NEW YORK (WS News) — 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.”
