Annie Get Your Gun is a
musical with lyrics and music written by
Irving Berlin and a book by
Herbert Fields and his sister
Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized
version of the life of
Annie Oakley
(1860-1926), who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband,
Frank Butler.
The 1946
Broadway
production
was a hit, and the musical had long runs in both New York (1,147
performances) and London, spawning revivals (including London's
forthcoming production at the Young Vic
in October 09), a 1950 film version and television
versions. Songs that became hits include "
There's No
Business Like Show Business", "
Doin' What Comes Natur'lly",
"
You Can't Get a Man with
a Gun", "
They Say It's
Wonderful", and "
Anything
You Can Do."
History and background
Dorothy Fields had the idea for a musical about Annie Oakley, to
star her friend,
Ethel Merman. After
producer
Mike Todd turned the project
down, Fields and Merman went to a new producing team,
Richard Rodgers and
Oscar Hammerstein II, who agreed to
produce, with
Jerome Kern writing the
music to Fields' lyrics and book (together with her brother
Herbert). However, before he could produce the score, Kern died
suddenly. The producers and Fields then asked Irving Berlin to take
on the job of writing both lyrics and music. Berlin initially
thought it was not quite "up his alley," worrying that he would be
unable to write songs to fit specific scenes in "a situation show."
He was eventually persuaded by being able to work with the
director,
Josh Logan.
The musical's showstopper song, "There's No Business Like Show
Business," was almost left out of the show because Berlin,
mistakenly, got the impression that one of the producers, Richard
Rodgers, did not like it.
For the revised 1999 revival, the writer
Peter Stone said, "The big challenge is taking a
book that was wonderfully crafted for its time and make it
wonderfully crafted for our time.... But [its insensitivity] had to
be dealt with in a way that was heartfelt and not obvious.... In
this case, it was with the permission of the heirs. They're
terribly pleased with it all."
Plot summary
1880s poster
- Act I
When the
traveling Buffalo Bill's Wild West show visits Cincinnati, Ohio
("Colonel Buffalo Bill"§), Frank Butler, the show's
handsome, womanizing star ("I'm a Bad, Bad, Man"§), challenges
anyone in town to a shooting match. Foster Wilson, a local
hotel owner, doesn't appreciate the Wild West Show taking over his
hotel, so Frank gives him a side bet of one hundred dollars on the
match. Annie Oakley enters and shoots a bird off Dolly Tate's hat,
and then explains her simple backwoods ways to Wilson with the help
of her siblings ("Doin' What Comes Natur'lly"). When Wilson learns
she's a brilliant shot, he enters her in the shooting match against
Frank Butler.
While Annie waits for the match to start, she meets Frank Butler
and falls instantly in love with him, not knowing he will be her
opponent. When she asks Frank if he likes her, Frank explains that
the girl he wants will "wear satin... and smell of cologne" ("The
Girl That I Marry"). The rough and naive Annie comically laments
that "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun". At the shooting match, Annie
finds out that Frank is the "big swollen-headed stiff" from the
Wild West Show. She wins the contest, and Buffalo Bill and Charlie
Davenport, the show's manager, invite Annie to join the Wild West
Show. Annie agrees because she loves Frank even though she has no
idea what "show business" is. Frank, Charlie, Buffalo Bill, and
everyone explain that "There's No Business Like Show
Business."
Over the
course of working together, Frank becomes enamoured of the
plain-spoken, honest and tomboyish Annie and, as they travel to
Minneapolis,
Minnesota
on a train, he explains to her what "love" is
("They Say It's Wonderful"). Buffalo Bill and Charlie find out that the
rival show, Pawnee Bill's Far East Show, will be playing in
Saint Paul,
Minnesota
while the Wild West Show plays in nearby
Minneapolis. They ask Annie to do a special shooting trick
on a motorcycle in Minneapolis to draw Pawnee Bill's business away.
Annie agrees, since the trick will surprise Frank, and then sings
her siblings to sleep with the "Moonshine Lullaby."
As Annie and Frank prepare for the show, Frank plans to propose to
Annie after the show and then ruefully admits that "My Defenses Are
Down". When Annie performs her trick and becomes a star, Chief
Sitting Bull adopts her into the
Sioux tribe
("I'm An Indian Too"§). Frank is hurt and angry, and he walks out
on Annie and the show, joining the competing Pawnee Bill's
show.
- Act II
The Buffalo Bill show tours Europe with Annie as the star, but the
show goes broke, as does Pawnee Bill's show with Frank. Annie, now
well-dressed and more refined and worldly, still longs for Frank
("I Got Lost in His Arms"). Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill plot a
merger of the two companies, each assuming the other has the money
necessary for the merger. They all meet at a grand reception, where
they soon discover both shows are broke. Annie, however, has
received sharpshooting medals from all the rulers of Europe worth
one hundred thousand dollars, and she decides to sell the medals to
finance the merger, rejoicing in the simple things ("I Got the Sun
in the Mornin'").
When Frank appears, he and Annie confess their love and decide to
marry, although with comically different ideas: Frank wants "some
little chapel," while Annie wants "a big church with bridesmaids
and flower girls" ("An Old-Fashioned Wedding"°). When Annie shows
Frank her medals, Frank again has his pride hurt, and they call off
the merger and the wedding. They agree to one last shooting duel
("Anything You Can Do"). Annie deliberately loses to Frank to
soothe his ego, and they finally reconcile, deciding to marry and
merge the shows.
- Notes:
- This description is based on the 1966 revised book.
- ° written for 1966 Revival and included in 1999 Revival; not in
the original production
- § omitted from the 1999 Broadway Revival
Characters
- Annie Oakley—a sharpshooter in the
Wild West show
- Frank Butler—the Wild West
show's star
- Foster Wilson—hotel owner
- Chief Sitting Bull—Sioux
warrior; Annie's protector, but used by Pawnee Bill's competing
show
- Tommy Keeler—knife-thrower in the Wild West show; Winnie's
boyfriend; part Native American
- Charlie Davenport—manager of the Wild West show
- Winnie Tate—Dolly's daughter (sister in the 1999 revival);
Tommy's girlfriend and his assistant in the knife-throwing act
- Col. William F. Cody (Buffalo
Bill)-owner of the Wild West show
- Dolly Tate—Frank's assistant; Winnie's mother (sister in the
1999 revival)
- Pawnee Bill—owner of a competing
western show
- Annie's brothers and sisters: Nellie, Jessie, Little Jake and
Minnie (Minnie was written out of the 1999 revival)
Musical numbers
Original 1946
(
Note: Based on original Broadway production, 1946)
- Act I
- Act II
- Notes
- § omitted from the 1950 film version
- "Let's Go West Again" was written by Berlin for the 1950 film
but was not used. However, there are recordings by both Betty Hutton and Judy
Garland
1999 Revival
(
Note: Based on the 1999 Broadway revival)
- Act I
- Act II
- Entr'acte: The European Tour — Annie and Company
- "I Got Lost In His Arms"
— Annie
- "Who Do You Love, I Hope" — Tommy, Winnie and Company
- "I Got the
Sun in the Morning" — Annie and Company
- "An Old-Fashioned Wedding" - Annie and Frank
- "The Girl That I Marry" (Reprise) — Frank
- "Anything You Can Do"
— Annie and Frank
- "They Say It's Wonderful" (Reprise) — Annie, Frank and
Company
"An Old-Fashioned Wedding" was written by Berlin for the 1966
revival, sung by Annie and Frank, and was also included in the 1999
revival
Productions
Original Broadway (1946) and 1947 productions
Annie
Get Your Gun was first staged on Broadway at the
Imperial
Theater
on May 16, 1946 and ran for 1,147
performances. It was directed by
Joshua Logan,
Ethel
Merman starred as Annie Oakley, and
Ray Middleton played Frank Butler. Foster
Wilson was played by Art Barnett, Chief Sitting Bull was
Harry Bellaver, Tommy Keeler was Kenneth
Bowers, Charlie Davenport was Marty May, and Buffalo Bill Cody was
William O'Neal.
The show
opened on the West
End
at the London Coliseum
on June 7, 1947 and ran for 1,304
performances. Dolores Gray
played Annie with Bill Johnson as Frank.
The first
Australian production opened at His Majesty's
Theatre
in Melbourne, Australia, on July 19, 1947.
It starred Evie Hayes as Annie with Webb Tilton as Frank. Later
Australian productions have featured Gloria Dawn, Nancye Hayes,
Toni Lamond, Bunny Gibson and
Rhonda
Burchmore as Annie.
Mary Martin starred as Annie Oakley in a
U.S. national tour that started on October 3, 1947 in Dallas,
Texas. The touring company also played in Chicago and Los Angeles.
Martin left the tour in mid-1948.
1966 Broadway revival
The 1966
Broadway revival starred Ethel
Merman reprising her role as "Annie", with Bruce Yarnell as "Frank Butler" and Jerry Orbach as "Charles Davenport". The
secondary romance between Tommy Keeler and Winnie Tate was
completely eliminated, and "An Old Fasioned Wedding" was added to
the second act.
It opened first at the Music Theater of
Lincoln
Center
on May 31, 1966 for a limited run through July 9,
followed by a short 10-week US tour (Detroit, Washington, and
Philadelphia), and finally transferred to the Broadway
Theatre
on September 21 for 78 performances.
This production was telecast in an abbreviated ninety-minute
version by
NBC on March 19, 1967 and is the only
musical revived at Lincoln Center during the 1960s to be
telecast.
1999 Broadway revival
a revised book (by
Peter Stone) and new
orchestrations, the 1999 revival had a pre-Broadway engagement from
December 29, 1998 to January 24, 1999 at the
Kennedy
Center
in Washington, D.C.
Previews began on Broadway on February 2, 1999 at the Marquis Theatre, with an official opening
date of March 4, 1999, and closed on September 1, 2001 after 35
previews and 1,046 performances.This revival starred
Bernadette Peters as "Annie" and
Tom Wopat as "Frank Butler", with
direction by
Graciela Daniele and
choreography by
Jeff
Calhoun. Peters won the 1999
Tony
Award for Best Actress (Musical) and the production won the
1999
Tony Award for Best Revival of a
Musical.
This production was structured as a "show-within-a-show", set as a
Big Top travelling circus. "Frank Butler" is alone on stage and
introduces the main characters, singing "There's No Business Like
Show Business", which is reprised when "Annie" agrees to join the
traveling Wild West show. The production dropped several songs
(including "Colonel Buffalo Bill", "I'm A Bad, Bad Man", and "I'm
an Indian Too"), but included "An Old-Fashioned Wedding". There
were several major dance numbers added, including a ballroom scene.
A sub-plot, which had been dropped from the 1966 revival, involving
the romance between Winnie, the young sister of Frank Butler's
assistant and Tommy, her part-Native-American boyfriend was also
included, and Winnie is Dolly's sister rather than her daughter. In
this version, the final shooting match between Annie and Frank ends
in a tie.
- Notable replacements
While Peters was on vacation,
All My
Children star
Susan Lucci made
her Broadway debut as Annie from December 27, 1999 until Jan. 16,
2000. Peters and Wopat left the show on September 2, 2000.
Cheryl Ladd took over the lead role on September
6, 2000, with
Patrick Cassidy as
Frank Butler. Country music superstar
Reba
McEntire made her Broadway debut in the role from January 26,
2001 to June 22, 2001 opposite
Brent
Barrett as Frank Butler.
Crystal
Bernard left the national tour on June 23, 2001 to join the
Broadway cast.
Nick Jonas, who would later
rise to fame playing with brothers (
Joe
Jonas and
Kevin Jonas) in the
Jonas Brothers, played as Little Jake
in 2001.
- US tour
The US
national tour started in Dallas
on July 25,
2000 with Marilu Henner as Annie and
Rex Smith as Frank.
2009 London revival - Young Vic
Horrocks and Ovenden
Jane Horrocks, Julian Ovenden and multi prize-winning
director Richard Jones
mounted a major London revival at the Young Vic, Waterloo. The show opened at the Off-West
End venue on 16 October 2009, initially booking until 02 January
2010 but with an extra week added due to popular demand.
Horrocks played "Annie", while Ovenden played "Frank". The
production featured new arrangements by Jason Carr for a band
consisting four pianos.
Carr's credits include La Cage aux Folles in the
West
End.
London's Guardian newspaper awarded the show 5 stars, claiming that
"Richard Jones's brilliant production offers the wittiest musical
staging London has seen in years."
Other major productions
Lucie Arnaz starred in a production of the
musical in the summer of 1978 at the Jones Beach Theater
. This was the first major production of the
musical done in the New York area after the 1966 revivial.
The
Paper Mill
Playhouse
produced a well-reviewed production in June 1987
starring Judy Kaye as Annie and Richard
White as Frank.
In 2004,
Marina Prior and
Scott Irwin starred in an Australian production
of the 1999 Broadway rewrite of the show.
In 2006, the Prince Music Theater, in Philadelphia, PA, revived the
1966 Lincoln Center Theater version, running for one month. This
production starred
Andrea McArdle
(the original Annie of the 1977 Broadway musical
Annie), Jeffrey Coon as Frank Butler,
John Scherer as Charlie Davenport, Chris Councill as Buffalo Bill,
Mary Martello as Dolly Tate and Arthur Ryan as Sitting Bull. The
production was well received by both critics and audience. The
production was directed by Richard M. Parison, Jr. and
choreographed by Mercedes Ellington with music direction by Eric
Barnes.
In 1977, Gower Champion directed a revival for Los Angeles Civic
Light Opera starring Debbie Reynolds (as Annie). The Ass't.
Director was James Mitchell, Co-choreographer was Tony Stevens,
along with musical director Jack Lee, and costumes by Alvin Colt.
Harve Presnell (Frank Butler) was paired again in this production
with Reynolds after "Unsinkable Molly Brown." Art Lund, the veteran
singer of the 1930's especially known for "Blue Skies", was Buffalo
Bill. Cast also included Bibi Osterwald (Dolly Tate), Gavin McCleod
(Davenport), Peter Bruni (Foster Wilson)i, Don Potter (Pawnee
Bill), and Manu Tupou (Sitting Bull). The cast also included Trey
Wilson and Debbie Shapiro. The production later toured various
North American cities, but never made it to its planned Broadway
destination.
Film and television versions
In 1950,
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
made a well-received
movie
version of the musical. Although MGM purchased the rights to
the film version with an announced intention of starring legendary
singer-actress
Judy Garland as Annie,
early work on the film was plagued with difficulties, some
attributed to Garland. Garland was fired and replaced by the
brassier, blonde
Betty Hutton.
In 1957, a production starring
Mary
Martin as Annie and
John Raitt as
Frank Butler was broadcast on
NBC. In 1967, the
Lincoln Center production described above, starring Ethel Merman
and Bruce Yarnell, was broadcast on NBC.
Recordings
There are recordings of the Original Broadway (1946) cast, the 1966
revival, and the 1999 Broadway revival. The Original (1946)
recording was released on July 8, 1946 by Decca U.S. (ASIN:
B00004VVZX). The 1999 revival recording was released on April 20,
1999 by Angel Records (ASIN: B00000ID42). This recording won the
Grammy Award for Best Musical Show
Album. Additionally, there is a 1963
studio
recording starring
Doris Day and
Robert Goulet.
Awards and nominations
- 1966 Broadway revival
- Tony Award Best Choreography—Danny
Daniels (nominee)
- Tony Award Best Direction of a Musical—Jack Sydow
(nominee)
- 1999 Broadway revival
- Tony Award Best Revival of a Musical (WINNER)
- Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical—Tom Wopat (nominee)
- Tony Award Best Actress in a Musical—Bernadette Peters
(WINNER)
- Drama Desk Award Outstanding
Revival of a Musical (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical—Tom Wopat
(nominee)
- Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical—Bernadette
Peters (WINNER)
- Grammy Award Musical Show Album
(WINNER)
- 2001 Drama Desk Award Special Award—Reba McEntire (WINNER)
- 2001 Theatre World
Award—Reba McEntire (WINNER)
Notes
- A number of Internet sources claim that the musical is based on
Walter
Havighurst's book Annie Oakley of the Wild West, but
the book was written in 1954, eight years after the musical was
first produced.
- R&H Theatricals background information
- The World of Musical Comedy:The Story of the American
Musical (1984), Stanley Green, pp. 79-80, Da Capo Press, ISBN
0306802074
- In the 1999 revival, Annie had three siblings rather than
four.
- New York Times, October 4, 1947 and April 26,
1948
- New York Times, Sam Zolotow, July 1, 1966, page 40
- Internet Movie database trivia
- Sommer, Elyse and Davidson, Susan. "Review:Annie Get Your Gun", Curtain Up, January 10,
1999 and March 9, 1999
- Kissel, Howard. "Annie’s’ High-Caliber Star Bernadette Peters Is
Back On B’way To Get Her ‘Gun’ And Her Guy", New York Daily
News, February 28, 1999
- Jones, Kenneth. Reba, a New Force of Nature, Blows Out of Annie Get Your
Gun June 22", playbill.com, June 22, 2001
- Jones, Kenneth. "Crystal Bernard Wings Her Way Into Bway's Annie Get Your
Gun June 23", playbill.com, June 23, 2001
- Internet Broadway Database listing for 1999 revival, see
Replacements
- Clubhouse Magazine
- Article on 2000 tour
- Shenton, Mark. Horrocks and Ovenden to Star in Young Vic Revival of Annie
Get Your Gunplaybill.com, June 5, 2009
- Billington, Michael Annie Get Your Gun reviewguardian.co.uk,
October 18, 2009
- New York Times article, Alvin Klein, May
31, 1987, "THEATER; A RIP-ROARING 'ANNIE GET YOUR GUN'" Retrieved
04-27-08
- http://www.playbill.com/news/article/103883.html 2006 article
on McArdle
- Information from Amazon.com
References
External links
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