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Los Angeles native lands lead in Broadway’s newest ‘Annie’

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A Los Angeles native has landed the title role in a new Broadway production of “Annie” opening this fall.

After a nine-month, multi-city search and more than 5,000 auditions, producers chose curly haired Lilla Crawford to play the adorable orphan.

Crawford is already a Broadway veteran: She made her debut last year playing Debbie in the closing cast of” Billy Elliot”and has performed more than a dozen shows with Youth Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles.

Annie -- which features music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin and book by Thomas Meehan -- will be directed and choreographed by Tony-winners James Lapine and Andy Blankenbuehler, respectively.

Based on the 1920s comic strip “Little Orphan Annie” by Harold Gray, “Annie” made its Broadway debut in 1977 and ran for six years a fueled by a soundtrack that included “Maybe,” “It’s The Hard Knock Life” and “Tomorrow.”

The musical also spawned the 1982 film starring Aileen Marie Quinn as Annie and Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan and a 1999 TV movie starred Kathy Bates as the boozed-up orphanage tyrant.

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