With Broadway prepping its fall comeback in New York, NBC also is reopening its playbook with plans to revive “Annie,” airing live on TV, on Dec. 2.
Harry Connick Jr. has been cast as Daddy Warbucks and Taraji P. Henson will perform as Miss Hannigan. The Annie role has not yet been announced.
The resumption of Broadway live via TV thus lights up the small screen, making NBC the key network for live stagings of cherished musicals.
The Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of Harold Gray’s comic strip features music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and a book by Thomas Meehan. “Tomorrow” was the breakout hit from the show.
Alex Rudzinski will direct.
Long a stage classic, the Tony-winning show will be the fourth filmed version, preceded by the original 1982 TV movie co-starring Carol Burnett and Albert Finney, the 1999 remake with Kathy Bates and Victor Garber, and the 2014 version with Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz.
‘Harry Potter’ returning as a single play
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” will resume on Broadway this fall, but staged as one show instead of the two-part original that played the Great White Way prior to the pandemic.
Thus, “Cursed Child” will premiere next Nov. 16 at the Lyric Theatre in New York, where the two-parter had been in residency for a couple of years. Another premiere will be Jan. 11, 2022, at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, followed by a Canadian company debuting in May 2022 at the Mirvish Theatre in Toronto.
The one-show format will enable to audiences to still enjoy a journey of magic and mystique, with a mature Potter but with the convenience of getting the tale told in a single visit, vs. a second time slot for part two.
Fourth and foremost
“A Capitol Fourth,” a PBS concert airing on Sunday (July 4), will be multi-tiered Fourth of July celebration, though minus the traditional live show from the West Lawn of the U.S. capitol.
Instead, Vanessa Williams will host a myriad of pre-taped performances originating from a gamut of locations across the country, though there will be a few live moments.
Hawaii’s Auli‘i Cravalho, the voice of Disney’s “Moana” animated feature, will be among the performers to be featured.’’ She will sing “A Whole New World,” from “Aladdin,” originating at the Unisphere in Queens, New York, while Mickey Guyton performs “Without a Net.”
Jimmy Buffett sings Woody Guthrie’s signature “This Land Is Your Land,” taped from California, with quick clips depicting the Golden Gate Bridge, the Grand Canyon and the Statue of Liberty.
Alan Jackson emerges from Nashville, for a taste of country; Renee Fleming brings her operatic sizzle to deliver the national anthem; Cynthia Erivo performs from Southern California.
Among other legendary troupers on board: Gladys Knight, Jimmie Allen, Ali Stroker, Laura Osnes; “Hamilton” star Christopher Jackson shares the patriotic “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”
Pentatonix (from Los Angeles), Train (from San Francisco) and Jennifer Nettles (from Time Square on Broadway) also take the spotlight.
NASA astronauts, Kermit the Frog and the National Symphony Orchestra reflect the diversity of celebrants, embracing the message of patriotism, love, unity and hope…
And that’s “Show Biz.” …