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

Whoopi Goldberg attends an event, July 20, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP)
Whoopi Goldberg attends an event, July 20, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP)
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Whoopi Goldberg Plays the Baddie Onstage in ‘Annie’ This Holiday Season in New York

Whoopi Goldberg attends an event, July 20, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP)
Whoopi Goldberg attends an event, July 20, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP)

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."



Voice of 'The Lion King' Returns for Disney Prequel

Lebo M's voice soundtracked the opening to Disney's classic film "The Lion King" - AFP
Lebo M's voice soundtracked the opening to Disney's classic film "The Lion King" - AFP
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Voice of 'The Lion King' Returns for Disney Prequel

Lebo M's voice soundtracked the opening to Disney's classic film "The Lion King" - AFP
Lebo M's voice soundtracked the opening to Disney's classic film "The Lion King" - AFP

Born into poverty in apartheid-era South Africa and propelled to Hollywood heights, Lebohang Morake became the voice of Disney's classic film "The Lion King" with his powerful Zulu cry.

Now, 30 years after his chant of "Nants' Ingonyama" soared above the film's memorable opening sequence, the 60-year-old South African singer, producer and composer known as Lebo M is back.

This time he sings another opener for the prequel "Mufasa: The Lion King", which tells the story of orphaned lion Mufasa who grows up to be the king of the Pride Lands and the father of Simba.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the music for the film -- due to be released worldwide on December 18-20 -- said on the red carpet he would not have done it without Lebo M, AFP reported.
"That was the dream. I sort of insisted on that the moment I took the job because I think he is the secret sauce," he said at the world premiere in Los Angeles this week.

"I think he is the sound of 'The Lion King' and his choral arrangements, that were in addition to the songs I wrote, I think really make the movie feel of a piece with the original," he added.

The film, directed by Barry Jenkins, premiered in Los Angeles and London this week and opens with Lebo M's composition "Ngomso".

After the enormous impact of his work on the 1994 film, Lebo M told AFP in an interview he had felt the pressure to produce a worthy successor.

"I loved writing the first opening... but having to write and perform a new opening for 'The Lion King' after 30 years... it's quite a big challenge," he said.

In the end, he said, writing "Ngomso" turned out to be a remarkably similar process.

Lebo M produced and composed for the 2010 football World Cup opening and closing ceremonies in South Africa

The "Nants' Ingonyama" cry heard at the start of the "Circle of Life" song in the earlier film, he said, had been a demo for which he simply turned up, performed and left without expecting much to come of it.

Three decades later, he arrived at the studio early in the morning and just started making music "with a hi-hat (cymbals) and a bongo".

"By the time the director and everyone else came in at 11 am I'd written the entire song."

He said committing to the film had the advantage of allowing him to finally work with Miranda, something he had been keen to do for many years.

"It's just amazing energy non-stop. Very little discussion about these chords, this melody. We do! Just go in and everything flows... it allowed us to both to be very, very authentic to the movie," he said.

Born in Soweto in South Africa in 1964, Lebo M has built a reputation as the go-to artist for directors wanting authentic African flair for their productions.

He produced and composed for the 2010 football World Cup opening and closing ceremonies in South Africa.

A long creative association with composer Hans Zimmer, who has written the music for more than 150 films, has seen him feature as a special guest on all Zimmer's world tours.

But success was hard won with low points including racism he experienced, including in the entertainment industry, and two years living on the streets in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s.

"I'm constantly conscious of the fact that I'm a refugee, I'm non-American," he said.

"It was very difficult when Lion King became big in 1994. It was always about the three white guys, Elton John, Tim Rice and Hans Zimmer.

"Being born into extreme poverty was never here or there for me. I had music," he said, adding that as a teenager he had the choice of being a "gangster, a soccer player or the nerd".

This meant immersing himself in music and the arts and by the age of just 14 he was the youngest nightclub singer in South Africa.

Despite an illustrious career, Lebo M said he still bears the scars of the years when he was homeless.

"I've been in survival mode all the way.... Even with the perception of success that one is believed to have, it's still survival mode," he said.

He believes, however, that the US entertainment industry allowed him to "flourish more than I think I would have flourished anywhere else in the world".

After decades mostly behind the scenes, he said he is finally ready to meet his audience with his first of a series of concerts scheduled for next April in South Africa.

"I'm ready because I know there's anticipation in a global audience that would like to experience Lebo M live, not as a guest, not through movies," he said.

"And I also would like to experience that," he added.