Kristen+P

Broadway is the street in New York that has become the worldwide name in theatre entertainment. Theater on Broadway dates back to 1810, when most actors were imported from European countries.

By the 19th Century, the development of American theatre was in full swing. Throughout the 1900's Broadway shows were strongly influenced by the events of the time, from comedic spoofs to heartfelt dramas. The 1920's, 30's, and 40's saw many ups and downs in theatre production, due to historical events such as prohibition, the stock market crash, war, and the draw to Hollywood for much of Broadway's top talent. media type="file" key="7bc6d00435cc1c4ac6e1a1df91063685.mp3" width="240" height="20"media type="custom" key="5753295"Broadway!!media type="custom" key="5700967"media type="custom" key="5701159"media type="custom" key="5690469" Although Annie, the musical, did not debut on Broadway until the late 1970's, the Orphan Annie comic strip on which the musical version is based has long been a family favorite. Annie, the musical, takes place in 1933 in New York City during the depression. It's the story of an orphan (Annie) whose optimisim and positive spirit allow her to cope with her unfortunate circumstances. Always the optimist, she dreams of the parents that she knows will be coming for her. After winning over Grace Ferrall who has come to the orphanage with a request, Annie is allowed to spend Christmas at the home of Daddy Warbucks, a very rich man. Upon being smitten with the spunky little girl, Warbucks wishes to adopt her, much to the disdain of the orphanage's headmistress, Miss Hannigan. Hannigan's brother Rooster, a shady character, poses with his girlfriend as Annie's real parents in the hopes of claiming the $50,000 reward. Their attempts are thwarted by the FBI and they, along with Miss Hannigan, are arrested. Annie, the musical, opened on Broadway on April 21, 1977 and closed on January 2, 1983 after having had 2,377 performances, becoming the 3rd longest running musical. It captured 7 Tony awards.

Read more at Suite101: [|Annie...a family classic] []

I'm Kristen ! media type="custom" key="5669323" Broadway Musicals!