Broadway's Annie continues its efforts to court family audiences. The latest gambit has a patriotic flair: Two-for-one tickets for a 6 PM performance July 4th, Independence Day. To get them, just call (212) 947-8844 and say the word "Banner" (as in, "Star Spangled"). There's also an advertisement for the show in the Friday, June 20, New York Times, that may be brought to the box office to get the same deal.

Other recent efforts to expand the show's patronage include...editing. With a running time of two hours and 45 minutes, the new revival of Annie at Broadway's Martin Beck Theatre was something of a long sit for the growing number of children in the audience. So director Martin Charnin pruned 15 minutes from the show, including the first-act, "Hooverville" segment and its song, "We'd Like To Thank You," with its array of friendly but bedraggled homeless New Yorkers, sarcastically thanking President Hoover for his "assistance."

A spokesperson from the Cromarty & Company press office told Playbill On-Line the scene where Annie and Warbucks visit FDR at the White House has also been trimmed, eliminating Roosevelt introducing the orphan to each of his staff members.

Because there are no special tickets or prices for children, it's hard for the producers to calibrate what percentage of the audience is children. Nevertheless, the perception that Annie is a family show, and needs to keep its younger patrons from squirming, has led to the cuts.

The show was nominated for a Best Musical Revival 1997 Tony Award, and star Brittny Kissinger sang "Tomorrow" on the CBS-TV Tony broadcast, June 1.