Meehan is survived by his wife.Also available on eBook for £4.99. The original show was revived on Broadway in 2012 and was made into a film starring Quvenzhane Wallis in 2014. A stage sequel called “Annie Warbucks” ran off-Broadway in 1993.

The 1982 film version, which featured Carol Burnett in Loudon’s role, was not nearly as popular or well-received. With actress Andrea McArdle replacing Kristen Vigard as the red-haired moppet Annie and Dorothy Loudon added as Miss Hannigan, the production went on to open in New York in April 1977 with a bang. But Charnin brought in noted stage and film director Mike Nichols, who signed on as a producer, and helped him revise the show. “Annie” almost died at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut in 1976. The 1977 original won the Tony as best musical and ran for 2,300 performances, inspiring tours and revivals that never went out of style. Meehan made his Broadway debut with “Annie,” alongside Charnin and songwriter Charles Strouse. “There are not a lot of wits left in comedy, and Tom was a wit. “He was somebody who you could literally call a wit,” Charnin said. Meehan “one of the best around,” and from actress Kate Shindle, head of the Actors’ Equity Association, who called his death a “great loss.”Ĭharnin said Mr.

Tributes poured in on social media, including from “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who called Mr. “My career has always been that every time I try something really serious, it’s no good, but if I try to be funny, then it works.” Meehan told the Observer newspaper in 1999. “I wrote stories that were serious, very somber, trying to be in the style of William Faulkner,” Mr. Meehan wrote the books for three shows that ran over 2,000 performances on Broadway: “Annie” with 2,377 performances, “The Producers” with Mel Brooks at 2,502 performances and “Hairspray,” which he wrote with Mark O’Donnell and which reached 2,642 performances. We’ve been together and so close since the 1950s.” “It’s a gigantic loss, not only to the industry, but also to us.

“There’s a hole in my heart,” Charnin said. Charnin visited his old friend about 10 days ago. Meehan, who had been ill for about five months and had undergone surgery, died at his home in Manhattan late Monday or early Tuesday, longtime friend and “Annie” collaborator Martin Charnin said. NEW YORK - Three-time Tony Award-winning book writer Thomas Meehan, best known for transforming the Little Orphan Annie cartoon strip into the smash Broadway musical “Annie,” has died at age 88.

Annie book by thomas meehan