The first actress to portray Annie on Broadway is spreading holiday cheer with a new Christmas concert.

Andrea McArdle’s rendition of “Tomorrow,” the song that she made famous when she was 13 years old – may be a song for the trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Right before I sing ‘Tomorrow’ I do say, if there was ever a time, everywhere globally speaking, there could not be a better song about hope and inspiration than that song,” McArdle says.

McArdle says the pandemic had kept her off stage since February. It is the longest she has gone without performing since childhood. But she recently recorded a holiday concert without an audience present at Kean University’s Enlow Recital Hall in New Jersey. The concert will be streamed for ticketholders.

The actress says that the words to even the most popular Christmas songs seem to take on new meaning this year.

“It was hard for me to get through ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,’” McArdle says. “As a singer, it’s very hard when you are truly emotional - like verklempt. I had to take a couple of breaths and I was very emotional."

“Andrea McArdle: A Holiday Concert” begins steaming on Thursday with tickets available through Kean Stage.