Amanda Balon is a professional, American, child actress vocalist and dancer. She is best known for playing the title role in the nationwide Broadway tour of the musical Annie

Annie (musical)

Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...

. Amanda initially joined the 30th anniversary cast(directed by Broadway director and script lyricist, Martin Charnin

Martin Charnin

Martin Charnin is an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist of the hit musical Annie....

) as the youngest orphan, Molly. At age nine, she was given the lead role of Little Orphan Annie

Little Orphan Annie

Little Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and made its debut on August 5, 1924 in the New York Daily News...

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

Biography

Amanda Balon was born in Kansas City

Kansas City, Kansas

Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

 and was raised in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 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 Burnett

Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...

, Sally Struthers, Kathie Lee Gifford

Kathie Lee Gifford

Kathie Lee Gifford is an American television host, singer, songwriter and actress, best known for her 15-year run on the talk show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, which she co-hosted with Regis Philbin...

, Andrea McArdle

Andrea McArdle

Andrea McArdle is an American singer and actress best known for playing Annie in the Broadway musical Annie, as well as for her alto range and strong vocal belt.-Career:She was born in Philadelphia...

, John Schuck

John Schuck

Conrad John Schuck Jr. is an American actor, primarily in stage, movies and television. He is best-known for his roles as police commissioner Rock Hudson's mildly slow-witted assistant, Sgt. Charles Enright in the 1970s crime drama McMillan & Wife, and as Lee Meriwether's husband, Herman Munster...

, Harve Presnell

Harve Presnell

Harve Presnell 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...

, Gary Beach

Gary Beach

Gary Beach is an American actor, primarily in Broadway musical theatre.-Biography:Beach was born in Alexandria, Virginia and later went on to graduate from the North Carolina School of the Arts, the same school as Terrence Mann, his Beauty and the Beast costar.Beach and his partner, Jeffrey...

, 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.

Besides Annie

In 2005 Balon represented the United States in the performing arts olympics, the World Championships of Performing Arts

World Championships of Performing Arts

The World Championships of Performing Arts is the first and only international competition to find the best aspiring performing artists worldwide. This competitive contest which is held annually in Hollywood, California is often referred to as the "Olympics of the Performing Arts"...

 in Hollywood, California . She beat out 3000 contestants from forty different countries winning sixteen medals and the divisional acting title. Amanda returned again in 2008 as a guest vocalist to open the Grand Finale Showcase and to join multi-platinum recording artist, Jed Madela

Jed Madela

John Edward Tajanlangit , better known by his stage name, Jed Madela, is a Filipino recording artist and TV host. His hit songs as a solo artist include How Can I Fall, The Past, The Search is Over, and Love Always Finds a Way....

 and 2007 Grand Champion, Aria Clemente, in performing Queen's, "We are the Champions

We Are the Champions

"We Are the Champions" is a power ballad written by Freddie Mercury, recorded and performed by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. One of their most famous and popular songs, it remains among rock's most recognisable anthems...

". Amanda has performed in many professional theater productions and several independent films.

External links

• http://www.amandabalon.com Official web site
• http://www.annieontour.com Annie 2005-2010 tour site