Annie Get Your Gun (musical)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the musical. For the Squeeze single, see Annie Get Your Gun (song).
| Annie Get Your Gun | ||
| 1999 Broadway Production | ||
|---|---|---|
 Original Broadway 1999 Revival Production Album |
||
| Music | Irving Berlin | |
| Lyrics | Irving Berlin | |
| Book | Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields | |
| Theatre | Imperial Theatre | |
| Opened | May 16, 1946 | |
| Closed | February 12, 1949 | |
| Producer(s) | Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II | |
| Director | Joshua Logan | |
| Choreographer | Helen Tamiris | |
| Scenic designer | Jo Mielziner | |
| Costume designer | Lucinda Ballard | |
| Lighting designer | Jo Mielziner | |
| Originally starring | Ethel Merman | |
Annie Get Your Gun is a musical loosely based on the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley. The music and lyrics were written by Irving Berlin with a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. Berlin had taken on the job after the original choice, Jerome Kern, collapsed and died suddenly. It is said that the showstopper song, "There's No Business Like Show Business", was almost left out of the show altogether because Berlin, wrongly, got the impression that the producers, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, did not like it.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley, who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, born in 1860, and her husband, Frank Butler.
In the musical, when a traveling Wild West show visits her town, Annie Oakley enters a shooting contest, wins, and is asked to join the show. She has fallen in love with the star of the show, Frank Butler, and agrees to join, although she has no idea what "show business" is--she is informed with the classic song, "There's No Business Like Show Business". Over the course of the musical, Frank, although insisting that the girl he wants will "wear satin..and smell of cologne" ("The Girl That I Marry"), becomes enamoured of the tomboyish Annie. Unfortunately, his ego is bruised and he becomes jealous when Annie becomes a star, and he walks out on her.
After various complications, Annie and Frank come together again, only to have one last shooting duel in the finale -- "Anything You Can Do". In the original production and all subsequent versions up until the 1999 revival, Annie deliberately loses to Frank to soothe his ego, and they go off together. (In the 1999 revival, the match ends in a tie.)
In real life, Annie and Frank were married; Annie died in 1926, Frank shortly after.
The 1999 Broadway revival placed the action of the musical as a "show-within-a-show", having Buffalo Bill start the show by introducing it and the main characters, and with much of the action taking place on a revolving stage. The sub-plot (which had been dropped from the 1966 revival) of the young lovers was also used, with the girl, Winnie, as Dolly's sister rather than daughter. There was a mixed- race romance not found in the original, as well. There were several major dance numbers added, also, especially one for "I Got the Sun in the Morning".
[edit] Cast (1946)
- Annie Oakley -- Ethel Merman
- Frank Butler -- Ray Middleton
- Foster Wilson -- Art Barnett
- Chief Sitting Bull -- Harry Bellaver
- Tommy Keeler -- Kenneth Bowers
- Nellie (Annie's Sister) -- Marlene Cameron
- Jessie (Annie's Sister) -- Camilla De Witt
- Little Jake (Annie's Brother) -- Bobby Hookey
- Charlie Davenport -- Marty May
- Winnie Tate -- Betty Anne Nyman
- Col. Wm. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) -- William O'Neal
- Dolly Tate -- Lea Penman
- Minnie (Annie's Sister) -- Nancy Jean Raab
[edit] Songs
- "Colonel Buffalo Bill" -- Buffalo Bill
- "I'm A Bad, Bad Man" -- Frank Butler
- "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly" -- Annie and her siblings
- "The Girl That I Marry" --Frank and Annie
- "You Can't Get A Man With A Gun" -- Annie
- "There's No Business Like Show Business" -- Frank, Charlie Davenport, Annie, and ensemble
- "I'll Share It All With You" -- Tommy Keeler and Winnie Tate
- "They Say It's Wonderful" -- Annie and Frank
- "Moonshine Lullaby" -- Annie and siblings
- "My Defenses Are Down" -- Frank and ensemble
- "Who Do You Love, I Hope" -- Tommy and Winnie
- "I'm An Indian, Too" -- Annie and ensemble
- "I Got Lost In His Arms" -- Annie
- "I Got The Sun In The Morning" --Annie and ensemble
- "Anything You Can Do" -- Annie and Frank
- "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.
- "An Old-Fashioned Wedding" was written by Berlin for the 1966 revival, sung by Annie and Frank.
[edit] Broadway production
Annie Get Your Gun was first staged at the Imperial Theater on Broadway on May 16, 1946 and ran for 1,147 performances. It was directed by Joshua Logan. Ethel Merman starred as Annie in the original production, with Ray Middleton in the leading male role as Frank Butler.
[edit] London production
The show opened at the Coliseum on June 7, 1947 and ran for 1,304 performances. Dolores Gray played Annie with Bill Johnson as Butler.
[edit] Australian production
The show opened at His Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne on July 19, 1947. It starred Evie Hayes as Annie with Webb Tilton as Frank Butler. Later Australian productions have featured Gloria Dawn, Nancye Hayes, Toni Lamond, Bunny Gibson and Rhonda Burchmore as Annie. In 2004, Marina Prior and Scott Irwin starred in a production of the 1999 rewrite of the show.
[edit] Film and television
[edit] 1950 MGM film version
| ' | |
|---|---|
 Promotional movie poster for the film |
|
| Directed by | George Sidney |
| Starring | Betty Hutton Howard Keel Benay Venuta |
| Distributed by | Metro Goldwyn Mayer |
| Release date(s) | 1950 |
| Country |  USA |
| Language | English |
In the 1950 Metro Goldwyn Mayer picture directed by George Sidney, Betty Hutton played Annie with Howard Keel as Frank Butler and Benay Venuta as Dolly Tate. Frank Morgan was originally cast as Buffalo Bill Cody but after filming the movie's opening production number, "Colonel Buffalo Bill", he unexpectedly died. Morgan was replaced by Louis Calhern. Originally, Judy Garland had been cast in the title role, but was forced to back out of the production due to poor health and other personal problems that would soon end her career with MGM. According to Betty Hutton, she was treated coldly by most of the cast and crew because she replaced Garland. Only two production numbers were completed with Garland: "Doin' What Comes Naturally" and "I'm an Indian Too" and these were released to the public for the first time in the 1990s in That's Entertainment III Additional studio recordings of Garland also exist and have been released by Rhino Records. Despite the production problems, the film became popular in its own right. In 1973 it was withdrawn from distribution due to a dispute between Irving Berlin and MGM over music rights. It was not until the film's 50th Anniversary in 2000 that it was seen again in its entirety.
[edit] Television
- A production starring Mary Martin as Annie and John Raitt as Frank Butler was broadcast on NBC in October 1957.
- The Lincoln Center production as described below, starring Ethel Merman and Bruce Yarnell, was broadcast on NBC in March 1967.
[edit] Broadway revivals
[edit] 1966
The 1966 Broadway revival starred Ethel Merman again, with Bruce Yarnell as Frank Butler and Jerry Orbach as Charles Davenport. It opened first at the Music Theater of Lincoln Center. It was transferred to the Broadway Theatre on September 21 and ran for 78 performances. It 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 1960's to be telecast.
[edit] 1999
With a reworked book and a new orchestration, the 1999 revival opened on Broadway in early 1999 following a pre-Broadway engagement from December 29, 1998 to January 24, 1999 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Previews began on February 2, 1999 on Broadway, with an official opening date of March 4, 1999, at the Marquis Theatre. 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 (Musical).
This 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". A sub-plot, involving the young sister of Frank Butler's assistant and her part-Indian boyfriend was also included.
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 returned on January 18, 2000. Cheryl Ladd took over the lead role on September 6, 2000 from Peters.
Country music superstar Reba McEntire made her splash Broadway debut in the role from January 26, 2001 to June 22, 2001. Crystal Bernard left the national tour on June 23, 2001 to join the Broadway cast with tickets selling at the 70 percent of capacity range through most of the summer.
The revival closed on September 1, 2001 after 35 previews and 1,046 regular performances.
[edit] Other
- Mary Martin starred as "Annie Oakley" in a national tour, which started on October 3, 1947 in Dallas, Texas. Other cities the touring company played were Chicago and Los Angeles. Martin left the tour in mid-1948. (New York Times, October 4, 1947 and April 26, 1948)
- In 2006, the Prince Music Theater, in Philadelphia, PA, revived the 1966 Lincoln Center Theater version of Annie Get Your Gun; the production ran 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 Coucill as Buffalo Bill, Mary Martello as Dolly Tate and Arthur Ryan as Sitting Bull. The production was received with great critical acclaim and audience reception. The production was directed by Richard M. Parison, Jr. and choreographed by Mercedes Ellington with music direction by Eric Barnes.
- There is also a 1963 studio recording starring Doris Day and Robert Goulet. Other stage Annies include Heidi Brühl and Marilu Henner.
[edit] External links
- Annie Get Your Gun plot summary & character descriptions from StageAgent.com
- Annie Get Your Gun (1950) at the Internet Movie Database
- Annie Get Your Gun (1957) (TV) at the Internet Movie Database
- Annie Get Your Gun (1967) (TV) at the Internet Movie Database
- Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) information on all three Broadway productions
- The Judy Garland Online Discography "Annie Get Your Gun" pages.
- information from the R&H Theatricals site
