TONY-WINNING CO-PRODUCERS BEHIND THE OUTSIDERS ANNOUNCE WARBUCKS, A NEW MUSICAL EXPLORING THE ORIGIN OF AN AMERICAN ICON

Coming-of-Age Story Imagines the Early Life of Oliver Warbucks, Drawn from Harold Gray's "Little Orphan Annie" Comics, Coinciding With Annie’s 50th Anniversary

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, May 18, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Tony Award–winning Broadway producers Rob O’Neill and Shane Snow (The Outsiders, Burlesque, Jo: The Little Women Musical), together with film and television producer Anthony Salamon, today announced Warbucks, a new stage musical in development that traces the early life of one of American pop culture's most enduring characters: the self-made tycoon Oliver Warbucks, decades before he ever met a red-haired orphan named Annie.

Drawn from Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie comic strip, which debuted in 1924, Warbucks is based on an original story by veteran Disney character and animation artist Jason Zucker, adapted from a film screenplay by Salamon, Snow, and O'Neill. The book for the stage musical is being written by Marissa Berlin, longtime Annie enthusiast and Disney television writer whose credits include The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers and the critically-acclaimed Everything's Gonna Be Okay; Berlin also recently wrapped directing Season 1 of the children’s TV series Let’s Investigate.

“This is one of those rare instances where I can admit to obsessively watching the 1982 film version of Annie hundreds of times and feel only pride. I’m humbled by the opportunity to bring this story to the stage and steward a character as enduring as Oliver Warbucks,” said Berlin.

Set around the turn of the century, Warbucks is a coming-of-age origin story in the spirit of Wicked: a young man's journey of dreams, relationships, and reinvention against a backdrop of global upheaval.

"Warbucks is coming at an extremely relevant moment, telling the story of a young man's dreams and relationships in a tumultuous time of societal change," said producer Shane Snow. "It's a story that fans of Annie will adore, while also standing on its own for those coming in with no particular expectations."

The announcement arrives as the Broadway and entertainment communities prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin, and Thomas Meehan's Annie, which premiered at the Goodspeed theater in late 2026 and opened at Broadway's Alvin Theatre in 1977. That production ran nearly six years and 2,377 performances, won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, and has since spawned two Broadway revivals, four feature and television film adaptations (1982, 1999, 2014, and NBC's 2021 Annie Live!), national tours in 34 countries, and translations into 28 languages. The Harold Gray source material itself ran in newspapers for more than 85 years, making Annie and Warbucks among the most enduring characters in American popular fiction.

Warbucks is being lead-produced by Snow, O'Neill, and Salamon. Rob O'Neill is the former Leadership Chairman of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and a former executive at The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., and Paramount Global. Shane Snow is a bestselling author, former correspondent for WIRED and GQ, and award-winning virtual production technology pioneer. Anthony Salamon is a film and television producer whose musical producing credits also include Indigo and Deathless.

The creative and producing team includes Sylvia Brindis, star and showrunner of two streaming children's series, Fluff Piece and Let’s Investigate, and a producer with Salamon on the family musical Indigo; Jennifer Marks, an award-winning singer-songwriter and screenwriter; and Shawn M. Anderson, a brand marketing, short-form content and experiential executive formerly with The Walt Disney Company and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Plot details for Warbucks remain under wraps. Initial production plans, including casting, creative team additions, and developmental presentations, are expected to be announced in the coming months, with Warbucks targeting the stage in time for Annie's 50th anniversary year.

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ABOUT CONTAINER
Container Film and Stage & Screen Group are the production companies behind Warbucks. For more information, visit https://www.container.film/contact

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Container
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