Cartoonist Harold Gray created a weekly comic strip for the Chicago Tribune in 1924. Called "Little Orphan Annie," the strip featured a tough red-headed orphan who went on adventures fighting crooked politicians, gangsters and even Nazis.
"Annie" was established as a viable Broadway project in the early 1970s. Lyricist Marting Charnin teamed with playwright Thomas Meehan and composer Charles Strouse to write and coordinate the musical.
"Annie" opened on April 21, 1977, in New York's Alvin Theatre. It ran for 2,377 performances and went on tour throughout the United States, Mexico, Australia and Japan.
Much of the success of "Annie" stemmed from the character herself, played by a young spunky girl, and the music that has become associated with the production. The two most successful songs are "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard-Knock Life."
Spurred on by the success of numerous film adaptations, a sequel to "Annie" was produced in 1989 and bombed. The original musical was revived in 1997 and toured multiple times over the next decade.