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 recently 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.

In other Annie news, the show has been nominated for a Best Musical Revival Tony Award, and star Brittny Kissinger will sing "Tomorrow" on the CBS-TV Tony broadcast, June 1. She'll be joined by Cindy Lou (as the canine Sandy) and Drew Taylor as a policeman.