Annie: Live - General Discussion

[ajsnaves]

Surprised there’s no thread for this. So far so go. The kids are certainly talented. (But in my experience, most orphans are extremely talented.) It will be interesting when Harry Connick shows up. 

[BuckeyeLou]

I am enjoying it so far although the sound(on my TV) is not great.   I have not seen any live "bloopers" yet.  

[Spartan Girl]

Taraji is hysterical.

[shoregirl]

All the girls did a great job with Hard Knock Life.

Celina Smith ,  the little girl playing Annie, can sing. Tomorrow was wonderful. 

Taraji is chewing scenery like any good Miss Hannigan should. 

[BuckeyeLou]

6 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Taraji is hysterical.

And who knew Taraji has a set of pipes on her!  She was really into that song "Little Girls"

[bosawks]

6 minutes ago, shoregirl said:

All the girls did a great job with Hard Knock Life.

Celina Smith ,  the little girl playing Annie, can sing. Tomorrow was wonderful. 

Taraji is chewing scenery like any good Miss Hannigan should. 

Nailing “Hard Knock Life” is half the battle! 

[bosawks]

I remember reading a quote from the original Miss Hannigan, Dorothy Loudon, that the key to playing Miss Hannigan was to do it without a shred of humanity.

[Vanderboom]

Taraji is clearly enjoying herself and her singing is great! Nicole Scherzinger seems really stiff, though.

[BuckeyeLou]

Blooper?  Is Harry Connick's earpiece supposed to be visible?  Or is it a hearing aid?

[EtheltoTillie]

Starting late. The little girl did an amazing job with the opening song. Is her name Celina Smith?  

[bosawks]

At certain angles Harry’s ear piece and skullcap converge in such a way that he looks like he had pretty serious brain surgery.

[BuckeyeLou]

12 minutes ago, bosawks said:

At certain angles Harry’s ear piece and skullcap converge in such a way that he looks like he had pretty serious brain surgery.

Yea, I asked that above,  the way the earpiece is visible is distracting.

[choclatechip45]

I really like this so far! The girl who is playing Annie is really good and Taraji is amazing. 

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, BuckeyeLou said:

I am enjoying it so far although the sound(on my TV) is not great.   I have not seen any live "bloopers" yet.  

Yeah.  I think sometimes the sound is a bit muddled. 

1 hour ago, Vanderboom said:

Taraji is clearly enjoying herself and her singing is great! Nicole Scherzinger seems really stiff, though.

Taraji is terrific.  The character of Grace in every production has always seemed a bit stiff to me...probably because she's supposed to be a very refined, "lady-like" character.  But her singing is on point. 

1 hour ago, BuckeyeLou said:

Blooper?  Is Harry Connick's earpiece supposed to be visible?  Or is it a hearing aid?

That's his mic.  The rest of the cast is probably wearing their microphones in their hair pieces but the wigs cover it up.  Here's a photo of the actors of Hamilton.  But the bald cap makes it hard to hide.  I guess they figured it'd look less weird for the mic to be by the ear than coming up over the head.

But the cameras definitely screwed up during Harry Connick Jr. and Taraji's number together.  There were some wooden pillars that were featured that I don't think were intended to be and another camera angle got behind another cameraman. 

I do wish there were more Megan Hilty. I've loved her since Smash.

[pennben]

My goodness, I was charmed!  Bravo!!

Edited December 3, 2021 by pennben

[Lilac2000]

Just caught the last 45 minutes or so but thought it was pretty good! The worst thing was definitely Harry Connick Jr's bald cap.

Did anyone watch it on CityTV in Canada? That last commercial break had an extremely inappropriate commercial airing during a family show. I think someone messed up...it was like an after midnight commercial. Yikes!

[bref]

This show would benefit so much from some judicious editing, both for length and outdated cultural references. That said, the kids are adorable and very talented and I'm enjoying their segments tremendously.

[AgathaC]

39 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

The character of Grace in every production has always seemed a bit stiff to me...probably because she's supposed to be a very refined, "lady-like" character. 

I think the only Grace I’ve ever really enjoyed was Ann Reinking in the 1982 version. Holy cow, could she dance.

It was great to see Megan Hilty on my TV again but now I want more of her.

[Clawdette]

I loved it!  It was an old-fashioned feel-good joyful production that keep me watching the entire time.  The commercial interruptions were annoying but this was commercial television. 

I always have a computer in my lap while I'm watching TV, usually working on my part-time from-home job.  Here's my rating indicator.  If I am watching and I only have to rewind the feed a couple of times to catch something I missed while drifting away, then the program ranks highly on my scale.  That was the case here, although I rewound twice just to watch  a couple of dance numbers a second time.

[Brn2bwild]

Who was the actress who sang the solo part of "NYC"?  In the 1999 version, it was Andrea McArdle.  I wondered whether this actress was someone notable as well.

[Chippings]

Quote

2 hours ago, bref said:

This show would benefit so much from some judicious editing, both for length and outdated cultural references. That said, the kids are adorable and very talented and I'm enjoying their segments tremendously.

 

Well, to respectfully disagree, the cultural references are part of the charm for me -- to make sure it's set in that specific time and the things that mattered then.  It's kind of a good puzzle to see if you recognize some of them, too.  (Madame Chiang Kai-Shek indeed!)  

Also a big Megan Hilty fan here, especially from 'Smash'.  

[ByaNose]

Harry should have committed to a bald head. Every other actor on Broadway and in movies have shaved their head for the role. The earpiece is necessary and it was just more noticeable because the bald cap was too much with his own hair. He should have at least buzzed his hair down for a better fit. That said, the orphans stole the show with Hard knock Life. I was amazed they could do those flips on those tiny beds. The actress playing Annie was okay but sometimes I couldn’t hear her. I liked the nod Harry made to Broadway. Very timely for back then and now.  

[Spartan Girl]

That little girl had better get some casting offers stat!

[Tom Holmberg]

12 hours ago, choclatechip45 said:

I really like this so far! The girl who is playing Annie is really good and Taraji is amazing. 

I couldn't get over that Annie looked like Gary Coleman in drag.

[Mr. Sparkle]

2 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

I couldn't get over that Annie looked like Gary Coleman in drag.

Damn it, I really thought she looked like Gary Coleman. Great pipes, though! 

[Tom Holmberg]

39 minutes ago, Superclam said:

Damn it, I really thought she looked like Gary Coleman. Great pipes, though! 

She did a good job.  But that Gary Coleman thing....  She even had his facial expressions. I was waiting for "Whatchu talkin' about, Mrs. Hannigan?"

Edited December 3, 2021 by Tom Holmberg

[anniebird]

I thought the supporting cast was quite good but I didn't think Celina Smith was a very good actor. I read one review that described it as "very good community theater" and that's what I thought every time Annie was on screen.

[Quickbeam]

7 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

I couldn't get over that Annie looked like Gary Coleman in drag.

She can sing but I wasn’t overwhelmed by the acting. I saw the original in the late 70’s so maybe I’m just holding on to that.

[anniebird]

And I thought the 1999 version with Victor Garber/Audra McDonald/Kathy Bates/Kristen Chenoweth and Alan Cumming was perfect.

[ebk57]

On 12/3/2021 at 1:37 AM, Brn2bwild said:

Who was the actress who sang the solo part of "NYC"?  In the 1999 version, it was Andrea McArdle.  I wondered whether this actress was someone notable as well.

According to Wiki, she's McKenzie Kurtz.  Per IBDB, she was in Frozen on Broadway as Anna.

 

I watched this tonight.  It was...fine.  The cast was excellent, although I didn't really like Nicole Scherzinger.  I guess I haven't seen the show since around 1979, but since it was at my theatre for months, I think I remember it fairly well and I feel like it's been substantially rewritten since then.  Maybe incorporating things from the films? 

Anyway, I always love seeing theatre brought to everyone.  It was an enjoyable watch, but I really wanted to love it and I just didn't. 

[Brn2bwild]

1 hour ago, ebk57 said:

I watched this tonight.  It was...fine.  The cast was excellent, although I didn't really like Nicole Scherzinger.  I guess I haven't seen the show since around 1979, but since it was at my theatre for months, I think I remember it fairly well and I feel like it's been substantially rewritten since then.  Maybe incorporating things from the films? 

Anyway, I always love seeing theatre brought to everyone.  It was an enjoyable watch, but I really wanted to love it and I just didn't. 

I feel the same way.  For me, the weak link was Harry Connick Jr.  His acting was stiff and his singing so-so.

[Artsda]

I thought this was great, all the kids did well, Taraji was awesome and Sandy too.

[Camera One]

I've never seen the musical nor the movie, but I have listened to the soundtrack to the Broadway show a few times.  The choreography was fun and I liked the ensemble.  The main characters were generally likeable.  Ms. Hannigan was a bit grating and between her and Annie, the singing sometimes felt like shouting so I had turn down the volume a bit.  Warbucks was fine, as was the assistant, though her voice seemed a bit strained at parts.  I thought the guy who played Rooster had a weak voice though was a fun character to watch.  Overall, it was a nice diversion.  I like that they are making musicals more accessible by having them on TV.