PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — KYW Newsradio is celebrating 250 years of Philly voices, highlighting Philadelphians throughout history who shaped the city and the nation. Among them is 62-year-old Andrea McArdle, who was born and raised in Northeast Philadelphia.
"Philly is truly my heart, my soul and my home,” McArdle said.
At 13, her life changed forever when she was cast as the first Annie in the Broadway musical “Annie.”
"And it was truly my Philly girl, my little Northeast Philly girl toughness that got me a role of a lifetime, it got me ‘Annie!’”
She became a star overnight in 1977. McArdle appeared on the big talk shows, including "The Johnny Carson Show," "The Merv Griffin Show," and "The Mike Douglass Show." She starred as a young Judy Garland in the TV movie “Rainbow,” and performed in many other professional musicals and concerts — something she still does today.
"I have a residency in New York City at the Beechman [Theater], so I'm there once a month."
She added that she also performs in concerts throughout the country.
Andrea said the scariest thing she has ever done was singing the national anthem in her hometown when she was a teenager, especially at Flyers games.
"You know nothing is more daunting than singing the National Anthem. I don't care who you are. So singing the National Anthem is hard enough, but singing the national anthem in your hometown when you go to school there was the scariest thing I have ever done in my entire life."
She sang for the Flyers at just age 16 when they were in the playoffs.
"Jay Snyder, who owned the Flyers at the time, he was flying me on a helicopter for every game because every game I sang at they were winning,” she said.
Despite all the success, she said she didn't have time to really think about fame.
“I didn't have enough time to think about it or overthink, so I enjoyed it. So much."
The original "Annie" musical opened on Broadway nearly 50 years ago in April 1997.
McArdle went on to make Philly proud by working on big projects with stars like Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman, Liberace and Carol Channing.
