NEW YORK – Whoopi Goldberg is about to break two strict rules of show business: never work with animals or children.

The actor and TV host slips into the terrifying role of Miss Hannigan when the final touring production of “Annie” landed in New York for the holidays.

“I’m having the time of my life,” EGOT winner Goldberg says between rehearsals as she prepares to tell the story of a plucky young orphan with her dog Sandy, set during the Depression.

“I asked myself, ‘Who can we play this iconic role that would be artistically appropriate and suitable for a large venue and audience?’ “And I felt like she was the right person,” says Carolyn Rossi Copeland, who is producing the new tour.

Goldberg will help direct the show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden from December 11 through January. 5. The tour has a deep connection to the first version of the hit series: it is directed by Jenn Thompson, who, at the age of 10, took on the role of Pepper in the original Broadway production.

“It’s been a very beautiful journey. I have a lot of ghosts that I need to exorcise, revisit and reclaim,” says Thompson, who, for the new series, has peeled away layers of production and charted a path back to the original production.

“It’s changed a lot over the years. It had gone through many revisions and changes and it wasn’t even a conscious mission when I started, but that’s where we ended up – much like in the beginning.

Goldberg laughs when she says she signed before realizing how much she was going to be asked for everything she was going to do. “I’m rusty. I’m old,” says “The View” co-host.

“I found myself in the middle of it all and thought maybe this was more than I could handle. And then a little voice said, “Really? You know, if you said this is more than I can handle to anyone, they’d laugh at you offstage because it’s not. This is exactly what I can handle.

Hannigan is a gin-loving orphanage director who calls her charges “kids,” denies them hot porridge, and threatens “your days are numbered.” She has two great songs: “Easy Street” and “Little Girls”.

The musical contains musical gems like “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard Knock Life.” The words of Martin Charnin, which won him and songwriter Charles Strouse the Tony for Best Music in 1977, are playful and moving: “You’re Never Fully Dressed/Without a Smile” and “Nobody Cares about you a little/when you are in an orphanage. »

“I love the dark side,” Thompson says. “There’s a lot of joy and a lot of rage and they’re in conversation with each other. And that’s what makes it a great musical in my opinion.”

“Annie” has been adapted for film numerous times, including a film version in 1982, another in 1999 and one in 2014 with Quvenzhané Wallis, and a live television version in 2021 on NBC with Harry Connick Jr. and Taraji P. Henson.

The post-New Year tour will head to Maryland, Alabama, Illinois, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas and Wisconsin.

The musical came about in the wake of the Vietnam War and the Nixon administration and the creators said they sought to offer some hope. “I think it’s a story of survival and choosing the light when you’re in the dark,” Thompson says.

The musical first premiered on Broadway in 1977 and was revived in 1997 and 2012. The original 1977 show won the Tony Award for Best Musical and went on to run for 2,300 performances, inspiring tours and covers that have never gone out of style. He last performed in New York on Broadway in 2012-2014.

“The original series had so much hope and optimism and the comedy was honest,” Copeland said. “It’s really a return to basics. There are no gags or gimmicks.

Others who have played Hannigan include Carol Burnett, Kathy Bates, Dorothy Loudon, Nell Carter, Katie Finneran, Jane Lynch and Henson. Goldberg says she avoided watching versions “so as not to copy other people.”

Goldberg has a long history with New York theater, producing such shows as “Sister Act,” “Xanadu” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” as well as starring in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to”. the Forum. »

“I don’t seem to be Cynthia Erivo,” she said. “I don’t look like Nicole Scherzinger. I don’t look like anyone. I don’t look like Audra McDonald. I just talk like me. And for “Annie”, it’s the right sound.