Search - Reid Shelton, And original Broadway cast Andrea McArdle :: Annie A New Musical

Okay, so the theme song of this 1977 show, "Tomorrow," hasn't improved in 21 years or become more endurable, but nobody ever sang it better or meant it more than Andrea McCardle, the original heroine of this musical based on the Depression-era comic strip. Although Annie's an orphan, there's nothing much depressing about the rest of this Charles Strouse score with lyrics by Martin Charnin. Even "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover," sung by the denizens of a Hooverville, is a hoot. And such uplifting anthems as "Easy Street" and "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" are still quite worthy of singing or whistling while you're walking down the avenue. These 1930s, after all, were when the new president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, had time to entertain a little girl on his lap at the White House. (In real life it was Shirley Temple.) And when our general fantasy life apparently allowed for a lonely billionaire merchant (Reid Shelton) to swoop down to save an orphan and learn to love. (That this show prospered in the late 1970s is the wonder.) But the real and enduring star of Annie is Dorothy Loudon, who won a Tony as the deliciously evil orphanage matron who actually hates, as her big song has it, "Little Girls," and who constantly schemes against our Annie. Loudon's star turn may be the best reason to own this recording, but all of it will still make you feel better all over--except perhaps "Tomorrow." --Robert Windeler