ANNIE – Molly Ringwald (10 years) – Curran Theatre Program, San Francisco 1978

Description

An original program for the hit musical “Annie” performed at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco in June,1978. The show was first performed on Broadway in 1977 and won several Best Musical awards. This performance is notable for the appearance of 10 year-old Molly Ringwald who went on to enjoy a successful film career.
Good condition. 22 pages including the cast, bios and interesting advertisements. Great collectors item
During the Broadway run of
Annie
, there were four touring companies that were launched from the original production to tour to major North American cities:
The 1st National Touring Company opened in Toronto in March 1978 with Kathy Jo Kelly as Annie, Norwood Smith as Daddy Warbucks,
Jane Connell
,
Ruth Kobart
as Miss Hannigan, and
Gary Beach
as Rooster. It played in Miami from April 12 to May 13, 1978 then continued for a few more cities until it landed in Chicago where it played for 32 weeks. In April 1979, it continued on the road in with Mary K. Lombardi now in the lead as Annie. In the fall of 1980, Theda Stemler took over the part and was replaced in Boston when she grew too old. On May 15, 1981,
Louanne Sirota
, who had played Annie in the long-running Los Angeles production (see below), took over the role for four months. In August 1981, Becky Snyder became the company’s last Annie, closing the tour on September 6, 1981.
The 2nd National Touring Company (sometimes referred to as the West Coast or Los Angeles Production) opened in San Francisco on June 22, 1978 with Patricia Ann Patts starring as Annie,
Jennifer Cihi
as Pepper and the then-unknown
Molly Ringwald
as one of the orphans. The show landed in Los Angeles on October 15, 1978 for an open-ended run at the
Shubert Theatre
. On June 12, 1979, Sirota, just 9 years old (up until that time, all Annies had been 11 years old), took over the role from Patts. Marisa Morell took the role in December 1979, closing the Los Angeles run and continuing on tour with the show through December 1980. Kristi Coombs then played Annie until this touring company closed in Philadelphia on January 23, 1982.
Alyssa Milano
played one of the orphans in 1981.
The 3rd National Touring Company opened in Dallas on October 3, 1979 with
Rosanne Sorrentino
(who would later go on to portray Pepper in the 1982 film version) in the title role. This company toured to 23 cities playing mostly shorter runs of a month or less. On March 27, 1981, Bridget Walsh took over as Annie. Becky Snyder (who had closed the 1st National Tour) joined this company in the summer of 1982 and stayed with it until it closed in September of that year.
The 4th National Touring Company opened on September 11, 1981 with Mollie Hall playing Annie. This production was a “bus and truck” tour, with a slightly reduced cast, that traveled the country and often played in two cities a week. This company was still touring when the original Broadway production closed in January 1983, making Kathleen Sisk the final performer to play Annie from the original production team. This tour closed in September 1983.