Annie
Alicia Morton (born April 29, 1987) is an American
actress and singer.
Morton started singing when she was 18 months old. When she was 6, she played
Molly in Annie at her school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was
7 when she landed the part of young Cosette in Broadway's Les Misérables
in 1996. Costar Ricky Martin would rub makeup on her hands for
good luck.[1] In 1998, Alicia beat 3,000 girls to win the part
of the 1999 Disney TV movie Annie. In this role, Morton struggled
with some of the dramatic moments. "The emotional scenes were hard for me," she says, until an acting coach suggested she draw on her father's death.[2]
Her best friend, Alexis Kalehoff, is the daughter of Broadway's
original Annie, Andrea McArdle. McArdle also had a cameo role in
Morton's film version of Annie; she played an actress in the musical
that Annie and Mr. Warbucks go to see on Broadway. Her most recent
film was the 2006 vampire horror film The Thirst (film), where
she played a young girl with hemophilia named Sara.
She graduated from East Ascension High in 2005,
and started her freshman year of college in 2006. She also plays
guitar.
From October 6-16, 2011, Morton will star alongside
Andrea McArdle, the original Annie in the Broadway production,
in the new musical Greenwood the New York Musical Theatre Festival.
Filmography
Year Film Role
1999 Annie Annie
2001 The Big House
Dodson's Journey Maggie Dodson
2004 Miracle Run Jennifer
2005 Odd Girl Out Tiffany
2006 The Thirst Sara
Annie is a 1999 American made-for-television musical-comedy film
from The Wonderful World of Disney, based on the 1977 stage musical
Annie and its 1982 film adaptation, which themselves were based
on the 1924 Little Orphan Annie comic strip by Harold Gray.
The film stars Kathy Bates, Victor Garber, Alan Cumming, Audra McDonald, Kristin
Chenoweth, Lalaine, and introducing Alicia Morton as Annie.
The film aired on ABC on November 7, 1999 and
was released on DVD on May 30, 2000. This version earned two Emmy
Awards and a 1999 George Foster Peabody Award.
Wiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.
Eleven-year-old orphan Annie (Alicia Morton) was
left at a girls' orphanage when she was a baby with half a locket
shaped like a heart with a key hole and a note from her parents
saying they'll come back for her. The orphanage is run by the tyrannical
Miss Hannigan (Kathy Bates) who starves the orphans and makes them
suffer. Tired of waiting for her parents, Annie tries to escape
to find them, but is caught by Miss Hannigan. Annie finally succeeds
in running away, and makes friends with a dog, that she names Sandy.
But a policeman catches her and brings her back to the orphanage.
When billionaire Oliver Warbucks (Victor Garber) decides to take
in an orphan for Christmas, his secretary, Grace Farrell (Audra
McDonald), chooses Annie. She is brought to her wealthy estate
and bathes in a grand life.
Although at first uncomfortable with the child,
Warbucks is soon charmed by Annie. Warbucks wants to adopt her,
but she still wants to find her real parents, so she announces
on the radio a $50,000 reward for anybody who can prove they're
Annie's parents. The orphans tell Miss Hannigan, and her crooked
brother Rooster (Alan Cumming), and his dimwitted girlfriend Lily
St. Regis (Kristin Chenoweth) cook up a scheme to get the reward
by posing as Ralph and Shirley Mudge (Annie's "so called" parents).[1] Lily is left with the orphans after Ms. Hannigan and Rooster leave,
but Lily accidentally tells the secret. The orphans make her tell
them what is going on, and Lily realizes that Rooster could leave
her hanging as he has done before. Lily and the orphans come to
Warbucks' house and they are soon found out when President Franklin
D. Roosevelt (Dennis Howard) arrives with his Secret Service and
evidence that Annie's parents are really David and Margaret Bennett
and had in fact died several years earlier which was why they never
returned for her. Rooster and Lily are arrested by the Secret Service,
Miss Hannigan goes insane and is sent to an asylum, Warbucks and
Grace become engaged, and Annie lives happily with her new parents.
[edit] Cast
Alicia Morton as Annie Bennett Warbucks
Victor Garber as Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks
Kathy Bates as Miss Agatha "Aggie" Hannigan
Alan Cumming as Daniel Francis "Rooster" Hannigan/Danny
the Dip
Audra McDonald as Grace Farrell
Kristin Chenoweth as Lily St. Regis/Sadie Algonquin/Phyllis the Filcher.
Erin Adams as Tessie
Sarah Hyland as Molly
Lalaine as Kate
Nanea Miyata as July
Marissa Rago as Pepper
Danielle Wilson as Duffy
Andrea McArdle as Star-To-Be
Dennis Howard as Franklin D. Roosevelt
Douglas Fisher as Drake
Kurt Knudson as Justice Brandeis
[edit] Musical numbers
Main article: Annie (1999 film soundtrack)
The CD of the 1999 television movie was released
on November 2, 1999 by Sony.
The songs in the 1999 film reflect those of the
1977 show, but does not include a reprise of "Easy Street", "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover", the cabinet reprise of "Tomorrow", or "Annie". But this version does include a reprise of "N.Y.C." and a reprise of "Little Girls" that takes place at the end of the film, rather than after "Little Girls".
"Overture"
"Maybe" - Annie
"Hard-Knock Life" - Annie and Orphans
"Hard-Knock Life" (Reprise) - Orphans
"Tomorrow" - Annie
"Little Girls" - Miss Hannigan
"I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" -
Grace, Annie, and Warbucks' Staff
"N.Y.C." - Oliver, Grace, Annie, and Star-to-Be
"N.Y.C." (Reprise) - Oliver
"Lullaby" - Oliver
"Maybe" (Reprise 1) - Annie
"Easy Street" - Rooster, Miss Hannigan, and
Lily
"You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" -
Bert Healy and the Boylan Sisters
"You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" (Reprise)
- Orphans
"Something Was Missing" - Oliver
"I Don't Need Anything But You" -
Oliver and Annie
"Maybe" (Reprise 2) - Grace
"Tomorrow" (Reprise) - Grace
"Little Girls" (Reprise) - Miss Hannigan
"Finale: I Don't Need Anything But You" (Reprise)
- Oliver, Grace, and Annie
[edit] Awards and nominations
Won for:
American Choreography Award — Rob Marshall
American Comedy Award — Kathy Bates
Costume Designers Guild Awards — Excellence in Costume Design for Television
- Period/Fantasy (Shay Cunliffe)
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography - Paul Bogaev and Rob Marshall
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction
Young Star Award Best Young Actress/Performance in a Miniseries/Made-For-TV
Film - Alicia Morton
Nominations for:
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress
– Series, Miniseries or Television Film - Kathy Bates
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in
a Miniseries or Television Movie - Kathy Bates
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or
a Movie (Kathy Bates)
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a
Dramatic Special (Rob Marshall)
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie, or a
Special
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a
Special
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie
or a Special
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries, Movie
or a Special
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or
a Special
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries,
Movie or a Special
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie
[edit] Comparison to 1977 musical and 1982 film
Includes a subplot involving Sandy, who goes
missing in the original musical.
Miss Hannigan poses as Annie's mother instead of Lily St. Regis.
The White House "Tomorrow" reprise
was replaced by a scene involving Grace Farrell and Annie after she finds out
that the long-deceased Bennetts were her real parents and the Mudges are really
Miss Hannigan and her brother, Rooster. In the 1982 film, it is only mentioned
by Miss Hannigan (before the "Easy Street" number) that Annie's real parents were killed in a fire; their last name was
never mentioned. Rooster is also shown to be forging a document when the orphans
make their first escape attempt to warn Annie in the 1982 movie.
Audra McDonald was the first African-American actress to play the role of Grace.[citation
needed]
In this version, Miss Hannigan is taken to a psychiatric hospital at the end.
This does not occur in the stage play or 1982 film.
The 1977 version presents moral complexities that are simplified in the 1999
movie, such as Miss Hannigan being a somewhat sympathetic villain in 1977 and
1982 but instead being an entirely unscrupulous villain in 1999.
Annie's hair is straight and auburn rather than curly and fiery red.
The character "Punjab" does not
appear in this film.
The character "The Asp" appears
in this version briefly, running a Chinese takeout restaurant.
At the climax of the 1982 film, Miss Hannigan tries to save Annie from Rooster
but he beats her down in order to catch Annie. She later is shown as a showgirl
at Annie's party dating Punjab (originally played by Geoffrey Holder).
This version is more comical as compared to 1982 version's slightly darker
tone.
The director, Rob Marshall, said he wanted to make this movie as an allegory
for the AIDS crisis.
In this version, Warbucks asks Grace to marry him at the end of the movie.
In the 1982 film, they only kiss which implies that they are dating. Grace
is wearing a sparkling ring on her left hand which could also suggest they
are engaged.
In this version, the songs "Dumb Dog/Sandy", "Sign", "We
Got Annie", "Let's Go to the Movies," were not used as they were in the 1982 version.
In this version, instead of taking Annie to the movies (as in the 1982 version),
Grace and Warbucks take Annie on a tour of NYC, and later attend a Broadway
show—all while singing "NYC".
Unlike the 1982 film, Miss Hannigan and Rooster's Irish family lineage is referenced
strongly during their performance of "Easy
Street".
[edit] Production notes
This was Walt Disney and Columbia Pictures' first
film collaboration. The dancers' costumes and the stage set of
the Broadway section of "N.Y.C." are taken directly from the "Broadway Melody" ballet in Singin' in the Rain.
After its premiere on ABC, Annie has aired on
cable channels such as ABC Family, Starz, & Hallmark Channel. Disney Channel also plans to air the film sometime in the
future.
