Review: In an Excellent Annie Revival, Whoopi Goldberg Reminds Us Why She's a Comedic Force

Once upon a time, the Theater at Madison Square Garden was the home to a long-running musical version of A Christmas Carol. That production became a holiday tradition in the 1990s, cycling through celebrity Scrooges ranging from Roddy McDowell to Tim Curry to Roger Daltrey. In the decades since, the venue has tried to restart the custom with other family shows, namely Elf the Musical and A Christmas Story the Musical and the occasional Cirque du Soleil, to no avail.

But a real holiday ritual could be reborn with the arrival of Annie, a made-to-tour production that has been crisscrossing the country since 2022. Running through January 5 before heading back on the road, this iteration of the beloved Charles Strouse-Martin Charnin-Tom Meehan classic doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel the way James Lapine’s grumpy 2012 revival did. Director Jenn Thompson gives us a classic Annie in every way — and it’s just plain excellent.

The marquee name for this New York run is entertainment icon Whoopi Goldberg as Miss Hannigan, the matron of the orphanage that houses our spunky title heroine (Hazel Vogel). Annie dreams of finding her parents, but she finds a suitable surrogate in billionaire Republican Oliver Warbucks (Christopher Swan), who takes in a foundling each Christmas. You know the drill.

Built for life on the road, the design is more functional than opulent. Wilson Chin’s sets consist of efficient flats that drop in and out, framed by subway girders—even, oddly enough, in Warbucks’s mansion. Alejo Vietti’s costumes are standard; they and Philip S. Rosenberg’s lighting palette contribute to an intriguing visual arc. Annie’s world is devoid of color, save for her red hair and cardigan, until the arrival of Warbucks’s secretary, Grace Farrell (Julie Nicole Hunter), who lights up the drab orphanage in a striking sky-blue dress. I was seriously impressed by Ken Travis’s sound design, which booms through the 5,600-seat venue while still allowing us to hear all the contours of Dan DeLange’s new orchestrations.

What impressed me most about Thompson’s staging is how fresh and alive it feels. Many of the adults in the company have been traveling with the show since it opened two years ago, but if they’ve got “Tomorrow” fatigue, you’d never know. Swan, in particular, has a beautifully heartbreaking investment in “Daddy” Warbucks, his blustery façade melting from the first second he lays eyes on Annie as he quickly realizes that she completes his lavish otherwise empty life. As Grace, Hunter is tough but nurturing, and all-around superb. Mark Woodard is a scene-stealing FDR, and Rhett Guter and Isabella De Souza Moore are good and goofy as Rooster and Lily.

Vogel is a totally winning Annie, and for a youngster, her choices are surprisingly mature and unlike any other Annie I’ve seen before (and I’ve seen a lot of Annies). She infuses the Depression’s hopeful little optimist with an undercurrent of sadness. You get the sense that she knows her parents aren’t coming back, but forces that smile on her face anyway because she knows it will make everyone else feel better. Her “Tomorrow” is an anthem of defiance against an unfriendly world, and when she finally finds a home in Warbucks, it’s like she can breathe again.

If your only frame of reference for Whoopi Goldberg is from her late-period career as moderator of The View (full disclosure: my wife is among the producers of that daytime staple), it’s easy to forget that she is who she is for a reason. As a deliriously drunk Miss Hannigan (she even carries a bottle of gin during her bow), Goldberg reminds us that she is a creature of the stage, both a comedic beast and a dramatic force, often within the same line.

Sure, she paraphrases her way through “Little Girls,” but she sells it and I happily bought it because of the heft behind it. She, too, has a take on Hannigan I’ve never experienced: the look on her face when Rooster reveals his plan to defraud Warbucks and do away with Annie for good is absolutely harrowing. At this point in her life and career, Goldberg has nothing to prove, but the opportunity to see an actual legend at the very top of their game should not be missed.

I felt the same way about this Annie in general. From top to bottom, it’s just a great production that reminds us why the show has become an enduring classic. When you’re stuck with a day that’s gray and lonely, spending two-and-a-half hours in its company is enough to shake the blues away. I’m so glad I saw it.