Annies of Color
In a review of NBC’s Annie Live!, I read a term I’d never seen before – “Annies of color”. Kinda like “Santas of color” – which also makes me cringe. This review mentioned that the last two versions of Annie featured a black girl in the title role. And I’m all for anyone wanting to play Annie – it’s one of my least favorite musicals, so what do I care? But I have a question – if it’s OK to cast someone who doesn’t look like the iconic Annie from the comic strip, why, oh why, must Daddy Warbucks have a bald head? Someone must have realized that Harry Connick Jr. looked like he stumbled out of an SNL skit! And here’s another thing – if people feel Othello must be played by a black man, and Madama Butterfly must be played by an Asian woman, why doesn’t anyone feel that Annie must be played by a Caucasian girl?
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