Character guide
Lily
from Annie
Lily St. Regis is Rooster's girlfriend and partner in crime in Annie, a flashy schemer who joins the plot to cash in on Annie's search for her parents.
- Show
- Annie
- Broadway premiere
- 1977
- Role
- Supporting
- Music by
- Charles Strouse
Looking for a different Lily? Lily in The Secret Garden
Lily on stage vs screen
Broadway compared with the 1982 film and 1999 TV movie
Two Broadway stars have played Lily St. Regis on screen: Bernadette Peters in John Huston's 1982 film and Kristin Chenoweth in ABC's 1999 TV movie. Barbara Erwin originated the role on Broadway in 1977, and Megan Hilty played Lily in NBC's Annie Live! (2021).
The 1999 TV movie gives Lily a bigger turn than the stage version does. Left behind with the orphans while Rooster and Miss Hannigan go off disguised as the Mudges, Lily accidentally lets the secret slip, and the orphans make her tell them what is going on as she realizes Rooster could leave her hanging, as he has done before. The 2014 film has no Lily at all.
Who is Lily?
Lily arrives alongside Rooster once the pair hear about the reward being offered for information on Annie's birth parents. She is glamorous, a little dim, and fully committed to the con, playing along with Hannigan and Rooster's scheme to pass herself and Rooster off as Annie's family.
Her presence rounds out the trio of villains working against Annie in the show's back half, adding comic flair to what is otherwise a fairly mercenary plan.
Lily's role in Annie
Lily is a supporting role built for comedy. She works best played broadly, with a bit of ditzy charm that makes her an entertaining foil to Rooster's slicker con-artist energy and Hannigan's bitter cynicism. The part does not require heavy vocal lifting on its own but thrives in ensemble numbers with the other two schemers.
Audiences tend to enjoy Lily precisely because she is so transparently in over her head, which keeps the trio's villainy feeling silly rather than genuinely menacing.
Lily: frequently asked questions
What show is Lily from?
Lily St. Regis appears in Annie, the 1977 musical with music by Charles Strouse.
Is Lily a lead or supporting role?
Lily is a supporting role, part of the scheming trio with Rooster and Miss Hannigan.
What is Lily's connection to the plot against Annie?
She teams up with Rooster and Hannigan to falsely claim the reward for finding Annie's parents.
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