SO! CELEBRITY | Leapin’ Lizzards! “Annie” is All Grown Up

AILEEN QUINN 'ANNIE' VISITS HOLLYWOOD BLVD. CINEMA IN WOODRIDGE

by Kristen Kucharski, Photos by Mike Mantucca

WOODRIDGE–Hollywood Blvd. Cinema in Woodridge hosted another celebrity event, bringing in childhood memory favorites for the west suburban community! Aileen Quinn 'Annie' from the 1982 Musical Classic Annie signed autographs and took pictures with fans in the lobby just prior to the screenings on December 6 and 7! She was also interactive and engaging with a Q&A session prior to each show.

“She’s adorable as ever,” says Kristen Kucharski Features Writer for Glancer Magazine, who was on the scene for a personal one-on-one interview with the spunky and famed curly haired redhead from ‘Annie’. “She radiates positive energy. She is a natural family person and people person and everything you might have thought from watching the movie when you were a kid!”

At 48 years old, Ms. Quinn is still living the American Dream with a resume packed full of Golden Globe nominations and “Best Actor” by The Youth In Film Awards for her title role in ‘Annie’, two albums with Columbia Records: The multi-Platinum selling “ANNIE” Soundtrack and a solo album, “Bobby’s Girl”, produced by legendary Barbra Streisand and Dolly Parton Producer, Gary Klein. For over 30 years, she has continued being a triple-threat performer, acting, singing and dancing on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regional Theatre, Films, Television, Commercials, Animation and Voiceovers; and now has added Lead Vocalist and Percussionist to her list as a member of her own rock band performing the sounds of past eras, particularly 20s thru 60s Rockabilly and Swing with “Aileen Quinn and The Leapin’ Lizards”. The band just released their second album, “Lightening and Thunder” which is now available on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon. They perform primarily around Los Angeles, but have plans in the works for a national, and possibly international, tour that would include Chicago as a future date!

In a palm reading when she was a young child, it was predicted that she would be a writer. She and her parents did not know what that meant at the time, but it has come to fruition as she is currently engaging her inner journalist taking on new endeavor of songwriting, as well as scripting a television series for what she hopes will soon to be a new Netflix dramedy, combining her love of drama and comedy through characters that are full of depth thus creating a natural bond between viewers and the show.

On a more personal note, if Ms. Quinn wasn’t performing or writing, she always thought she would have been in the field of communications - interviewing others similarly to those that interview her each day. She absolutely loves engaging with people, surrounding herself with positivity; appreciates soulful music, beaches, bike riding, yoga, tennis, and of course, Chicago’s deep-dish pizza. She will always hold a special place in her heart for Chicago, the city she did her first photo shoot for ‘Annie’ wear, sleeping bags, and other promotional items for the Sears Catalog. At just 9 years old, she recalls going to the top of the Sears Tower and looking out and feeling on top of the world.

Additionally, Ms. Quinn fondly reflects on Chicago as the city that best responded to all her Broadway National Tours, including her all-time favorite role as Annette, the forlorn Brooklyn disco dame, in the national tour of Saturday Night Fever.

Leapin’ Lizzards - our little ‘Annie’ is all grown up and still looking at the positivity of the sun always coming out tomorrow!