(OCEAN TOWNSHIP, NJ) -- Leapin’ lizards! Annie is coming to the Jersey Shore! Broadway’s original Annie, Andrea McArdle, will grace the Axelrod stage as Ms. Hannigan from November 2-18. This new production of Annie is directed and choreographed by New Jersey native Al Blackstone, whose career started on Broadway in Wicked and then moved to FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance, for which he received a 2018 Emmy Award nomination.

In playing Ms. Hannigan, McArdle has come full circle in the play that made her a Broadway star. Annie opened on Broadway in 1977 and quickly become a worldwide hit, winning seven Tony® Awards, including Best Musical.

At the age of 7, McArdle began performing in musical theater and television commercials. By 1974, she had a regular role on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow, winning an award for best daytime juvenile actress. She continued on the show for two and a half years before being cast in the chorus of “tough girls” for the road tryouts of the new musical Annie.

As the lead in Annie, she became the youngest performer ever to be nominated for a Tony as Best Lead Actress in a Musical. Her other Broadway credits include State Fair, Jerry’s Girls, Beauty and the Beast and Les Miserables. She has shared the stage with such luminaries as Ethel Merman, Liza Minnelli, Julie Andrews, Bob Hope, Liberace and Frank Sinatra, and appeared on numerous television shows.

A native of Brick, NJ, Blackstone is a recipient of the 2011 Capezio A.C.E. Award for Choreographic Excellence. He learned from his parents, who were teachers at the Denise Daniele Dance Center in Brick for 45 years, and he, too, is a natural teacher and choreographer.

While working mostly in musical theater, Blackstone’s passion for contemporary and jazz dance enrich his unique approach to storytelling in musicals, films, television shows, dance companies, universities, and more.

This production marks the Northeast debut of Blackstone as director, and McArdle’s portrayal of Miss Hannigan.

Based on Harold Gray’s popular comic strip “Little Orphan Annie,” the musical features a score by prolific Broadway composer Charles Strouse, with lyrics by the show’s original director Martin Charnin, and a book by Thomas Meehan. Strouse is also famous for his score to Bye, Bye Birdie, Applause, Golden Boy and two dozen other musicals.

Annie runs November 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17 at 8:00pm, November 3, 10, 11, 17 at 2:00pm, November 4, 18 at 3:00pm and November 11 at 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased online at www.axelrodartscenter.com or by calling the box office at 732-531-9106, ext. 14. The Axelrod PAC is located at 100 Grant Avenue, Deal Park, NJ, and is completely accessible with ample free parking.

The Axelrod Performing Arts Center is New Jersey’s newest professional theater, specializing in the production of musical theater. APAC fosters artistic excellence by showcasing varied and distinct cultural programs that enrich the imaginative, intellectual, and creative soul, while cultivating an appreciation of diverse communities through the pursuit of the arts.