Will Original Annie Star Andrea McArdle Return to Broadway as Miss Hannigan?

As Broadway’s favorite redheaded orphan Annie readies for a 2012 revival, the production could have an Annie pro run the orphanage. Tony nominee Andrea McArdle (who played the title role in the original 1977 mounting) is all grown up, but the actress still has a strong affinity for the show that launched her career. She recently starred in the North Carolina Theatre production of Annie, this time as the orphan's nasty nemesis Miss Hannigan, and she's gearing up to play the role at Musical Theatre West in Long Beach, California from October 29 through November 14. Broadway.com recently caught up with McArdle to find out if she'd be interested in reprising the role when the show comes back to Broadway. “I would,” she said. “Playing Miss Hannigan also means you’re going to be able to play Mama Rose and Mrs. Lovett and all those other roles I’ve wanted to play since I was eight years old.”

McArdle notes she had a blast during her summer stint at North Carolina Theatre as Miss Hannigan. “I’m usually never the funny person, so when you get a laugh and you weren’t the [comic] all your life, it’s pretty fun.” Revisiting the show 33 years after her Annie debut was "a very weird, surreal experience," McArdle confesses. "It was hard to learn, even though I knew the material in the back of my head. But I had the best teacher in the world because I got to watch [Tony-winning original Miss Hannigan] Dorothy Loudon onstage every night.”

Should she come back to Broadway as Miss Hannigan, McArdle said she won’t have any problems being cruel to the young actress playing the title role.“I definitely might be tougher on them than some,” she says of her experience with the role. “And did I mention that I hate kids?” (That's a joke: McArdle and her daughter, actress Alexis Kalehoff, have appeared together in Les Miserables.)

For a look at McArdle's take on Miss Hannigan from earlier this year, watch below!