Annie is the protagonist of the Broadway musical Annie. The story follows Annie, an orphan girl living in a New York City orphanage during the Great Depression. At the start of the show, Annie is asleep as she dreams of finding her parents one day.
Does Annie literally wake up during the musical?
Yes, Annie wakes up multiple times throughout the musical Annie. The opening number “Maybe” shows Annie waking up in the orphanage and beginning her day. She later falls back asleep while dreaming of her parents coming to get her. Annie wakes up again when the orphanage supervisor Miss Hannigan demands the girls get up to clean.
Key moments when Annie wakes up in the musical include:
- The start of the show – Annie wakes up in the orphanage
- After dreaming of her parents – Annie wakes up disappointed it was just a dream
- When Miss Hannigan tells the orphans to clean
- The next morning after meeting Sandy the dog
- After spending the night at Oliver Warbucks’ mansion
So Annie definitely wakes up many times over the course of the musical during various scenes and musical numbers. Her waking up is used to transition between different parts of the story.
Does Annie wake up from her hard-knock life?
In a metaphorical sense, Annie does wake up from her miserable life at the orphanage. At the start of the musical, Annie is an orphan stuck in a dirty orphanage run by the alcoholic Miss Hannigan. Annie seems destined to live a hard-knock life in poverty.
When Annie meets the wealthy Oliver Warbucks, her life is changed forever. Warbucks decides to help Annie find her parents by offering a $50,000 reward. Annie gets to temporarily live in his mansion, escaping her difficult orphanage life.
Though her parents are never found, Warbucks decides to adopt Annie at the end of the musical. So Annie essentially wakes up from her poor lifestyle to a new life with a caring billionaire father figure.
| Annie’s life before | Annie’s life after |
|---|---|
| Orphan in a miserable orphanage | Adopted daughter of a billionaire |
| Forced to clean and live in poor conditions | Lives in a mansion with servants |
| Treated badly by Miss Hannigan | Loved and cared for by Warbucks |
So in a metaphorical sense, Annie wakes up from her depressing life as a neglected orphan to a new brighter future with Warbucks. Her whole world and life circumstances change drastically over the course of the musical.
Does Annie find her birth parents?
No, at the end of the musical Annie does not succeed in finding her birth parents. The search for her parents serves mainly as a plot device to bring Annie to the mansion of Oliver Warbucks.
Warbucks promises to help Annie find her real parents by offering a $50,000 reward. This brings in many pretenders with false claims just trying to get the money. Annie meets several couples pretending to be her mom and dad, but none turn out to be a real match.
By the end, Annie realizes that her search has been in vain. Her parents are either dead or have forgotten about her. But Annie has a new family now with Warbucks agreeing to adopt her. She accepts that she is an orphan and decides to stop dreaming about her real parents coming back for her.
So while the quest to find her parents shapes parts of the plot, Annie never does find or reunite with them by the musical’s conclusion. The mystery of her true family remains unsolved.
Key facts showing Annie never finds her birth parents:
- Dozens of imposters pretend to be her parents for the reward money
- Miss Hannigan’s brother poses as her father to steal the money
- No couples provide verifiable proof or memories of Annie
- Annie gives up her search realizing her parents are gone
- Warbucks adopts Annie at the end without finding the real parents
Does Annie find love?
Annie does not find romantic love over the course of the musical. Since she is only 11 years old, Annie is not involved in any romantic relationships in the show.
However, Annie does find loving family relationships. At the start, all Annie has is fellow orphanage mates. But through her adoption by Warbucks, she gains a devoted father figure and protector. Though not romantic, Warbucks provides Annie with the unconditional love of a parent.
Annie also finds a close relationship with Warbucks’ secretary Grace Farrell. Grace acts as a motherly figure to Annie during her stay in the mansion. So Grace provides some of the feminine, nurturing parental love Annie has missed out on.
The show ends with Annie embraced in the love of Warbucks, Grace, and her new friends. So while she does not find romantic love, Annie does discover the powerful love of family by the musical’s conclusion.
Key points showing Annie finds family love but not romance:
- Annie is only 11, so too young for romantic relationships
- Warbucks becomes like a caring, protective father to her
- Grace provides motherly love and guidance to Annie
- Annie sees the orphans as her sisters and brothers
- In the end she is surrounded by a loving unconventional family
Conclusion
In summary, Annie definitely wakes up many times throughout the musical as a narrative device to transition between scenes. She wakes up metaphorically as well from her bleak orphan life to a new hopeful future through adoption. However, Annie never succeeds in finding her actual birth parents by the story’s conclusion. And while she finds familial love, Annie does not discover romantic love either. So Annie both literally and figuratively wakes up during her inspiring rags-to-riches tale.