Whoopi Goldberg Plays the Baddie Onstage in ‘Annie’ This Holiday Season in New York

Whoopi Goldberg is about to break two ironclad rules of show business — never work with animals or children.

The actor and TV host is slipping into the terrifying role of Miss Hannigan when the latest touring production of "Annie" lands in New York City for the holidays.

"I’m having the time of my life," the EGOT-winning Goldberg says between rehearsals as she readies to tell the tale of a spunky young orphan with her dog Sandy set during the Depression.

"I thought, ‘Who can we cast in that iconic role that would be right artistically and right for a large venue and right for an audience?’ And it just felt like she was the right person," says Carolyn Rossi Copeland, who is producing the new tour.

Goldberg will help lead the show at The Theater at Madison Square Garden from Dec. 11-Jan. 5. The tour has a deep connection to the first version of the hit show: It is being directed by Jenn Thompson, who at the age of 10 stepped into the role of Pepper in the original Broadway production.

"It’s been a really beautiful journey. I have a lot of ghosts I got to exorcise and revisit and reclaim," says Thompson, who for the new show has chipped away at the layers of productions and charted a course back to the original production.

"It had changed a lot over the years. It had gone through many revisions and alterations and it wasn’t even a conscious mission when I started but that’s where we ended up — kind of back at the beginning."

Goldberg laughs when she says she signed on before realizing how much was going to be required of her. "I’m rusty. I’m old," says the "The View" co-host.

"I got in the middle of it and I thought, maybe this is more than I can handle. And then a little voice said, ‘Really? You know, if you said this is more than I can handle to anyone, they would laugh you off the stage because it’s not.’ It’s exactly what I can handle."

Hannigan is a gin-swilling orphanage head who calls her charges "brats," denies them hot mush and threatens "your days are numbered." She has two great songs — "Easy Street" and "Little Girls."

The musical contains musical gems like "Tomorrow" and "It’s the Hard Knock Life." Martin Charnin’s lyrics, which earned him and songwriter Charles Strouse a Tony for best score in 1977, are playful and moving: "You’re never fully dressed/without a smile" and "No one cares for you a smidge/when you’re in an orphanage."

"I love the dark side of it," says Thompson. "There’s a lot of joy and there’s a lot of rage and they are in conversation with each other. And it’s what makes it a great musical in my mind."

"Annie" has been adapted many times for the screen, including a 1982 film version, another in 1999 and one in 2014 starring Quvenzhané Wallis, and a live TV version in 2021 on NBC with Harry Connick Jr. and Taraji P. Henson.

The tour after the new year will head to Maryland, Alabama, Illinois, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas and Wisconsin.

The musical was born in the wake of the Vietnam War and the Nixon administration and the creators have said they were seeking to offer some hope. "I think it is a story about survival and choosing the light when you are in the dark," says Thompson.

The musical first premiered on Broadway in 1977 and was revived in 1997 and 2012. The 1977 original show won the Tony Award as best musical and ran for 2,300 performances, inspiring tours and revivals that never went out of style. It last played New York on Broadway in 2012-14.

"The original show was just endowed with so much hope and optimism and the comedy in it was honest," says Copeland. "It’s really back to its roots. There’s no gags and gimmicks."

Others who have played Hannigan include Carol Burnett, Kathy Bates, Dorothy Loudon, Nell Carter, Katie Finneran, Jane Lynch and Henson. Goldberg says she's stayed away from watching any versions "so I wouldn’t copy other people."

Goldberg has a long history with New York theater, producing such shows as "Sister Act,Xanadu" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie," as well as performing in "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."

"I don’t sound like Cynthia Erivo," she says. "I don’t sound like Nicole Scherzinger. I don’t sound like anybody. I don’t sound like Audra McDonald. I just sound like me. And for ‘Annie,’ it’s the right sound."

The cast of the film “The Brutalist” is giving their director Brady Corbet all the credit when it comes to the strong acclaim for the movie.

“He's a special filmmaker because he focuses on psychology and behavior and those things that we as actors are genuinely interested in,” said Guy Pearce, who plays wealthy industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren.

“So, it was a real treat from start to finish,” he added.

The movie is an epic tale of a Hungarian immigrant who flees the horrors of World War Two to rebuild his life in the United States, and stars Oscar-winner Adrien Brody in the leading role of the architect Laszlo Toth.

"The Brutalist", which has a three-hour and 35-minute runtime and comes with a 15-minute intermission, was co-written by Corbet's wife, Mona Fastvold.

It was successful at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this year, with Corbet winning the best director prize.

The film, distributed by A24, arrives in movie theaters on Dec. 20 in the United States.

Brody, who had read the script nearly six years ago, expressed his deep connection to the story and his character through both his Hungarian-born mother and grandfather.

“Her [his mother’s] journey as an artist, her pursuits as an artist are deeply profound and linked to this,” he said.

For Brody, the role connected him with his mother’s yearning to leave something of great meaning behind, which was enhanced when contrasted with an understanding of hardship.

He also thought of his own grandfather's struggles with language and assimilation as a foreigner without work opportunities or respect.

“That (respect) was lost and taken from him,” Brody added.

His grandfather, fleeing from home due to the war, largely shaped the actor’s perspective of his role.

For “The Theory of Everything” actress Felicity Jones, who portrays Toth’s wife in the film, Erzsebet Toth, some of the most compelling aspects of the film are its characters and unique storytelling style.

“These characters, particularly Laszlo and Erzsebet, you know, they're doing everything they can to preserve their integrity and their self-worth,” she said.

Brody was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for best performance for a male actor in a motion picture drama and is receiving Oscar buzz for his role.

For “The Pianist” actor, having a strong team was key to the power of the film.

“In order to do work on this level, you need all of those to conspire with you and not against you,” Brody said.

Whoopi Goldberg Plays the Baddie Onstage in ‘Annie’ This Holiday Season in New York