Tituss Burgess Joins NBC’s ‘Annie Live!’ as Rooster

“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” alum will play Taraji P. Henson’s brother in the live event

Tituss Burgess
Rich Polk/Getty Images

Tituss Burgess has joined the cast of NBC’s “Annie Live!”

The “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” alum will play the villainous Miss Hannigan’s brother Rooster. “Empire” star Taraji P. Henson will play Miss Hannigan. Per NBC, “Together they will hatch a plan to deceive Harry Connick Jr.’s Daddy Warbucks and Nicole Scherzinger’s Grace to make a fortune off of little orphan Annie.”

The lead role of Annie has not yet been cast.

“I’ve always wanted to be a villain,” Burgess said in a statement.

The broadcast network’s live production of the beloved Tony-winning musical, which is inspired by the classic comic strip that first appeared in 1924, will air Thursday, Dec. 2.

The event will be NBC’s first live musical broadcast since 2019’s “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert,” starring Brandon Victor Dixon, John Legend, and Sara Bareilles. The network’s past productions include “The Sound of Music,” “Peter Pan,” “The Wiz” and “Hairspray.”

“Annie Live!” will be executive produced by Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron and Alex Rudzinsky, with Lear deBessonet and Alex Rudzinski sharing the directing duties. Choreography will be led by Sergio Trujillo. Paul Tazewell will design costumes. Jason Sherwood will oversee production design. Stephen Oremus will orchestrate the music direction. The live event is being produced by Chloe Productions.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the casting.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.