Latest in Annie

Lois de Banzie, the Scottish-born actress whose Broadway performance in 1980’s Morning’s At Seven scored a Tony Award nomination, died April 3 in Greenbrae, California. She was 90. Her death was announced by her family yesterday. A cause was not specified. By the time of her Tony nomination, de Banzie, born in…

Ann Reinking, a Broadway veteran who starred in the 1990s revival of Chicago, won a Tony Award as its choreographer and also co-starred in the films Annie and All That Jazz, has died. She was 71. Her death Saturday was announced by a family friend on social media and confirmed by a relative to our sister site. "The…

Auditions make me nervous. Not for myself — I'm beyond the casting-call stage of life. But rather for anyone who still has the nerve to endure the almost always disappointing, sometimes humiliating, process of being screened, interviewed, tested and most probably rejected for a role in show business. Or journalism. Or…

The lights at Broadway’s Neil Simon Theatre will be dimmed tomorrow night in memory of Annie lyricist and director Martin Charnin, whose smash musical premiered at the theater in 1977. The marquee lights at what was formerly the Alvin Theatre will go dim at precisely 7:45 pm Friday, July 12. The theater community’s…

Martin Charnin, best known for creating and directing the Broadway musical Annie, has died at 84. The Tony-winning lyricist, writer and librettist suffered a heart attack on Wednesday, according to a Facebook post by his daughter, Sasha. Charnin is credited with lyrics and directing seven Broadway shows. HisTony Award…

SECOND UPDATE, SATURDAY: The marquees of Broadway theaters will be dimmed in memory of Thomas Meehan on August 30 at 7:45 PM for one minute. Meehan died August 21 at age 88 "Thomas Meehan was a key collaborator on some of the most memorable productions in recent Broadway history. His work brought deeper meaning and…

3RD UPDATE, MONDAY, 3:15 PM: The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies dropped some gold coins on its way to the bank today to deposit its actual results. The finale of Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy was off 1.7% from its Sunday five-day estimate of $90.6M, for a current reported cume of $89.1M.  That figure still beats…

This just went out from beleaguered Sony Pictures leaders Michael Lynton and Amy Pascal. Is it possible this will signal some peace and quiet, at least through the holiday? Now there is a Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza wish. Sent: Monday, December 22, 2014 09:21 AM Subject: A Thank You From Michael Lynton and Amy Pascal We…

Looks like Sony is taking no chances with The Interview in theaters, online or on the streets. With TV ads for the now axed film already canceled, billboards and bus side ads for The Interview have started to come down all over Los Angeles. With dozens of them across the city, a few billboards were still up as of…

UPDATE, Friday, 8:50 AM: The Hobbit:The Battle Of Five Armies made an estimated $9.96M Thursday, down 59%, however, such slides are usual on the second day following a solid Wednesday bow before biz picks up again on Friday. In addition, 20th Century Fox unspooled Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb in 2,531…

Jamie Foxx, Quvenzhane Wallis, and Cameron Diaz star in the latest film adaptation of Annie, the durable Broadway musical. This version has been given a hip-hop glaze with new songs from Jay-Z, but for all the changes, as I say in my video review above, I’m not sure the result is going to be any better ‘Tomorrow.’ The…

22 Jump Street and The Lego Movie co-director Phil Lord gleefully tweeted out the trailer for a new movie he says he’s behind: a soapy YA film MoonQuake Lake starring a blue-teary eyed Mila Kunis who has the hots for a wife-beater-shirt cum flannel clad dude, played by Ashton Kutcher. Rihanna is also in it, and a…