PMT Opens ‘Annie’ at the Byham Theater (Thurs., 2/19/26)

ANNIE (musical) by Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse, and Martin Charnin. Pittsburgh Musical Theater. February 19 – March 1.

Not many Broadway musicals are adapted from comic strips, but among them is one of the greatest. Annie won seven Tony Awards in 1977, including the major ones for Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score. Since then, the show has been revived in productions worldwide. Lyricist Martin Charnin was inspired to create the musical after reading a collection of “Little Orphan Annie” comics. The long-running daily strip, launched by cartoonist Harold Gray in 1924, featured a spunky little girl who escapes a hard life in an orphanage when she’s taken in as a ward by one of the country’s richest men, Oliver (Daddy) Warbucks. The cartoon artist kept the series popular for decades by having Annie and Daddy drawn into exotic adventures, often involving sinister bad guys. Time and again, Annie’s grit combined with Daddy’s clout saved the day.

For the musical, lyricist Charnin teamed with playwright Thomas Meehan and composer Charles Strouse to create a new story. It’s a highly embellished origin story, in which Daddy and Annie are just starting to form a deep parent-child bond when they’re tested by events that threaten to split them apart. The show turned out to be both heartwarming and rollicking, as well as appealing to anyone who’s ever been a parent or a child—which covers a lot!  Pittsburgh Musical Theater presents Annie as its first production of 2026. Byham Theater. 7:30 p.m. 101 6th St., Cultural District. (M.V.) 

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