America's favorite redhead coming to Athens

by Tiffany Royal
Staff Writer

America's favorite spunky redhead is bringing her adventures to Athens tonight.

Annie and her entourage are coming to visit mid-America to remind us that the sun will come out tomorrow. NETworks Presentations LLC brings the famous musical, Annie, tonight to the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.

Most people know the story — Annie and her pals live in an orphanage during the Depression, and they set out to find her parents, while the darkness of Miss Hannigan looms over them. She meets Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks, and the adventure begins.

What audiences probably did not know is that there was a Mrs. Warbucks in the cartoon. The readers did not like her, so they bumped her off and strengthened Daddy's character.

Other facts about Annie not known, according to the NETworks Press Release and Web site (http://www.annie75.com): Annie was a cartoon in 1924 before hitting the stage in 1977. No one ever knew the origin of Annie from cartoonist Harold Gray's perspective. Originally the strip was going to star a boy named Otto, but Gray changed the perspective and gender.

The strip debuted in 1924 as "Little Orphan Annie." Mrs. Warbucks, who disappeared from the strip during a yachting trip shortly after the debut of Daddy Warbucks, took the young redhead from the orphanage on approval.

When Daddy Warbucks adopted Annie, the Chicago Tribune canceled the strip. Readers became angry, so the next day the paper printed an apology on the front page and two episodes — that day's strip and the canceled one.

The dog Sandy entered the strip as a puppy and grew to a full-size dog. Annie never grew and remained the same 11-year-old we know today.

The comic strip first came to the screen with Mitzi Green on Dec. 24, 1932.

Comic Harold Gray was anti-Roosevelt and anti-New Deal. This was prominent throughout his cartoons as he portrayed his views through Daddy Warbucks. Daddy suffered a long death when Roosevelt was nominated for a fourth term, but was miraculously revived after FDR died.

The 130-room Monmouth County College administration building in New Jersey, built in 1928, was used as the Warbucks mansion for the 1977 movie.

A sequel, Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge opened on stage in 1990 and closed in 1994.

"Annie" is still published today as a syndicated cartoon strip through Tribune Media Services, drawn by Jay Maeder and Andrew Pepoy.

Tonight when the sun goes down, Annie will take the stage.

Annie takes the stage tonight at 7:30 in the Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium. Tickets are $20 general admission, $10 for students and $18 for seniors. Call 593-1780 for more information.