Annie Trivia
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This Annie trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and covers every version of the red-headed orphan: Harold Gray's 1924 comic strip, the 1977 Broadway musical by Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin and Thomas Meehan, the 1982 John Huston film with Carol Burnett and Aileen Quinn, the 1999 Wonderful World of Disney movie, the 2014 Quvenzhané Wallis remake and NBC's Annie Live! in 2021. Questions cover the plot (Miss Hannigan, Rooster and Lily, Grace Farrell, the locket, the $50,000 reward and FDR's cabinet), the songs, the record Broadway run, the girl who was replaced after a week, the actress who went on to Sex and the City, and the sequels that flopped. It suits theatre kids, school productions and anyone who has been humming 'Tomorrow' since childhood. Every answer was checked against a reference page and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The musical is based on a 1924 comic strip created by which cartoonist?
Harold Gray
Harold Gray created Little Orphan Annie in 1924 and drew the strip himself until his death in 1968.
Q 02Who wrote the music for Annie?
Charles Strouse
Charles Strouse composed the score; he also wrote the music for Bye Bye Birdie and the All in the Family theme 'Those Were the Days'.
Q 03The original Broadway production of Annie opened in which year?
1977
Annie opened on Broadway on April 21, 1977 and ran nearly six years, closing in January 1983.
Q 04How many performances did the original Broadway run of Annie play before closing in January 1983?
2,377
Annie played 2,377 performances on Broadway, running nearly six years before closing on January 2, 1983.
Q 05How many Tony Awards did Annie win in 1977?
Seven
Seven Tony Awards went to Annie that year, including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book and Best Actress in a Musical for Dorothy Loudon's Miss Hannigan.
Q 06Before Broadway, Annie premiered in 1976 to poor reviews at which Connecticut theatre?
Goodspeed Opera House
Annie premiered at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam in August 1976; heavily reworked, it then tried out at Washington's Kennedy Center before New York.
Q 07Who originated Annie on Broadway after the first actress was replaced for being too sweet?
Andrea McArdle
Andrea McArdle, then playing the orphan Pepper in the Connecticut try-out, replaced Kristen Vigard in the title role and earned a Tony nomination at 13.
Q 08Which future Sex and the City star played Annie on Broadway from March 1979?
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker began in the small orphan role of July before taking over the title role in March 1979, playing Annie for about a year.
Q 09In what year is the musical set?
1933
The musical is set in December 1933, in the depths of the Depression, and includes a scene in a New York Hooverville shanty town.
Q 10What is the first name of the drunken orphanage keeper Miss Hannigan in the 1999 TV film?
Agatha
Kathy Bates played Miss Agatha Hannigan, whom her brother Rooster calls 'Aggie'; Cameron Diaz's 2014 orphanage keeper is instead named Colleen Hannigan.
Q 11Grace Farrell comes to the orphanage looking for an orphan to spend which holiday at Warbucks' mansion?
Christmas
Grace Farrell, Warbucks's private secretary, chooses Annie to spend the Christmas holidays at the billionaire's Fifth Avenue mansion.
Q 12What is the name of the stray dog Annie adopts?
Sandy
She fools a policeman into believing the dog is hers by calling out the name. Sandy was one of the few comic-strip elements Meehan kept.
Q 13How much does Warbucks offer on Bert Healy's radio show to the couple who can prove they are Annie's parents?
$50,000
Warbucks offers $50,000 to whoever can prove they are Annie's parents, which sets up Rooster and Lily's con as 'Ralph and Shirley Mudge'.
Q 21How many performances did the 1993 Off-Broadway sequel Annie Warbucks run?
200
Annie Warbucks opened Off-Broadway at the Variety Arts Theatre in August 1993 and closed early in 1994 after 200 performances.
Q 22Who directed the 1982 film version of Annie?
John Huston
John Huston directed the film at 75; the veteran of The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen had never made a musical before.
Q 23Who played the orphanage keeper in the 1982 film?
Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett played Miss Hannigan; in the same film Bernadette Peters was Lily St. Regis and Ann Reinking was Grace Farrell.
Q 14Why does Annie cry when Warbucks tries to replace her broken keepsake with a new one?
It is all her parents left her
The reason is simple: It is all her parents left her. The broken locket's other half, which they kept, is her one proof they meant to return.
Q 15Which US president appears in the musical and is inspired by Annie's optimism?
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt and his cabinet join Annie in a reprise of 'Tomorrow', and in the show's telling her optimism inspires the New Deal.
Q 16Which song does radio host Bert Healy sing with the Boylan Sisters?
You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile
Bert Healy and the Boylan Sisters perform 'You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile' on the radio, and the orphans sing along to it back at the orphanage.
Q 17The song 'Tomorrow' was originally written by Strouse for a 1970 short film under what title?
Replay
Strouse first wrote the tune, with his own lyrics, for the 1970 short film Replay; the melody was reused in Annie as 'Tomorrow'.
Q 18Which song from Annie did Jay-Z sample for a 1998 hit single?
It's the Hard Knock Life
Jay-Z built 'Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)' in 1998 around the orphans' chorus of 'It's the Hard Knock Life', the number that opens the show's orphanage scenes.
Q 19The musical premiered in London's West End in 1978 at which venue?
Victoria Palace Theatre
Annie opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre in May 1978, with Sheila Hancock as Miss Hannigan and Stratford Johns as Warbucks.
Q 20The 1997 Broadway 20th-anniversary revival cast which singer as the orphanage keeper?
Nell Carter
Nell Carter, the Gimme a Break! star, played Miss Hannigan; the revival was dogged by the firing of its original Annie, Joanna Pacitti, shortly before opening.
Q 24Who played Daddy Warbucks in the 1982 film?
Albert Finney
Albert Finney shaved his head to play Daddy Warbucks and sang his own numbers, including 'Something Was Missing'.
Q 25Which song was written for the 1982 film rather than the stage musical?
Let's Go to the Movies
'Let's Go to the Movies', staged at Radio City Music Hall, was one of the new numbers the show's songwriters wrote for the film, replacing the stage song 'N.Y.C.'.
Q 26Where were the Warbucks mansion scenes of the 1982 film shot in 1981?
Monmouth University, New Jersey
Monmouth University, New Jersey (then Monmouth College) lent its Shadow Lawn mansion in West Long Branch as Warbucks's home.
Q 27The 1982 Annie cost about $35M and grossed how much, to mixed reviews?
$57 million
Annie took about $57 million at the North American box office, a disappointment against a budget reported at $35 million or more.
Q 28The 1982 film received two Oscar nominations, one for its song score and one for what?
Art Direction
The nominations were for Art Direction and for Adaptation Score; it won neither, while Aileen Quinn earned two Golden Globe nominations.
Q 29In the 1982 film, Warbucks' bodyguards are the Asp and which turban-wearing giant?
Punjab
Punjab, played by Geoffrey Holder, plucks Annie off the raised bridge from Warbucks's autogyro; he and the Asp both come from the comic strip.
Q 30The 1999 TV movie of Annie aired as part of which anthology series?
The Wonderful World of Disney
ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney aired it in November 1999, with Rob Marshall directing and choreographing and Alicia Morton as Annie.