paned windows, and the inmates are sleeping. What follows is a clever parody of the opening scene of Annie: One young woman awakens from a bad dream, and the largest, toughest inmate pushes her, saying,
"She's keeping me awake, ain't she?" A fight breaks out, and another woman starts yelling, "Santa Maria, Santa Maria, now I won't get no sleep all night, Santa Maria!" Miss Hannigan breaks it up, saying, "Do you want to sleep with your teeth inside your mouth or out?" and then pulls out a newspaper clipping about Annie. "Here it comes again!" moan the other inmates as Miss Hannigan starts singing to the photo of Annie, YOU AIN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME. She sings about how she wants to get revenge on Annie: "There's a knock kid/on the door kid/it's the florist/with an orchid/and Annie says, oh let me have a whiff/she takes a sniff and--boom--she's a stiff!" A lit cigarette is carelessly thrown into a laundry cart, and it erupts in flames causing pandemonium in the room. The detention warden rushes in, the firemen break through a barred window, and Miss Hannigan steals a fireman's coat and hat, crawls through the window, climbs down the ladder, and she is free.
Several days later, Oliver Warbucks' Office on the 125th Floor of the Warbucks Building in New York City is a busy place, with Grace Farrell and Felix Frankfurter (Warbucks' lawyer) helping Warbucks at his desk while Annie, wearing the red dress and her hair curled, reads a book with Sandy at her feet nearby. Punjab and the Asp are standing guard over Annie, having been hired by Warbucks when the word came out that Miss Hannigan was out of jail.
Accountants come in and hesitantly break the news to Warbucks that in 1933 he made only $964 million. Warbucks is shocked, and the staff sings to explain the financial woes of his company. The song (1934) turns into a bouncy march as Warbucks thinks up ways to combat the setbacks: "No more taxis to the office/ you'll be taking subway rides/learn to turn your paper over/so you've written on both sides." So things don't look too bad for Warbucks and Annie, even though they know that Miss Hannigan has escaped. Enter Mrs. Marietta Christmas, Congresswoman and head of the United Mothers of America, "20 million strong," and shocked that an unmarried man was allowed to adopt a child. Mrs. Christmas, a wonderfully obnoxious busybody, tells Warbucks ("the great American bald eagle himself") that he must get married in 90 days or lose Annie. The search for a wife will be publicized, and Warbucks must become a married billionaire like John D. Rockefeller. "But then again," observes Mrs. Christmas, "he had hair!" As Warbucks wonders who in the world he could marry, Annie points to Grace, and Warbucks asks Grace if she would do him the great favor of--"drawing up a list of all the eligible single women in America and having it ready by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow." Annie sings a not-so-upbeat short reprise of 1934 about this new turn of events, how "mommies make you eat things like squash/clean your room and wear your galosh-es."
On a pier on the East River the following day Miss Hannigan meets Lionel McCoy, a petty thief just released from prison. As they start talking on a tugboat (the whole set piece actually rocking back and forth), he is instantly won over by her and she asks him to help her in her plan for revenge on Annie. Although Lionel is reluctant to kill Annie (they refer to it as "you know"), he agrees to help her with her plan and they sing a duet of their devotion to each other (HOW COULD I EVER SAY NO). Lionel explains to Miss Hannigan a plan he has thought up, but the details of the plan is obscured from the audience at this time by the loud horn of a passing ocean liner.
Back at the Warbucks Mansion a month later, in the Art Gallery, the staff is noticeably quite upset because of the reports they have been hearing that have their revered employer engaged to Kate Smith or Gertrude Stein. Drake is so distraught that he drops an $800,000 Soong Dynasty antique vase and it smashes into a thousand pieces. He and the staff sing to Grace their concern about who the new Mrs. Warbucks will be (THE LADY OF THE HOUSE) but how they "would not be unhappy, Miss, if the her were you." But Grace replies, "Mrs. Warbucks I'll never become." But the staff lets her know that they are on her side in this upbeat tune (not yet orchestrated at this debut performance).
Later that afternoon at the Tennis Court at the Mansion, Annie and Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia are beating Warbucks and Babe Ruth. After the game Annie drinks some Ovaltine (!) while Warbucks sees Lee DeForest who has a new invention, something called television, and hopes to entice Warbucks into investing in it. Warbucks is skeptical, but Annie says that she thinks kids will like it, and Grace says, "and as on the radio, the programs wouldn't have to be any good." Warbucks is next approached by a spokesman from Second Chance, an organization that helps ex-convicts get jobs. And so, Warbucks' new chauffeur is none other than Lionel McCoy--all part of the scheme. Mrs. Christmas also barges in during this scene and reiterates that Warbucks must find a proper wife--"not Mae West," as a tabloid has rumored. She sneezes, and Annie tells her, "don't blow your brains out, honey!" Annie quickly apologizes for the remark, saying she was used to saying it because it was something that Miss Hannigan used to say in the Orphanage when one of the kids sneezed. Mrs. Christmas suggests that Warbucks be very specific in the qualities that he wants in a wife, so he starts dictating to Grace and to two press men that he wants a blonde, intelligent woman around 30 who has some sort of musical talent and also who is--"what part of the country are you originally from, Grace?" "Kentucky, sir." "And Farrell, that's an Irish-American name, isn't it?" "Yes, sir. Is that all, sir? I have this little mole here on the side of my neck…." The press release completed, everyone leaves.
Alone with "Daddy," Annie asks him since he wants a woman who is blonde and nice looking, of Celtic ancestry, and from the South, why does he have to look any further when Miss Farrell is right here? Warbucks explains that he feels he is too old for Grace and that she deserves something better. He sings, "She's a breath of spring/and don't I know it/she belongs in the arms of A YOUNGER MAN." It's a beautiful song, hinting at how he really feels deep down about Grace.
Drake hands Annie her tennis scorecard, which Annie gleefully looks at and exclaims, “Oh, boy! We beat 'em 6-nothing, 6-nothing!" Drake replies, "No, Annie, that's 6-love, 6-love. You see, Annie, love means nothing." " Oh, no, Drake, you've got that all wrong. Love means everything!"
Miss Hannigan begins to put her plan into action at the Brooklyn Academy of Beauty a few days later. Lionel introduces her to his old friend from prison, a hairdresser named Maurice, and his staff of primping beauticians, who have the task of making Miss Hannigan not only disguised but also BEAUTIFUL. "We are building Rome, Berlin, and Prague/but mon ami, I said that she'd be beautiful/I'm going to find the princess in that frog," sings Maurice. The beauticians then sing and tap dance with the glorified Miss Hannigan, wearing a new blonde hairstyle and a fancy dress. She is so pleased with the results that she is confident she can win the contest to be Warbucks' wife using the pseudonym "Charlotte O'Hara." Lionel will feed her inside information about Warbucks' likes and dislikes, which he will find out from eavesdropping inside the Mansion where he is now employed. Then, after Miss Hannigan marries Warbucks, she will get rid of Annie, and soon thereafter "a piano will fall on Warbucks' head" leaving her the richest widow in the world. Lionel isn't very happy about this part of the plan, but he is so enamored of Miss Hannigan that he agrees to go along, with the promise that the two of them will eventually go to South America together.
A week later, the New York Yankees locker room is the site of the interviews for Warbucks' wife, the Stadium being the only place large enough to hold all the blonde, Southern contestants--1,400 strong--who are entering the locker room in groups of 10. Grace and Mrs. Christmas question each contestant with a short reprise of THE LADY OF THE HOUSE. "Charlotte O'Hara" remarks that she cannot eat the complimentary caviar without ketchup on it, something that piques Warbucks' interest, as he had told Lionel just the other day that he cannot eat caviar without ketchup on it either. So, she is chosen as the last finalist to go on to the next round, a radio--and televised--competition in which Annie will be co-judge with her "Daddy" to pick her new mother. Warbucks and Mrs. Christmas seem reasonably satisfied with the way things have been going so far, but Grace, left to clean up the papers in the locker room, is unable to hide her feelings any longer. In the powerful song HE DOESN'T KNOW I'M ALIVE, with backup singing by the New York Yankees in the locker room getting ready for their afternoon game, Grace sings, "How to sell short he knows/whom to support he knows/whom to oppose/he knows those/he knows but/he doesn't know I'm alive/deaf dumb and blind to the woman I am."
Later that same afternoon at the Fulton Fish Market, Miss Hannigan tells Lionel and Maurice she is worried that since Annie is a judge in the contest too, she will see through the disguise of "Charlotte O'Hara." Suddenly, they see a bunch of ragged boys and girls in the street hanging out, and Miss Hannigan notices that one girl named Kate McGuire has an uncanny resemblance to Annie and gets an idea. Kate's brother Spit tries to intercede, but Miss Hannigan is already offering a million dollars to Kate if she will help pull "a prank on a friend." In fact, Miss Hannigan sings to her, "YOU! YOU! YOU! could be Annie too (two)!" And with that, the curtain comes down on Act I.
Act II opens two months later on a Tuesday afternoon in June with FDR making a speech on Wall Street. A little girl in a familiar red dress and red hair appears, and the President asks her to smile for him, but she will not because she has been watching a nearby group of unsuccessful apple sellers. Then FDR begins to sing, "WHEN YOU SMILE/I smile/your smile/makes my smile/when I am low/nowhere to go/nothing is clearer/I see you grin/gotta give in/we're like a mirror." She and the people in the street are soon caught up in the bouncy, joyful song, and an energetic dance follows. When the President leaves, "Annie" says about him, "What a sucker!"--she is actually not Annie but Kate McGuire! As Maurice removes Kate's "Annie" wig, Miss Hannigan praises Kate's impersonation of Annie (after several weeks' training) except for one error--she called the President "Rooz-velt" instead of the correct pronunciation "Roze-velt." Miss Hannigan then appeals to Heavenly Powers to JUST LET ME GET AWAY WITH THIS ONE and she will promise never to pull another scam again.
Three days later, on Friday afternoon in the Art Gallery in the Mansion, Warbucks and Annie, along with Sandy, Punjab, and the Asp, are planning their outing to go to the grand reopening of the Luna Park Amusements at Coney Island, to which Warbucks had donated money. Warbucks says he would rather go for an amusement park ride than go to the German opera, and he sings "You'll never know/what is going to happen/at CONEY ISLAND." Warbucks tells Annie she is old enough to go on the rides all by herself, so Lionel, who was to drive them, gets a "sudden stomach attack" and asks to be excused. Drake encourages a reluctant Grace to go too, saying "open his eyes, open his heart."
Coney Island is a dazzle of color and activity--people milling about enjoying themselves. Warbucks starts by asking the group "Who wants a hot dog?" All hands go up--plus one "Arf!"--and hot dogs are handed around. He notices that Grace has come to Coney Island after all; "have some fun!" he tells her, but unfortunately, he has his back turned the whole time that she is clowning around with a toy vendor and then dancing a hot tango. Warbucks orders "beer on tap" for everybody, and that starts the whole company doing a long, amazing, all-out tap dance. Even the Asp gets into it, until Punjab literally carries him away.
Maurice--in disguise--invites Annie to go on the Magic Carpet ride, and when "Annie" comes back off the ride, she whines to Warbucks to buy her something and ignores Grace, to Grace's bewilderment. Even Sandy is moved to growl as "Annie" poses next to him for a newspaper photograph. But Warbucks is having too much fun at the shooting gallery to realize that something is amiss.
The next afternoon, Saturday, June 16, Lionel and Maurice--both still in disguise--and Spit are back at the Brooklyn Academy of Beauty with a large steamer trunk, about to proudly show Miss Hannigan its contents--Annie, bound and gagged. Miss Hannigan tells Annie that she's going to "you know" her, and that no one will come to rescue her because no one knows where she is. A somewhat more sympathetic Lionel offers to get some Ova1tine for Annie, but suddenly Grace arrives with the limousine that will take "Charlotte O'Hara" to the wife contest finals. All three schemers are forced to think fast; Maurice slams the trunk lid down and claims to be "Charlotte's" brother, Lionel says he thought that he was to pick up "Miss O'Hara," and Miss Hannigan is left with forcing down the Ova1tine, which she hates. Once everyone leaves the room, Annie finally works loose the gag but despairingly realizes that ALL I'VE GOT IS ME. At the end of the song, as Annie is singing "You're talking guts, I got 'em," Miss Hannigan, all decked out as "Charlotte O'Hara," slams the trunk shut in Annie's face and leaves for the contest broadcast.
That same Saturday evening Lee DeForest and his television camera (broadcasting to 6 TV sets) as well as H. V. Kaltenborn of the radio are preparing to cover the finals of the wife contest. The first of the contestants, Miss Melissa Dabney, first thanks Lionel for telling her how fond Warbucks is of German opera as she launches into an aria (CORTEZ). Warbucks winces and scowls at Lionel who merely shrugs. The second contestant is replaced at the last minute--by Mrs. Marietta Christmas! "Have you lost your marbles, Mrs. Christmas?" asks Warbucks. In honor of FDR sitting in on the event, Mrs. Christmas begins to sing his "favorite song"--"The sun’ll come up, Tomorrow"-- when FDR interrupts her saying, "Stop singing that song this instant!! I'm tired of it--I've heard it too damn many times! Besides, you sang 'up' instead of 'out'." Mrs. Christmas admits she is really a divorcee and she "had such high hopes" of winning the wife contest herself. The third contestant, of course, is "Charlotte O'Hara," who uses the information leaked to her by Lionel to surely please Warbucks by singing an Irish lullaby (A TENEMENT LULLABY) he remembered from his childhood. As "Charlotte" sings, "Annie" jumps up and hugs her, saying, "I've never heard anyone sing so well! I want you to be my mommy!" Before Warbucks can react, Lionel immediately congratulates Warbucks on his bride-to-be, and the TV and radio broadcasts end. Kate McGuire becomes overly obnoxious and un-Annie-1ike.
Shortly after, Lee DeForest delivers the bad news to Warbucks: 5 of the 6 TV viewers turned off the broadcast before it was done; "I guess contests will never work on television." Irving Berlin calls to send his good wishes to Warbucks (he was the only one who watched the whole thing), and Warbucks tells him that even if his investment in television doesn't pay big, he "can always start over--in this country, God bless America….Oh sure, Irving, go ahead and use it if you want."
Grace, obviously crushed, is left alone with Warbucks and she tells him that she "would be glad to continue working for him if it is all right with Mrs. Warbucks." Watching Grace exit, Warbucks sings a reprise of A YOUNGER MAN.
In the Silver Stateroom of the Warbucks Yacht the next day--Sunday morning, June 17--Miss Hannigan cannot contain her happiness that her plan has worked. Kate McGuire as "Annie" comes in and Miss Hannigan tells her to shut up with saying "I love you, Mommy" all the time. She ponders the traditional "old, new, borrowed, blue" and Kate suggests "for 'old', how about your face?" Kate also wants to smoke a cigarette, and Miss Hannigan throws her out of the stateroom. Surrounded by evidence of vast wealth, Miss Hannigan decides, "I COULD GET USED TO THIS." In this song she thinks of what she will do as Mrs. Warbucks--"I love it/I'm awful/I love it/she's [Grace] the first one I'll dismiss/with one step and one jab/goodbye Asp and Punjab." She then prepares for the wedding.
That afternoon the Main Deck of the Warbucks Yacht is crowded with guests, including Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt ("Annie" greets him as President "Rooz-ve1t"), Albert Einstein, and Mayor LaGuardia, who is officiating the ceremony. Warbucks looks slightly nervous, "Annie" and Sandy at his side, as are Punjab and the Asp. Grace is wearing black and holding a calla lily. "Charlotte O'Hara" is given away by her "brother" Maurice, and the wedding begins. At "let him speak now or forever hold his peace" Sandy barks, and that disrupts the proceedings, as does the late arrival of Mrs. Christmas. "Charlotte" is getting very nervous at these delays, especially at the sudden appearance of her steamer trunk. Grace says that she arranged to have her things delivered from Brooklyn, but "Charlotte" tells the stewards that they can throw the trunk overboard. Then she gives "Annie" the bouquet of flowers to hold and that makes "Annie" sneeze. "Don't blow your brains out, honey!" says "Charlotte." "Annie" replies, "That's funny! I never heard that one before!"
Suddenly the clues all come together for Grace who stops the wedding at the last moment and opens the trunk, revealing the real Annie, dazed but unhurt. Now everyone is perplexed at the sight of two girls in red dresses and red curly hair. "That's Annie, and that's Annie too?" wonders the President. Annie chases "Annie" and wrestles her to the deck. Punjab and the Asp break up the fight and Sandy is brought out to solve the puzzle. He jumps up and knocks down Kate McGuire and then goes to sit by Annie. Miss Hannigan is exposed and her scam revealed. Lionel defends her, saying it was all his idea, but Annie knows better and informs the crowd that Miss Hannigan is indeed the guilty one. Warbucks instructs the yacht captain to turn Lionel and Miss Hannigan over to the police, and Mrs. Christmas complains at this turn of events and announces that she's leaving. "Would someone please give me a lift?" she asks. All through the show she had been asking everyone to give her a lift, so now Warbucks nods to Punjab who lifts a sputtering Mrs. Christmas into a fireman's carry and exits.
Maurice tries to escape by climbing up the rigging, but Warbucks climbs up after him, punches him out, and then swings on a rope Tarzan-style back down to the deck to the admiration of all, including himself. "I'm not such an old man after all!" he says, and proposes marriage to Grace. At first she jokes, "Gee, I don't know..." but then happily accepts, and LaGuardia marries them on the spot. Annie is very happy with her new mother, and they are all glad that Miss Hannigan is going back to jail. Warbucks directs WHEN YOU SMILE to Grace and Annie, and then everyone joins in singing. Miss Hannigan pauses to give one last parting shot: "Annie--that's twice!" she growls as she is taken away.
But the reprise of WHEN YOU SMILE goes on and the curtain came down at about 11:30 p.m. on the historic first performance of Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge.
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---CHANGES TO THE SHOW between December 22 and January 20 ---
ACT I: There is now an overture...Part way through the run the House of Detention scene was put after the Office scene, but eventually was removed entirely...The 1934 song is out but new words were written to the same melody; the new song is called TOMORROW IS NOW with lyrics containing titles from songs from Annie, a sort of parody replacing the earlier Orphanage parody...Annie has straight hair all the way through the first act now; before she was curly the whole time...6 Orphans are added as visitors to the Warbucks household, presumably Annie's old friends from the Orphanage...Part of the reprise (the squash/galoshes rhyme) about mommies by Annie is still in--sung with the Orphans--but the reference to Miss Hannigan being in jail is out; instead Miss H. had been supposedly shipped to Australia by Warbucks but jumped ship. However, those at the Warbucks mansion do not know that she is on the loose. Annie's song goes right into a brand new one called CHANGES which she sings to and with the Orphans (it's scary/shaky/everything is strange/'cause nothing is certain but change)...The whole opening scene is much shorter; all the stuff about Warbucks' finances is out...The HOW COULD I EVER SAY NO duet is out, but JUST LET ME GET AWAY WITH THIS ONE was moved from the second act here into the tugboat scene. Lionel and Miss Hannigan are old friends reunited, not meeting for the first time--and they are no longer boyfriend and girlfriend, just partners in crime. The idea of murdering Annie is out; "I'd like her to live a long, long time," says Miss Hannigan, "and have lots of root canals"...The remarks about the tennis score are now made with Grace, not Drake...Punjab and the Asp do not appear now until the tennis court scene, at which time they are introduced to Warbucks who hires them on the spot to be Annie's bodyguards...A YOUNGER MAN is basically the same, except Grace is from Connecticut, not Kentucky...THE LADY OF THE HOUSE (now orchestrated) is pretty much the same except for the presence of the Orphans in the Mansion. There is a little about Warbucks' earnings for 1933 mentioned in passing taken from the original second scene...the BEAUTIFUL scene is much shorter with not as much dancing. Maurice's hairdresser character is much more villainous; now he and his beauticians are gangsters, and his name was changed to Charlie Spenoli. Miss Hannigan's whole disguise is more subdued and realistic. No more Charlotte O'Hara; now she is disguised as Frances Riley from Connecticut...The New York Yankees locker room motif is out; the interviews are held in a suite at the Plaza Hotel. Miss Hannigan sings a new song called YOU GO ON which tells of her hard life, which touches Warbucks, and he picks her as a finalist over Mrs. Christmas' objections that she is not classy enough. Melissa Dabney from Atlanta is now Abigail Dabney from Boston. Only Abigail Dabney and "Frances Riley" are ever seen as contestants; the Southern belles are out..."Daddy" Warbucks and Annie have a touching moment where Annie cries on his shoulder saying she doesn't want things to change between them (reprise of CHANGES done as a duet)...Grace is left alone in the room where she sings HE DOESN'T KNOW I'M ALIVE, now without background voices...At the Fulton Fish Market scene a song called ONE TOUGH TOWN sung and danced by the street kids was cut before December 22 and was never seen on stage. Now Spit and Mooch are out; the four additional girls (auditioned Monday, hired Wednesday, and on stage Friday!) play the street roles along with the existing three girls...
ACT II: WHEN YOU SMILE with the President remained until the last week with "What a sucker!" omitted. However, the final weekend had WHEN YOU SMILE with the President completely out; instead Warbucks has taken Annie and the Orphans to Yankee Stadium and they are in the locker room meeting Babe Ruth. The Babe has just had a bad game, and Annie and the Orphans cheer up the ballplayers with the song. The choreography is the same, except that this time the "real" Annie is singing the song and dancing, the "fake" Annie (by the way, all the way through the play Danielle does both Kate McGuire and Annie, except for the times in the play that both Annies are on the stage at the same time). Annie has curly hair for the first time in this scene now...Grace agrees readily to go to Coney Island, not reluctantly as before. The business about clowning around to attract Warbucks' attention is out. Sandy does not take part in the hot dog bit. The "fake" Annie is brought across the back of the stage by Charlie and Lionel, giving the audience an early view of both Annies together, but of course those in Warbucks' party don't notice. The audience now is not so confused when the actual switch is made. The newspaper photographer bit with Sandy's growl is out...The timing is changed so that the Coney Island scene is the same day as the broadcast, thereby reducing the amount of time that Kate McGuire has to pose as Annie in the Warbucks household...The steamer trunk is behind the Cyclone ride at Coney Island, not at the beauty shop. Annie is in a burlap sack in the trunk. The entire song was rewritten as MY DADDY to the same melody (Danielle had an hour and a half to learn it before doing it on stage!), giving a more optimistic attitude from Annie about being found and rescued, even though Miss Hannigan bas told her Warbucks now has her double with him at home (the line "all I've got is me" is now "he'll know she ain't me"). The business about Grace seeing the three schemers and the trunk of course is out...The broadcast is just about the same, except for the dialogue surrounding the singing of "Tomorrow." FDR: "Stop singing that song this instant!" Mrs. C.: "But Lionel told me you like that song!" FDR: "Like it? I love it! It's just that I've heard it too damn many times!" Grace now says that she will go ahead and accept her job offer in Chicago rather than saying that she would like to continue working for Warbucks...The stateroom scene is out, except for a short singing of the same song by Miss Hannigan; all dialogue is out...The ending scene: LaGuardia sneezes, not Annie. Warbucks, not Sandy, picks the correct Annie. Warbucks gives Grace a ring with a jewel that could be seen from the last row in the balcony. Warbucks' swing from the rope is out. Miss Hannigan's final line was changed many times; for a while it was, "There's one thing I've learned from all this--" Warbucks: "What's that?" Miss H.: "Life stinks!" The last show had the best final line of them all: "You think you've got everything, money, the kid, the lady in the black hat, the yacht, the mansion, even the dog--but there's one thing that I’ve got that you'll never have!" "What's that?" (lifts up her hat) "HAIR!!"...The cast said that the end of the second act probably would have been worked out a lot more on stage had Dorothy Loudon not become ill and missed the five performances immediately before the final one...Overall length was shortened from about 3-1/2 hours to about 2-1/2 hours including intermission.