Is It A Hard-Knock Life Directing “Annie?”

When you’ve come off a three-show run of highly-acclaimed productions as a director, what would prompt someone to tackle putting together a musical in two weeks? Not just any musical, but a big, splashy musical that features a lot of kids and a dog named Sandy. Well that’s precisely what Michael Arden is doing this summer. Next week there will be three performances of Annie at the Hollywood Bowl beginning Friday, July 27th.

Arden was a recent nominee for Best Director of a Musical for the revival of Once on This Island that is currently playing at the Circle in the Square Theatre in New York City. Though he didn’t win, the production surprised a lot of people by winning the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. (Carousel and My Fair Lady were the other nominees.) Prior to Once on This Island Arden directed Merrily We Roll Along  at the Wallis in Beverly Hills. His production with Deaf West Theatre of Spring Awakening transferred from the Wallis to Broadway. He earned a Tony nomination for that show.

I recently spoke with Arden by phone as he was going between meetings about Annie and meetings with actor Jefferson Mays about Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol which will open at the Geffen Playhouse in late October.

When I spoke with Adam Shankman about the production of Hair that he directed in 2014 he said, “I don’t want to cry in this interview, but I vastly underestimated the amount of work.” Do you realize what you’ve gotten yourself into?

I keep turning to members of the team saying “I’m not sure I can do this.” I’m terrified. It’s a huge show and children and dogs and a short amount of time and a big orchestra. I guess admitting you don’t know quite what you are doing is the first step.

What was it about doing this particular musical, Annie, that appealed to you?

Getting to make something on a big scale. The producers reached out and said, “Do you want to do this.” That’s not a show I ever wanted to direct. I was in it as a little kid. I thought that seems a strange choice having me direct Annie – which is why I wanted to do it. It’s a challenge and to do it in a venue I so love. It seemed like a quick “yes.”

Spring Awakening, Once on This Island and Merrily We Roll Along are all shows that had a loyal fan base, but not of them were as popular as Annie. How do you manage expectations die-hard fans have of the show yet still make it something beyond what only loyalists might expect?

I don’t necessarily have to reinvent the wheel. It’s a wonderful show that is always timely, but appears to be more so in the current climate. My job is to make something incredibly clear and honor this amazing score with amazing singers and actors. [Amongst the cast members are Ana Gasteyer, David Allen Grier, Megan Hilty, Roger Bart, Lea Salonga and Steven Webber. Kaylin Hedges (seen singing “Tomorrow” in the video below) plays “Annie.”] I think the reason we go to the theater is to see something live and new. So people expecting to see the same thing might as well go to Blockbuster and find it closed. The musical is quite different from the movie, so I’m happy to do service and homage to these great writers. [Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin, Thomas Meehan.] Some musicals beg for a context outside themselves. I don’t think this does.

You are directing a show that will play to 18,000 people each night. Does your vision have to play to the back row or just to the monitors that sandwich the stage?

It has to do both. You have to honor the fact we are all here together watching a live experience. You want people to watch the stage and know what’s going on. If people want to see people’s faces they are going to watch the monitor. This many people a night seeing Annie is exciting. When that many people gather together to witness a work of art something really beautiful happens. The message of the show and instilling hope into that many hearts is really exciting. To see a little girl bring together a Democrat and a Republic with hope and benevolence is something that many people will be watching.

How do you think lines like “I’ve decided that if my Administration’s going to be anything, it’s going to be optimistic about the future of this country” and the concept of a child separated from her parents and is trying to find them will play in today’s political landscape?

Oh, I think it’s going to be impossible to not hear those words echo through the theatre and see what’s going on. When our administration views children separated from parents as a hindrance as opposed to an opportunity, that’s a misstep and hopefully that’s what we’ll explore. It’s a different world than when I said “yes” to the project. It will be a different world [when the show opens.] It’s not my job to make it about what’s happening now, but to do Annie and the work on the page. The audience will come and see the world in the story.

With this fall’s A Christmas Carol and Annie you have two shows that have Christmas a part of the story. What is the gift that Annie is giving you as a director?

I think it is giving me an opportunity to satisfy my ego or the feeling like I need to put my ideas forth. It’s letting me honor something that’s wonderful and great and do the simplest and clearest work I can do. That’s a gift. Do things I want. I’ve had two kids in a show, but I’ve never had seven. It’s me breaking in a new skill set on a very large stage. It’s like the gift parents give the kid when they push them into the pool and say “swim.”

Next week look for our interview with Roger Bart about his role as “Rooster” in Annie.