LIFE AFTER TOMORROW (TV)
Summary
This documentary film explores the lives and experiences of the many girls who have brought "Little Orphan Annie" to life. The program begins as many "Annie" alumnae, including filmmaker Julie Stevens and TV star Sarah Jessica Parker, explaining their first encounters with the show and subsequent "obsession" with landing the title role, feeling an immediate personal connection with the spunky young redhead. Lyricist Martin Charnin describes writing the upbeat show to counteract the "cynical" attitude of America in the years of Watergate and the Vietnam War, and the women recall the "grueling" audition process, which stretched out over many months and left most young girls – and many stage parents – devastated when they were cut. Kristi Coombs describes landing a role in the first national tour, and Kristen Vigard recalls that the show was changed drastically at the last minute, thanks to a "death blow" of a review from Walter Kerr. Librettist Charles Strouse explains that, after the hasty rewrites, the show was an enormous hit when it opened at the Alvin Theatre – transformed into the "Annie Theatre" – in April 1977, and the actresses recall becoming overnight celebrities as they performed all over the country, met with the Hollywood stars of the day, including during their "constant" trips to Studio 54, and earned the adoration of children everywhere.
Superfan Jon Merrill describes his creation of the "Annie People" fanclub, admitting that he has been the subject of much suspicion for his longtime love of the show. The actresses comment on the psychological effects of being in the show, including their sense of having to rapidly mature and deal with adult-level criticism. The girls in the title role often dealt with jealousy from the other "orphans" and even from the adult actors, and Robyn Finn-Moosey grows emotional as she recalls receiving a particularly nasty piece of hate mail. The women recall encountering inappropriately mature elements of drugs and sexuality backstage, agreeing that their tutoring was "sporadic" at best and often taught them very little. Many of the young actors were also exploited, personally and financially, by their fame-hungry parents, and April Lerman confesses that she came to doubt her mother's genuine love for her apart from her success onstage. Many parents accompanied their daughters on tour, leading to fights and even affairs, and several women recall blaming themselves at a young age for their parents' divorces, sure that the show's time and travel demands were the cause of their families' rifts.
Vigard recalls her mingled sense of disappointment and relief when she was cut for her lack of "toughness" and replaced by Andrea McArdle right before the show's Broadway debut, and Joanna Pacitti describes her sense of "humiliation" when she was quietly replaced by another "orphan" in the 1997 20th anniversary show after a bout of bronchitis. The other actresses describe the bizarre experience of being ousted and replaced by younger performers as they aged and grew physically, and several of them agreeing that they should have received some form of counseling to help them re-adjust to the "real world." They recall their "heartbreaking" final performances and sense of loneliness and of "not being somebody anymore" upon leaving the show, with several noting that they were treated differently by their former friends after their brushes with fame. Ana Lovelis explains her desire to reclaim the feeling of fame, revealing that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder years after the experience, and Parker describes her desire to avoid future "cute" roles, not wanting to be entirely defined by the single role. Coombs admits that she "threw" auditions for some time afterward, unsure if she truly still loved show business, and Finn-Moosey describes developing anorexia after being bullied about her figure by casting directors.
All of the women describe dreaming about the show even many years later, agreeing that they still remember most of the music and the choreography. A large group of the "Annie" alumnae meet up for a chat, agreeing that they share a "special bond" that is hard to describe to outsiders. Harve Presnell, who played Daddy Warbucks in the national tour, stresses the need for "a balance of normalcy" for young performers, and the "Annie" women describe the overall experience as both "bewildering" and "bittersweet." In discussing their adult lives, several of the women explain that they still feel drawn to the performing arts world and remained in acting careers, while others explored other professions, like teaching and financial planning, and Coombs confesses her desire to appear on Broadway again. They agree that they might have reservations about allowing their own children to enter the showbiz world, and they close the program by singing "Tomorrow," accompanied by musical arranger and director Peter Howard.
Details
- NETWORK: Showtime
- DATE: 2006 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:12:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:89219
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: Documentary; Actors; Children as actors; Musical theater
- SERIES RUN: Showtime - TV, 2006
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Motty Reif … Executive Producer
- Chris Kelly … Executive Producer
- Julie Stevens … Producer, Director
- Gil Cates Jr. … Producer, Director
- Meghan Strange … Associate Producer
- Megan Cavallari … Music by
- Sarah Jessica Parker … Interviewee
- Martin Charnin … Interviewee
- Kristi Coombs … Interviewee
- Kristen Vigard … Interviewee
- Charles Strouse … Interviewee
- Peter Howard … Interviewee
- Jon Merrill … Interviewee
- Joanna Pacitti … Interviewee
- Allison Smith … Interviewee
- Robyn Finn-Moosey … Interviewee
- April Lerman … Interviewee
- Harve Presnell … Interviewee
- Ana Lovelis … Interviewee
- Deborah Watson … Interviewee
- Andrea McArdle
- Walter Kerr