DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

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MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

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TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
 
 
 
ANNIE: IT’S THE HARD KNOCK LIFE, SCRIPT TO STAGE
June 28, 2013  | By David Bianculli

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

 
This PBS special takes an ultra-focused look at the current Broadway revival of the musical Annie, honing in on the casting, planning, choreography, rehearsal and opening-night performance of one musical number: the orphan’s group protest song, “It’s the Hard-Knock Life.” You could just as easily, and just as entertainingly, have made a documentary about the training of the dog playing Sandy (no kidding). But what’s here, to those who love theater, is very entertaining, from the relentless countdown to opening night to the understandable occasional lack of focus by the very young girls playing the orphans (one weary and frustrated adult likens in to trying to teach zombies). And at the end, it’s all about the magic of the stage – how, somehow, it all comes together magically at the end. Check local listings.
 
 
 
 
 
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