ABSTRACT
Belting has been the privileged vocal style for adult female performance since the thirties, but only since the 1977 musical Annie has belting been acceptable for girls. Annie disrupted a longstanding tradition of incorporating children into musicals merely for their sentimental value and of limiting their solo singing. Annie lies at the intersection of two contrasting iconic figures: Ethel Merman and Shirley Temple. Not only does she belt her songs, but she is also the show’s protagonist. Annie remains the most demanding and coveted girl role in the repertory, and she represents an opportunity for self-actualization, to occupy center stage while vocally emulating young female rock divas. No child role before or since has offered so much cultural capital and influenced the construction of girlhood on stage to the same degree.
