The special stars newcomer Celina Smith as the title role, Harry Connick Jr. as Daddy Warbucks, Taraji P. Henson as Miss Hannigan, Nicole Scherzinger as Grace Farrell, Tituss Burgess as Rooster Hannigan, and Megan Hilty as Lily St. Regis.

Miss Hannigan comes in and tells the girls to take everything off their beds and scrub the floors, even though by this time it is 4 in the morning.

Grace shows up at the orphanage and mentions the officer in charge, leading Miss Hannigan to believe she is there to inspect the place.

President Roosevelt is one of many who has left a phone message, but even he isn't important enough to call back right away since Warbucks is a Republican.

While Warbucks was going to spend the evening catching up on work, he takes Annie and Grace to see a Broadway show.

When he gives Annie a locket to replace her old one, she gets very upset because her real parents will come back for her according to the note left with her when she was abandoned.

Hearing about the reward, Rooster and Lily put on disguises and succeed in fooling Miss Hannigan.

They agree to split the reward money with Miss Hannigan, who was sent items after a fire that belong to Annie.

Then he announces Annie has inspired him to create government jobs so people won't have to take handouts--a "New Deal".

Also, Eliot Ness has sent the news that the locket given to Annie was very common and it would be impossible to track down the people who bought it.

Miss Hannigan also shows up, with all of Annie's friends and tries to claim the reward, but she is told she is an accomplice and will have to be arrested as well.

Annie pleads for Miss Hannigan to go free and Warbucks agrees she will be given a job at helping out with the construction of new bridges and railroads as part of the "New Deal".

Rooster and Lily are shown on work release helping Miss Hannigan decorate the Christmas tree.

[3] Later, more casting was announced including Harry Connick Jr. as Daddy Warbucks,[4] Nicole Scherzinger as Grace Farrell,[5] Tituss Burgess as Rooster Hannigan,[6] and Jane Krakowski as Lily St.

[7] In June 2021, NBC also announced that they would be holding a nationwide audition for the titular role, similarly to the casting of Shanice Williams as Dorothy Gale in The Wiz Live!

[10] Also, it was announced that Andrea McArdle, who originated the role of Annie on Broadway, had been cast as Eleanor Roosevelt.

The special premiered on NBC on December 2, 2021,[3] and was later released on Blu-ray and DVD by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

[15] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.