Why is Andrea McArdle such a terrible actress?

it was in the movie

No, it wasn’t. There was no “star to be“ in Let’s Go to the Movies.

I knew somebody who liked the Disney version the best. He turned out to be a homophobic asshole. Letting a gay man direct that thing changed nothing.

She still sounds like a teen.

Ouch. Even Rosalind Russell had better line readings despite being dubbed for the singing parts.

Her line readings aren't terrible. They're just "the no trouble teen daughter on a sitcom."

You tell me, OP. She was just coming off "Annie" when they cast her in this shitshow. Rue McClanahan & Piper Laurie are the best parts of the entire film.

She really couldn't act. AT ALL. It's embarrassingly bad, actually, and completely hilarious.

She was highly offended that they wouldn’t even let her audition for Hannigan in the last Annie revival. I always got the feeling she thinks very highly of herself. I heard that she was offered replacement Donna in Mamma Mia on broadway but turned it down because they weren’t offering enough money. She has dead eyes.

Lousy actress or no, she has an incredible voice.

At least she and Aileen Quinn were smart enough to stay away from that [italic]Life After Tomorrow[/italic] thing. How many bridges did Julie whatshername burn with that one again?

SJP said she was tricked into participating because Julie told her Andrea would be participating and that turned out to be a lie. Andrea only wants happy memories of Annie and once she realized the documentary was going to explore the dark side she stayed away.

Isn’t McArdle mentioned in the lyrics to one of those songs from Glee or some other queer musical-theater sitcom? Or maybe a Broadway show? I came across that online and thought, “the girl who played Judy Garland in that TV movie? She’s well-known enough to have a fanbase of young Millennial dorks who think of her fondly?”

Does anyone know which song I’m talking about?

If Shoshana Bean can have a fanbase, I don't know why your surprised that McArdle does.

*you're

R11, say gay or say absolutely nothing about anything.

I am sure they meant Tammy Blanchard. She was actually good at playing young Judy Garland.

Now that she’s matured, her voice has taken on a whole new dimension!

I saw her cabaret show a few years ago. She still sings beautifully.

[quote]Lousy actress or no, she has an incredible voice.

Um, no

R3, it's usually that way. These kid actor/singers sound like adolescents in THEIR 50s.

Julie and Petula bucked that trend.

Like most child stars she learned to talk in a theatrical way while young, and is unable to lose the phony inflections for adult roles.

Shirley Temple Black was a prime example of this phenomenon.

[quote] If Shoshana Bean can have a fanbase, I don't know why your surprised that McArdle does.

I don’t know who that is. I genuinely didn’t know anything about McArdle—didn’t even realize she was the original Annie. Only knew of her briefly when I was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz as a little boy and watched the Rainbow movie because it was about Oz. I then basically forgot about her. I’m not knocking her at all—I’m genuinely someone here knows which musical theater -type song mentions McArdle in its lyrics. It’s something from the past decade.

[quote] I’m genuinely someone here knows which musical theater -type song mentions McArdle in its lyrics.

I’m genuinely hoping*

She played a prostitute on All My Children

R6- Why no mention of our gal ANGIE aka Donna Pescow?

She is a racist who once called a traffic cop the N word in public at the Howard Johnsons @ 46th & Bway (next to Gaiety Male Burlesque Theatre). This is according to my longtime bestie, who I have ghosted on sussing out that he's a fascist Trumpster. That said, can I just say how much I detested conservative Shirley Temple and her entire twee child act and vile rethuglican politico campaign?

That's Donna Pescow, star of TV's "Angie" to you.

R11, the song is “A Way Back to Then” from [title of show]:

“Hearing Andrea McArdle sing on the hi-fi in the den”

THANK YOU, R27. I knew someone here would know.

Christ what a bunch of schlock that song is.

Above racist allegation is about McCardell, not the great Donna Pescow, TV's Angie.

I saw Andrea in Annie on Broadway, she was about 13 passing as, what, 9? It wasn't that convincing. Kid actors are always older than the roles they play - the can pass as kids long after they should, and transitioning to adult roles isn't easy. Being a tween must be murder for these kids. They're perpetual tweens.

Here she is pretending to be impressed with DL fave Miss Streisand.

The sun didn't come out yesterday.

Adjacent: I saw Aileen Quinn on stage in Saturday Night Fever playing the Donna Pescow role

R6- The girls from the Facts Of Life were better actresses than Andrea McArdle in Rainbow.

Cloris Leachman had an Oscar, I'll have you know.

There are lots of very successful performers who have no more talent than McArdle. What she doesn’t possess is an ounce of charm or humor. If she was going to be an adult success it was as a light comedienne.

For all the negative threads about actors like Jennifer Anniston and her ilk, they register a natural charm that shows up on screen. McArdle has always had a tough cold persona that cut her out of the sit-com world. And that was where she would have landed if she had become an adult star.

Maybe she could play one of the witches in MACBETH with Chita and Wesley Taylor.

Aileen Quinn stole her thunder.

I wonder if Andrea was pissed that she wasn't considered for the movie.

Andrea has a very hard look. She would make a dynamic Evelyn Harper if that proposed musical version of Caged ever hits the stage.

I’m surprised she’s never played Grizabella.

What it comes down to is - Andrea McArdle peaked in 1977.

*Even* Rosalind Russell. Imagine.

Times have changed.

Why do you say she’s not a great singer r18?

Oh, the voice is definitely a special one. She sings very well.

Let me go, Ephraim.

Where is Aileen Quinn?