Andrea McArdle remembers the week Michael Jackson kept coming back to Annie
Broadway legend Andrea McArdle just opened up her personal archives with an incredible story from 1977 — one that puts a young Michael Jackson backstage at Annie, at her 14th birthday party and eventually welcoming McArdle onto the set of The Wiz.
And this was not some one-night celebrity drop-in. According to McArdle, Michael came to see her perform in Annie three times in a single week. For a teenager who already considered him one of her favorite singers, she says the memory still leaves her a little stunned nearly five decades later.
The timing makes the story even better. McArdle was Broadway’s original Annie, starring in one of the defining musicals of the 1970s, while 19-year-old Jackson was across New York making his first — and ultimately only — starring feature-film performance as the Scarecrow in The Wiz.
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Two Young Stars, One Wild 1977 New York Moment
Andrea McArdle was Broadway’s original Annie while Michael Jackson was filming The Wiz across New York — and somehow their worlds collided three times in one week, at a birthday party and on a movie set.
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Michael Jackson Saw Annie Three Times in One Week
“Michael Jackson came to see me in Annie three times in one week!” McArdle recalled in her new post, adding that she remains in awe that it actually happened.
By then, McArdle had become a Broadway phenomenon herself. Annie opened at the Alvin Theatre on April 21, 1977, with McArdle originating the title role opposite Dorothy Loudon and Reid Shelton. The production would win seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, while McArdle earned a nomination for Best Actress in a Musical while still a teenager.
So the picture here is kind of fabulous: one teenage music superstar repeatedly turning up to see another teenage performer command Broadway.
Then Michael Showed Up for Andrea McArdle’s 14th Birthday
The friendship apparently did not end at the theater doors.
McArdle says Michael attended her 14th birthday party and brought his brothers Tito and Jermaine Jackson with him. McArdle turned 14 on November 5, 1977, putting the celebration directly inside the period when The Wiz was filming around New York.
It is also a memory she has carried publicly for years. During the 2017 celebration of Annie’s 40th anniversary, McArdle again recalled Michael coming to her birthday with Tito and Jermaine. Her newest post adds even more texture to the story.
“Michael and his family were always so kind to us,” she wrote.
The Best Part: Michael Invited Her Onto The Wiz Set
Then comes the part that takes the story from wonderful to ridiculous-in-the-best-way.
While Jackson was making The Wiz, McArdle says he personally invited her, her brother and her mother to visit the set. They did not just watch from a hallway or stop by for a quick hello, either.
According to McArdle, they watched Michael film “Ease on Down the Road,” the film’s signature number pairing Jackson’s Scarecrow with Diana Ross’ Dorothy.
What Andrea Was Walking Into on The Wiz Set
This is where the historical context makes McArdle’s memory even richer. The Wiz was not a modest movie musical tucked away on a soundstage. It was a massive New York production directed by Sidney Lumet, written for the screen by Joel Schumacher and produced by Rob Cohen.
The filmmaking team was stacked: Oswald Morris served as cinematographer, legendary editor Dede Allen cut the film, Tony Walton designed its enormous New York-meets-Oz world, Quincy Jones served as musical director and Louis Johnson choreographed the production.
Principal photography began on October 3, 1977 and continued through late December, using Astoria Studios and locations across New York City. The World Trade Center became the Emerald City; Coney Island, Shea Stadium, Flushing Meadows and other familiar New York spaces were transformed into Oz.
So when a 14-year-old McArdle stepped onto that set, she was walking into one of the biggest musical productions happening anywhere in the city — invited there personally by Michael.
Broadway’s Annie and Motown’s Scarecrow Were Both Having a 1977 Moment
There is something especially charming about the ages involved here. McArdle was still just 13 when Annie opened that April and turned 14 during the run. Jackson was 19 and already more than a decade into his own career when he took on the Scarecrow.
Neither could have known exactly where their careers would go next. McArdle was in the middle of the role that would permanently attach her name to Broadway history; Jackson was several years away from Off the Wall and the solo superstardom that would change pop music.
For one stretch of 1977 New York, though, they were simply two very young performers moving through two enormous productions at the same time — and apparently becoming friendly enough that Michael kept coming back to Annie.
Nearly five decades later, McArdle still sounds a little amazed that all of it happened. Honestly, we get it.
It is the kind of show-business memory that feels almost impossible now: Michael Jackson repeatedly slipping into Annie, showing up at the original Annie’s birthday with Tito and Jermaine, then inviting her family onto a Sidney Lumet movie set to watch him perform.
Andrea McArdle’s Full Michael Jackson Memory
“Michael Jackson came to see me in Annie three times in one week! Since he has always been one of my favorite singers of all time, I am still in awe that it really happened! I was even more excited when Michael came to my 14th Birthday party and brought Tito and Jermaine. Michael and his family were always so kind to us. At the time he came to Annie, he was also in town filming The Wiz. He invited me to come on set and also invited my brother and mother – we got to watch him film Ease On Down The Road!”
Andrea McArdle
McArdle’s own words are the heart of the story: three visits to Annie, her 14th birthday with Tito and Jermaine, and a personal invitation for her family to watch Michael film “Ease on Down the Road” during The Wiz.
See Andrea McArdle’s Original Michael Jackson Memory on TikTok
McArdle shared the firsthand memory — and a vintage image from her own archive — while recalling Michael Jackson’s visits to Annie, her birthday party and the Wiz set.
Sources: Andrea McArdle / TikTok; Playbill; AFI Catalog. Lead image: Andrea McArdle.
