ANNIE STARS REUNITE

Tim Curry and his co-star Aileen Quinn reunite after 33 years, as he is honored with The Actors Fund Lifetime Achievement Award a couple months ago at the Tony Awards Viewing Party in Los Angeles.

He is recovering from a stroke that continues to affect his speech, but that didn't stop legendary actor Tim Curry from attending a Tony Awards viewing party in LA on Sunday night.

Now it has been revealed that as well as receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the event, the 69-year-old actor was also reunited with his co-star in the musical Annie, after 33 years.

Actress Aileen Quinn, 43 - who played the lead role of the little orphan in the 1982 movie - spoke to People about their emotional reunion.

'Tim was the one [co-star] I hadn't seen in 30 years,' she told them. 'It was very emotional because what people don't realize about him is how kind he is in real life.'

The actor - who suffered a stroke almost three years ago - recently spoke about the importance of keeping a sense of humour throughout life, and Aileen echoed the sentiment to People.

She explained: 'When I came up to him I was like, "Tim, do you remember this face?" And he said, "Of course I do!" and he had kind of this wry smile,'

'He has that twinkle in his eye as always. Even though it's not quite the same as 30 years ago because he's older now, we had a very nice moment.'

She added: 'He's fighting the good fight. He's hanging in there. He came, he talked to a bunch of people, he got his award. He's a real fighter in true Annie spirit!'

Aileen currently fronts the band Aileen Quinn and the Leapin' Lizards and just released the album Spin Me. 

Meanwhile, Speaking recently to Los Angeles magazine, Tim said that he has been 'doing well' and was 'looking forward' to receiving the honor.

It is the legendary star's sense of humor that has helped helped him to remain optimistic since his July 2012 stroke when he collapsed at his Los Angeles home.

Tim is best known for his role as the brilliantly mad transvestite scientist Dr Frank N Furter in the The Rocky Horror Show (1975).

Meanwhile, at the viewing party, the veteran actor arrived in a black suit and was seated in a wheelchair.

He joins Theodore Bikel, Alfred Molina and Joe Morton as recipients of the same lifetime achievement award.

When asked what life would be like for him if it reflected the theater, he said: 'Scary. Well the theater is scary. And the longer the time in between the periods in the theater, the scarier it gets.

Adding: 'Life isn’t meant to be scary. It’s to be celebratory. In which case, it would be like the theater. I think of that as a celebration of life.' 

Source

RECENTLY VIEWED: ANNIE

One of the memorable movies I remember seeing as a child was 1982's Annie. I am not afraid to say that I love this movie to this day. The movie was not the best musical Hollywood ever produced, but its a fun movie to watch. The film was directed by John Huston, written by Carol Sobieski, choreographed by Arlene Phillips with musical sequences created by Joe Layton, and features an ensemble cast consisting of Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Ann Reinking, Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters, Geoffrey Holder, Edward Herrmann, and Aileen Quinn in her feature film debut.

The producer of the film, Ray Stark, wanted both John Huston and Joe Layton while working as the director and choreographer respectively, to also be executive producer on the film, because it was too large an enterprise for one person. Regarding Huston being given the job of directing the first (and what would be the only) musical in his 40-year directing career, screenwriter Carol Sobieski said: "Hiring John [Huston] is an outsider risk, and Ray's [Stark] a major gambler. He loves this kind of high risk situation."[

For reasons yet explained, it was planned that the staging for the intimate, secretive song "Easy Street" would be the biggest number in the film. A special outdoor street set, costing $1 million, was built, and it took over one week to shoot the scene. However, the final number was thought to be "overstuffed" and "sour." Nearly two months after the film had finished shooting, an indoor, more intimate number was shot that mimicked the ambience portrayed in the original 1977 musical.

The production filmed for six weeks at Monmouth University in New Jersey, which has two mansions that were used in the film, one of which is the Shadow Lawn Mansion (now known as Woodrow Wilson Hall). An abandoned railroad bridge over the Passaic River in Newark was used for location shooting of one of the climatic scenes.

There are major differences between the original Broadway show and the movie version. The film featured four new songs, "Dumb Dog", "Let's Go to the Movies", "Sign", and "We Got Annie", and cut "We'd like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover", "N.Y.C", "You Won't Be an Orphan for Long", "Something Was Missing", "Annie", and "New Deal for Christmas". In addition, the song "Maybe" has two reprises while "Little Girls" and "Easy Street" do not.

In the stage musical, Miss Hannigan, Rooster, and Lily are caught at the Warbucks mansion, thus their plan to kidnap Annie fails as they are arrested by the President's Secret Service. In the movie, Annie is kidnapped, leading to Warbucks organizing a citywide search and while escaping, Rooster chases her up the B&O Bridge. Miss Hannigan's heart softens and she also attempts to rescue her from being killed by him, but he knocks her out and continues the chase. Eventually, Punjab rescues her by autocopter and returns her safely at the end. Miss Hannigan is then shown joining in the celebration at the end of the movie and showing a possible romantic interest in Punjab.

In its initial release, the film made $58 million dollars, but it cost $50 million to make. The casting of British actor Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks was interesting, because he did not have much of a singing voice. He made one movie musical earlier - Scrooge (1970) in London. I am also surprised that Bernadette Peters did not have a bigger role in the movie. By 1982, she had made some great movies like The Jerk (1979) with Steve Martin, but her role was minor in this film. Carol Burnett made the movie for me. No matter who I see play Miss Hannigan, Burnett made that role hers. She is the best part of the movie. Reportedly, Burnett would know when it was one of the child actor's birthday party and throw them a little party on the set. Also, when Annie celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2012, Burnett sent star Aileen Quinn a gold locket that read "Always my Annie". Just know those stories makes watching the movie a heartwarming experience, and it makes you definitely realize that the sun will always come out tomorrow...

MY RATING: 9 OUT OF 10

ANNIE: THIRTY YEARS LATER

"Annie" burst out onto the screen thirty years ago now, and it is hard to believe that it's actually been that long. It is truly hard to believe that it has been that long but the girl who played Annie - Aileen Quinn - is no longer a little girl as she is now 41.

Back in 1982, "Annie" became a huge phenomenon and the anniversary is being celebrated with a special edition, commemorative Blu-ray. It will feature a sing-a-long feature that allows fans to go right along with their favorite songs.

.Aileen Quinn is all grown up now, but she will always be Annie.

Yahoo Movies did speak with Quinn, and the former child star revealed some interesting facts about "Annie" that were previously unknown. They bring some cool info to life, especially about the audition.

The late Gene Siskel, famed movie critic, was very critical of "Annie" even though it garnered a few Oscar nominations and Quinn got a Golden Globe nomination. Quinn remembers, "He said 'I think those freckles were painted on.' And if you could see me right now in person they were definitely not painted on. I'm a freckled girl, I'm very Irish."

Quinn discussed co-star Carol Burnett (Miss Hannigan) as being a huge lifesaver for her. They are still in touch to this day and even get together for dinners once in a while. Quinn says that Burnett took good care of her on the set and would never let her get in harm's way.

For auditions, director John Huston staged a huge nationwide hunt for the lead in "Annie." The audition process involved 8,000 hopeful little girls over the span of a year. Quinn said she auditioned eight total times and couldn't believe it when she got the part. She was told by search coordinator Garrison True after another screen test.

"He said, 'We found our Annie ' And I said, 'Oh my gosh who is it!?' and he said, 'It's YOU!' [laughing]. 'You're going to be on the "Today Show" tomorrow,'" Quinn recounted. "I was in shock."

"What a great actor to work with," she said of Albert Finney. Finney was beginner in singing. Quinn recalls her fondest memory of Finney's constant singing practice on the sets.

"One of my favorite memories of him is [Albert] learning to really sing for the first time. He did that beautiful version of 'Maybe' ... As he was taking singing lessons on the set, I can remember him with a cigar out of his mouth and going 'la la la la la la la,' pause, 'la la la la la la la."

Quinn has disclosed how when she was sleepy between takes, Finney would tickle her knees to keep her awake when they were sitting in the back of the Duesenberg.

Finney was also a beginner in dance. Quinn also shares how dedicated Finney was to learning the right moves. He would put bottle caps underneath his loafers to practice tap dancing, "He was, like, in it to win it... so adorable."

Carol Burnett, who played the role of the almost always tipsy orphanage warden, Miss Hannigan, was a mother-hen to Quinn and the two keep in touch till date.

"She (Burnett) would help me do my homework on set, cover the hole when I was climbing the bridge (in the final sequence of the film) and just protect me. She was so kind," Broadway.com quoted Quinn as saying.

The memory with Bernadette Peters that Quinn remembers the most is when Peters was struggling with driving a stick shift. "...this New York City girl was having a lot of trouble with that."

Quinn presently serves as an adjunct professor at Monmouth University, New Jersey, whose administration building was used as Warbucks' mansion in the film. However, she is on extended leave as she has also started a band aptly called "The Leapin Lizards," which covers the 50s songs with a modern touch.

Entertainment Weekly asked the former child artist if she still had a closet of red dresses. Quinn replied that she didn't have any but her mother had kept two of the "Annie" dresses for safe keeping...

SOURCE

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: AILEEN QUINN

You may not recognize the name Aileen Quinn, but you know her better as "Annie". Quinn starred in the 1982 movie version of the hit broadway musical ANNIE. The movie version, directed by John Huston, was not considered a hit when it came out, but it has developed a cult following.

Aileen Quinn was born in Yardley, Pennsylvania, United States in 1971, to a Helenann Quinn, a theater actress, from whom she drew the inspiration to also become an actress. Raised in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Quinn was a swing (covering multiple orphan roles) in the Broadway company of Annie before moving on to the title role at age 10 in the film production of Annie (1982).

She was chosen to be Annie in the film version from 8,000 girls. The announcement was made in January 1981 by director John Huston, who introduced Aileen as his Annie to the world on nationwide TV. In 1985 she was Dorothy in 'The Wizard Of Oz', and in 1986 she was Annie once again, except this time it was the stage musical. Opposite her as Daddy Warbucks was Harve Presnell, who had played the role for years on Broadway and in one of the National Tours. When Aileen was a senior in high school, she starred in 'A Day In Hollywood, A Night In The Ukraine' in Bristol, Pennsylvania.

Aileen graduated in the spring of 1989 and did one year at Pitzer College in southern California before transferring to Drew University nearer home in New Jersey. (B.A. with honors in Spanish from Drew University) Like numerous child stars before her, Aileen chose not to study show biz in college; instead she took a few years away from it and studied languages, especially Japanese and Spanish. She spent six months with a family in Chile as part of an exchange program in college and considered it one of her life's most rewarding experiences.

 

After graduation from Drew, Aileen once again took to the stage and in 1994 she played Bette in 'Oliver!' at the famous Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. And at the end of 1995 she went out on tour in 'Fiddler On The Roof'. In 1997 Aileen was in two off-Broadway shows, 'Dreamstuff' and 'Yiddle With a Fiddle'. In 1998 she was on Broadway in 'Peter Pan', but in early 1999, Aileen left the show and moved to Los Angeles for a couple of years.

 

Quinn hosted Generation Gap, an interactive sitcom used to teach kids how to resolve conflicts. It was written and directed by filmmaker Edna Harris and aired on PBS in 2004. Quinn played a minor role in the 2009 film Multiple Sarcasms, starring Timothy Hutton and Mira Sorvino. Quinn is an adjunct theater professor at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

Other than doing occasional acting work, Quinn is also a Spanish, Drama and Dance teacher at Hudson Catholic Regional High School in Jersey City, New Jersey.

FOR MORE ON AILEEN QUINN AND ANNIE - PLEASE GO HERE