Amanda Balon (born 1997) is an American former child actress, vocalist and dancer, best known for playing the title role in the nationwide Broadway tour of the musical Annie. Amanda initially joined the 30th anniversary cast (directed by Broadway director and script lyricist,

Martin Charnin Martin Charnin (November 24, 1934 – July 6, 2019) was an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director, and lyricist of the musical '' Annie.'' Life and career Charnin was born in New York ...

) as the youngest orphan, Molly. At age ten, she was given the lead role of

Little Orphan Annie ''Little Orphan Annie'' is a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem " Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on ...

. She remained with the production company NETworks Presentations for 3 years.

Biography

Amanda Balon was born in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

and was raised in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

along with her twin brother and older sister. She has been performing since the age of three. Amanda entered the Daystar Academy of the Performing Arts as their youngest student. She is also a member of the Senior competition travel team.

Recordings

Amanda Balon is part of the all-star cast on the 30th anniversary recording of the Broadway musical released by Time Life Records. Balon sings the never-before-recorded solos from Annie 2. She joins

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...

, Sally Struthers,

Kathie Lee Gifford Kathryn Lee Gifford ( née Epstein; born August 16, 1953) is an American television presenter, singer, songwriter, actress and author. From 1985 to 2000, she and Regis Philbin hosted the talk show ''Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee''. Gifford is ...

Andrea McArdle Andrea McArdle is an American singer and actress best known for originating the role of Annie in the Broadway musical '' Annie''. Career McArdle was born in Philadelphia. While studying dance as a child, she was spotted by a talent agent who got ...

, John Schuck,

Harve Presnell George Harvey Presnell (September 14, 1933 – June 30, 2009) was an American actor and singer. He began his career in the mid-1950s as a classical baritone, singing with orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States. His career re ...

Gary Beach Gary Beach (October 10, 1947 – July 17, 2018) was an American actor of stage, film and television. His roles included Roger De Bris in both the stage and film productions of ''The Producers'', which won him a Tony Award, and Lumiere in the s ...

, Marissa O'Donnell and other members from the original cast on the double CD which was produced by Robert Sher and released in June 2008.

References

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External links

https://web.archive.org/web/20080821122346/http://www.amandabalon.com/ Official web site]
Annie 2005–2010 tour site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balon, Amanda American stage actresses Living people 1997 births American emigrants to Zimbabwe American twins American child actresses 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers