WHAT TO EXPECT

Watching a play or a musical is different than watching a movie or TV show because the actors are on stage, live, and in person. They can see you and hear you. And you, the audience, have a very important role to play. Can you imagine actors in costumes and stage makeup, or musicians playing their instruments in a room without an audience? Without you there would be no show.

So you have a very important job. Your job is to listen with your whole body. That means your ears are open, your eyes are watching, and your voice is silent. You may show your appreciation by reacting to the show appropriately: laugh when something is funny, cry if something is sad, and always clap to show the actors that you appreciate their work. Of course, we know that sometimes movement or noise is necessary, and when it occurs, the actors know how to go on with the show.

HERE ARE SOME THINGS TO REMEMBER.

ENJOY THE SHOW!

• Please completely turn off all phones and electronic devices that may make noise during the show.

• Please refrain from taking photographs or video recordings of the show.

• It is okay to make noise and/or move in your seat but please do not disturb your fellow audience members or disrupt the performance.

MEET THE CHARACTERS OF ANNIE!

Annie – 11 year old, spunky, red haired orphan who hopes for a brighter “Tomorrow.”

The Orphans – Annie’s friends who live with her in the orphanage. They have a “Hard Knock Life” and are named Molly, Kate, Tessie, Pepper, July, and Duffy.

Miss Hannigan – The woman who runs the orphanage where Annie and her friends live. She hates children, particularly, “Little Girls.”

Oliver Warbucks – Very wealthy man who has no children. He lives in a big mansion in New York City, also known as, “NYC.”

Grace Farrell – Kind woman who works for Oliver Warbucks.

Daniel “Rooster” Hannigan – The brother of Miss Hannigan. He has no money and is always thinking up schemes to lead him to “Easy Street.”

Lily St. Regis – Rooster’s girlfriend and sidekick in his schemes.

Sandy – Sweet mutt who becomes Annie’s best friend.

ANNIE: A CLOSER LOOK

What are your dreams for the future?

What are some ways that you can make

the world brighter tomorrow?

Who are the people that make up your family?

We want to hear from you! Send us your answers to educationprograms@5thavenue.org.

Annie takes place in 1933 in The Big Apple – New York City! While you might know a bit about New York City, here are a few other things to know about Annie’s world.

“Little Orphan Annie” The musical Annie is based on a daily newspaper comic strip that premiered in 1924, itself based on an 1885 poem (“Little Orphan Annie”). “Little Orphan Annie” was one of the first adventure comic strips to focus on the stories of a young girl, chronicling the tales of Annie, her faithful dog Sandy, her benefactor Oliver Warbucks, and many other friends.

The Great Depression Beginning with a stock market crash that devastated financial systems in 1929 and continuing until the start of World War II in 1939, the United States and, in fact, the world, was in crisis: soup kitchen lines were never-ending; the number of homeless Americans was steadily rising; farmers couldn’t afford to harvest their crops; and unemployment, which averaged 25% nationally, reached 90% in some cities. Although the Depression didn’t technically end until 1939, things slowly began to get better in 1933, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected and enacted his New Deal.

Hoovervilles Hoovervilles were shantytowns built by the homeless. Though many large cities had municipal housing for the homeless prior to it, during the Depression, there simply wasn’t enough room to keep up with the growing homeless population.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (“FDR”) You may recognize FDR as the president whom Annie goes to the White House to meet. He was elected to the presidency a record four times!

He served from 1933 (when he won the election in a landslide against Hoover) until his death in 1945. When Annie meets FDR, he is just finishing up his first year in office and is in the midst of implementing his New Deal.

New DealFDR’s “New Deal” was a series of programs and projects that were implemented as a means of attempting to pull the US out of the Depression. Social Security, a precursor to FEMA, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the creation of the FDIC, passage of the Glass-Steagall Act, the SEC, the FCC—all of these were New Deal programs. In Washington, for example, the WPA is responsible for the building of the Grand Coulee Dam, the reservoir of which is known as Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake.

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

The musical Annie is about a girl who has no parents and lives in an orphanage run by a mean woman who doesn’t like children. And yet, Annie is always an optimist, dreaming of a better life in the future.

The musical Annie is about finding hope in a new day tomorrow, and a strong-willed little girl who brightens

everyone’s world today.

In the musical, Annie imagines what her parents might be like. In her dreams, they are kind, thoughtful

people who are searching for their little girl. In the end, Annie comes to learn that the people who make

up a family, are not always the ones we expect.

Annie’s WorldBy Jordan Lusink, Marketing Projects Manager