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."



A Topsy-Turvy Oscar Season Concludes Sunday. Here’s What to Look forward to

 Workers assemble an Oscar statue at the arrivals area for the 97th Academy Awards, as preparation continues in Los Angeles, California, US, March 1, 2025. (Reuters)
Workers assemble an Oscar statue at the arrivals area for the 97th Academy Awards, as preparation continues in Los Angeles, California, US, March 1, 2025. (Reuters)
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A Topsy-Turvy Oscar Season Concludes Sunday. Here’s What to Look forward to

 Workers assemble an Oscar statue at the arrivals area for the 97th Academy Awards, as preparation continues in Los Angeles, California, US, March 1, 2025. (Reuters)
Workers assemble an Oscar statue at the arrivals area for the 97th Academy Awards, as preparation continues in Los Angeles, California, US, March 1, 2025. (Reuters)

After a topsy-turvy Oscar season in which frontrunners were constantly shuffled, old tweets hobbled a top contender and space was held for "Wicked," the 97th Academy Awards get underway Sunday.

Sunday’s Academy Awards, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, will bring to a close one of the most unpredictable Oscar races in recent memory.

The ceremony kicks off 7 p.m. EST and will be broadcast by ABC and streamed on Hulu. Conan O’Brien is hosting for the first time. The official red carpet preshow on ABC and Hulu starts at 6:30 p.m. Unofficial E! red carpet coverage begins at 4 p.m. EST and The Associated Press will livestream arrivals beginning at 3 p.m.

Light rain was in the forecast for Sunday morning in Los Angeles, which is still recovering from wildfires that devastated the Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods earlier this year.

The fires affected many throughout the film industry and within the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Some even called for the cancellation of Hollywood’s awards season. While his Pacific Palisades house was spared, O’Brien has been living out of a hotel the last two months. Oscar producers have said the show will celebrate the city’s resilience.

Is there an Oscar favorite? The lead nominee is Netflix’s "Emilia Pérez," with 13 nominations, but that film has seen its chances crater following uproar over years-old offensive tweets by its star, Karla Sofía Gascón, who is nominated for best actress.

The favorite is Sean Baker’s "Anora," about an adult worker who weds the son of a Russian oligarch. The Neon release, the Cannes Palme d’Or winner, won with the producers, directors and writers guild. The only movie with the same resume to not win best picture is "Brokeback Mountain."

Its closest competition is "Conclave," the papal thriller starring Ralph Fiennes. It won at the BAFTAs and the SAG Awards, wins that came just as Pope Francis was hospitalized for double pneumonia. Oscar voting concluded before the pope fell ill.

Also in the mix are "The Brutalist," nominated for 10 awards, and the musical hit "Wicked," also with 10 nominations. Several of the early craft Oscars could be shared between "Wicked" and "Dune: Part Two."

Will politics play a starring role? For the first time, an actor is nominated for playing the sitting US president. Sebastian Stan is nominated for best actor for his performance as a young Donald Trump in "The Apprentice," as is his co-star, Jeremy Strong, for playing Roy Cohn. Trump has called those involved with the film "human scum."

The political tenor of this year’s ceremony could be volatile, with the Oscars coming weeks into the second Trump administration and falling two days after the president’s dramatic rupture with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

Speaking earlier this week, O’Brien said he'll strive to strike a delicate balance.

"I cannot ignore the moment we’re in," he said. "But I also have to remember it’s threading a needle. I also have to remember what we’re here to celebrate and infuse the show with positivity."

Will Timothée Chalamet win his first Oscar? While the supporting acting categories feature overwhelming favorites in Zoe Saldana ("Emilia Pérez") and Kieran Culkin ("A Real Pain"), both best actor and best actress are close contests.

In best actress, Demi Moore ("The Substance") is most likely to win, but Mikey Madison ("Anora") or Fernanda Torres ("I’m Still Here") could pull off the upset.

Adrien Brody is favored in best actor for his performance in "The Brutalist". But Chalamet stands a decent chance of beating him, for his performance as Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown." The 29-year-old Chalamet, who won at the Screen Actors Guild, would become the youngest best actor winner ever, edging Brody’s record, set in 2003 in his win for "The Pianist."

Can the show lift a battered Hollywood? This year's Oscars are unspooling after a turbulent year for the film industry. Ticket sales were down 3% from the previous year and more significantly from pre-pandemic times. The strikes of 2023 played havoc with release schedules in 2024. Many studios pulled back on production, leaving many out of work. The fires, in January, only added to the pain.

Last year’s telecast, propelled by the twin blockbusters of "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie," led the Oscars to a four-year viewership high, with 19.5 million viewers. This year, with smaller independent films favored in the most prominent awards, the academy will be tested to draw as large of an audience.

With a not particularly starry array of best song nominees, the academy has done away with performances of original songs this year. But there will be music, including a performance by "Wicked" stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, and a tribute to the late Quincy Jones, with Queen Latifah.

Last year’s acting winners — Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr., Cillian Murphy, Da’Vine Joy Randolph — will also take part in the ceremony. Though the academy initially said it would bring back the "fab five" style of presenting the acting awards, with five previous winners per category, organizers have reportedly abandoned those plans.

The ceremony will be taking place days following the death of Gene Hackman. The 95-year-old two-time Oscar winner and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead Wednesday at their New Mexico home.