Life After Tomorrow

Mention the phrase "former child star", and I could probably write you a story that could easily fit the "E! True Hollywood Story" mold. Of course, I would need pictures, archive footage, and interviews to make my story look credible. The point is that the story of how a child star won the hearts of America, earned fame and fortune, then when their 15 minutes of fame ended they didn't know what to do with themselves is familiar to everyone. Such a former star turning to drugs, crime, or pornography after the fact is sadly more of a rule than an exception.

"Life After Tomorrow" is unique in the sense that it tells that now-familiar story, but the end results of the women who were interviewed for this documentary are almost never sad. These women, most of whom were no older than 38 when this documentary was released, seem to be all well adjusted after starring in one of the most popular Broadway shows of all time. They coped well with life after their silver platters went away, and it could have been the result of their good, attentive parents. However, after seeing this film, it made me wonder if there were any real tragedies that occurred amongst the women who were not interviewed for this documentary. There must have been some True Hollywood Stories the movie didn't tell us about. If there weren't, that's okay, but I feel as though the movie should have been more honest about the other side of fame following that musical's run.

This movie mostly consists of interviews with women who, when they were young girls, played the parts of Annie or one of the many orphans in the many stage versions of (guess which musical) "Annie". Some girls starred on Broadway, while others were in traveling shows. Julie Stevens, who played an orphan in a national tour, produced and co-directed this documentary. She also provided a brief voice-over introduction, detailing her experiences after her stint in a nutshell. After that, she disappears into the list of interviewees. I wish she had stayed on as the narrator like Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock have done in their documentaries. It would have made for some more poignant moments that a talking head can't provide. She is also quite pretty, but that's the guy in me talking.

It's actually amazing the amount of women Stevens was able to get to appear in this documentary. Sarah Jessica Parker is among those actresses who is most famous today for playing the title role on Broadway. Despite Parker being the only A-list actress among the interviewees, she is quite humble in her recollection of her childhood role. She doesn't say that it was the best thing for her career, because it may not have been.

Many of the other women carved out respectable careers for themselves, with many outside of show business. I was surprised to see MSNBC anchor Dara Brown being interviewed for this film, because she never struck me as the Broadway type. In fact, most of these women are so down to earth that they don't fit the stereotypical faded Broadway actress a la Norma Desmond of "Sunset Blvd." or, even worse, the title character in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?".

The stories these women told about their experiences were usually fascinating. They discussed everything from where they grew up to life on the road to the inevitable life after the curtains closed for good. I actually thought the best stories were the ones on the road when they weren't performing. When the child actresses discussed their tutors' educational ritual (or lack thereof, with stories of tutors getting high when they were supposed to be teaching), their stories were a bit sad, but still intriguing.

While this film's strength was in its told stories, its weaknesses were in lack of footage or b- roll. You rarely saw the girls on stage performing, which is understandable since videotape was invented circa 1977-1983, but far more expensive than it is now. However, they could have interspersed film of what the actresses are doing now. There is probably no shortage of Dara Brown footage from MSNBC. There was also a former Annie who is now a rock singer, and another one who impersonates Marilyn Monroe for a living. Such jobs would have made great additions to this documentary. Having chyrons that state what the women do now isn't enough.

The film also suffers from lack of organization. It's called "Life AFTER Tomorrow", but very little of it is focused on these ladies' lives after the show is over. There's also a bit about a man who collects "Annie" memorabilia. He's an interesting character, but irrelevant to what the film should be about. I also found it puzzling that the hit 1982 film based on the show isn't even mentioned here. I doubt it would have been hard to track down Aileen Quinn, either.

The film, whose running time is 73 minutes, definitely needed more of a lot of things. More information, more stock footage, more direction, and many other things that make the difference between a good documentary and a great one. I enjoyed listening to these women's experiences, which is why I'm still recommending the film.