“IT’S THE HARD KNOCK LIFE”: “Annie” comes to the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick as part of a new tour the weekend of February 2-4. (Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)

Jenn Thompson, who at the age of 10 took the role of “Pepper” in the original Broadway production of Annie, directs the current production of the musical, coming to State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick February 2-4.

The Tony Award-winning show will be performed on Friday, February 2 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, February 3 at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, February 4 at 1 p.m. Tickets range from $40-$105.  

“This show, with its iconic title character, continues to delight generations of theater lovers old and new by joyfully singing directly into the face of great adversity with perseverance, guts, and guile,” said Thompson. “For decades, Annie has continued to shine brightly, not only as an appeal to our better angels, but also as an example of the thrill of hope, hard-won: promising a better ‘Tomorrow’ not only for Annie herself, but for all who need her message now more than ever.” 

The score includes “Maybe,” “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,” “Easy Street,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You,” and “Tomorrow.”

Annie features a book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Martin Charnin. All three authors received 1977 Tony Awards for their work.  

By permission of Tribune Content Agency, LLC, Annie is based on Harold Gray’s popular comic strip “Little Orphan Annie,” which premiered in the 1920s in the New York Daily News and became one of the most widely read strips in the 30s and 40s. Lyricist Charnin bought a coffee table book called The Life and Hard Times of Little Orphan Annie as a Christmas gift for a friend in 1970. The clerk at the bookstore was too busy to wrap the book, so Charnin took the book home to wrap it.  Instead, he read it and fell in love with the strip and set out to secure the rights. The friend never got the book. 

The original production of Annie had its world premiere on August 10, 1976 at the Goodspeed Opera House and opened on Broadway on April 21, 1977 at the Alvin Theatre. It went on to win numerous awards and closed on Broadway after playing 2,377 performances. Annie was revived on Broadway in 1997 and again in 2014. It has been made into a film three times (1982, 1999, 2014) and was most recently featured as a live television production on NBC.

The State Theatre is at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick. For tickets and more information, visit stnj.org.