Performances are scheduled for July 24-Aug. 1 in the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

Featuring a book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin, Annie is based on the famed comic-strip character who begins an orphan and ends up the daughter of a billionaire. The original Broadway production opened in April 1977 and made a star out of its first Annie, Andrea McArdle, and won a Tony for its Miss Hannigan, the late Dorothy Loudon. The show also won the Tony Award for Best Musical. Its classic score includes such tunes as "Tomorrow," "Maybe," "Little Girls," "Easy Street" and "It's the Hard Knock Life."

Andrea McArdle made her Broadway debut in the original 1977 production of Annie for which she received a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Her other Main Stem credits include Les Misérables, Starlight Express, Beauty and the Beast and State Fair. McArdle also played Rose in a production of Gypsy at Texas' Bay Area Houston Ballet & Theatre. Her screen credits include "Annie" and "Rainbow."

The theatre is currently presenting Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella through April 18.

For tickets call (800) 745-3000 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. For more information visit www.nctheatre.com.