Whoopi Goldberg Jokes She’s ‘Rusty’ Ahead of Her Return to Theater in “Annie”: ‘The Old Bones Are Creaking’ (Exclusive)

The TV celebrity will play Miss Hannigan for the national tour of the well-loved musical’s New York City run.

Whoopi Goldberg is prepared to perform once more!

The 69-year-old actress and TV personality is making her eagerly awaited stage comeback as the notorious Miss Hannigan during the Annie national tour’s run in New York City.

December 11 marks the start of Goldberg’s role in the show. The limited engagement will begin at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on December 4 and run through January 5, 2024, before making stops in Baltimore, Indianapolis, San Francisco, and other cities.
Despite having made her Broadway debut in her namesake one-woman show more than 40 years ago, Goldberg says she is out of practice in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE ahead of the play’s Big Apple opening.

Her words, “I’m rusty, trust me,” “I won’t be as rusty when you see me, but the old bones are creaking as I move.”

One of the most adored musicals ever is Annie. The plot, which is based on Harold Gray’s 1924 comic Little Orphan Annie, follows a young orphan as she encounters wealthy Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks and sets out to discover her parents.

Thomas Meehan, the author of the novel, adapted it for the stage, and Martin Charnin wrote the lyrics and Charles Strouse composed the music. The Broadway version of Annie debuted in 1977 and continued for six years. It has been brought back to the boards twice, most recently in 2012, when Jane Lynch and Katie Finneran played Miss Hannigan.

A number of film adaptations of the musical have also been made, starting with the 1982 version that starred Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan and included Tim Curry, Ann Reinking, Albert Finney, and Bernadette Peters. Also, an all-star cast, including Kathy Bates’s Miss Hannigan, starred in a 1999 television film. Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, Audra McDonald, and Victor Garber also starred in the film.

For the first time, a Black actress portrayed Annie on cinema when she made a comeback in 2014 with Quvenzhané Wallis in the major role. This time, Cameron Diaz costarred with Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne, and Jamie Foxx as Miss Hannigan.

Jenn Thompson, a former cast member of Broadway, is the director of this production.
Goldberg has played a number of well-known theatrical parts during her career, including Prologus and Pseudolus in the 1996 Broadway revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and the lead role in the 2003 Broadway revival of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

However, she has never portrayed a villain. “I keep trying to get people to make me monsters [and] villains, and people are like ‘no,'” Goldberg told PEOPLE. “So these folks said, ‘Well, we’re not gonna listen to anybody else and we’re gonna offer you this part.'”

She is now having “lots of fun” playing Miss Hannigan and connecting with the “fantastic” young girls who comprise the orphanage, according to Goldberg.

“They’re all wonderful actors,” she adds of her young co-stars. “They have been so open and so wonderful to me, and it makes it a pleasure to go to the rehearsals.”

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In addition, the EGOT winner, who was a producer on Thoroughly Modern Millie and received a Tony Award in 2002, says she finds inspiration in her enormous cast.

“The thing that I can say about this, which I love more than anything, is the group feel,” Goldberg says. “The groove of all of us working together is something I missed, where you’re all working to get it together and actors are helping other actors.”

For The View co-host, who has happy memories of spending her holidays in Manhattan as a child, bringing the show to New York City over the holidays is a unique experience.

Goldberg remembers, “We had all of New York to go and walk around,” “It was Macy’s and Gimbels [department store], the Santas and the displays. And Annie is just that. In fact, it is an entire homage to New York. I grew up in New York, and that’s what it is.”

“Many of those locations have largely disappeared. Gimbels is no longer there, but Macy’s is. Thus, it’s the atmosphere of New York during my childhood holidays,” Goldberg continues. “And I thought, ‘Well, okay,’ when they said, ‘We’re going to do this’ during the holidays. I don’t have any plans. Come on, let’s do that! That’s ideal! ”

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Hazel Vogel plays the title character in Annie, Christopher Swan plays Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks, Julia Nicole Hunter plays Grace, and Mark Woodard plays Franklin D. Roosevelt. Goldberg also stars in the film.

Rhett Guter, Anna Dillon, Kylie Noelle Patterson, Olive Ross-Kline, Nora West, Stephen Cerf, Anthony DaSilva, Savannah Fisher, Alloria Frayser, Brooke Olivia Gatto, Caroline Glazier, Ryan Mulvaney, Joel Newsome, Melinda Parrett, Lawrence E. Street, Drew Tanabe, and Stephanie Wahl are also on the tour.

Labradoodle Avril Kagan is a swing for performances in New York City only, Stefanie Londino will play Miss Hannigan throughout tour sites outside of New York City, and Kevin will play Annie’s dog Sandy.