Annie Get Your Gun (musical)

Annie Get Your Gun
Broadway 1946 Original Cast Album
Music	Irving Berlin
Lyrics	Irving Berlin
Book	Herbert Fields Dorothy Fields
Productions	1946 Broadway 1947 West End 1947 U.S. Tour 1947 Australia 1966 Broadway revival 1992 West End revival 1999 Broadway revival 2000 U.S. Tour 2009 Young Vic London revival
Awards	1999 Tony Award for Best Revival

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, 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, Joshua 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 enamored of the plain-spoken, honest, 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 discover 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 to draw Pawnee Bill's business away. Annie agrees because the trick will surprise Frank. She 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"§). Hurt and angry, Frank 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 wedding in a big church with bridesmaids and flower girls/ A lot of ushers in tail coats/ Reporters and photographers" ("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 Frank deliberately misses five shots to make it a tie, 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: Jessie, Nellie, 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

• Overture — Orchestra
• "Buffalo Bill" — Charlie Davenport, Dolly Tate & Chorus
• "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
• "They Say It's Wonderful" — Annie and Frank
• "Moonshine Lullaby" § — Annie and siblings
• "I'll Share It All With You" — Winnie Tate and Tommy Keeler
• "Ballyhoo" — Riding Mistress and Show People
• "There's No Business Like Show Business" (Reprise) — Annie Oakley
• "My Defenses Are Down" — Frank and ensemble
• "Wild Horse Ceremonial Dance" — Wild Horse, Indian Braves and Maidens
• "I'm an Indian, Too" — Annie and ensemble
• Adoption Dance — Annie Oakley, Wild Horse and Braves

Act II

• Entr'acte — Orchestra
• "I Got Lost In His Arms" § — Annie
• "Who Do You Love, I Hope" — Winnie Tate and Tommy Keeler
• "I Got the Sun in the Morning" — Annie and ensemble
• "They Say It's Wonderful" (Reprise) — Annie Oakley and Frank Butler
• "The Girl That I Marry" (Reprise) — Frank Butler
• "Anything You Can Do" — Annie and Frank
• "Show Business" (Reprise) — Ensemble

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

• "There's No Business Like Show Business" - Frank and Company
• "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly" — Annie, Kids and Foster Wilson
• "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" (Reprise) — Frank, Buffalo Bill, Charlie and Annie
• "I'll Share It All With You" — Tommy, Winnie and Company
• "Moonshine Lullaby" — Annie, Kids, Ensemble Trio
• "There's No Business Like Show Business" (Reprise) — Annie
• "They Say It's Wonderful" — Annie and Frank
• "My Defenses Are Down" — Frank and Young Men
• Finale: "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun (Reprise)" - Annie

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 Productions

Annie Get Your Gun premiered on Broadway at the Imperial Theater on May 16, 1946 and ran for 1,147 performances. Directed by Joshua Logan, the show starred Ethel Merman as Annie, Ray Middleton as Frank Butler, Art Bernett as Foster Wilson, Harry Bellaver as Chief Sitting Bull, Kenneth Bowers as Tommy Keeler, Marty May as Charlie Davenport and William O'Neal as Buffalo Bill. The musical toured the U.S. from October 3, 1947, starting in Dallas, Texas with Mary Martin as Annie. This tour also played Chicago and Los Angeles. Martin stayed with the tour until mid-1948.

The show had its West End premiere on June 7, 1947 at the London Coliseum where it 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 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. A French version, Annie du Far-West, starring Marcel Merkes and Lily Fayol, began production at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 19 February 1950 and ran for over a year.

1966 Broadway revival

The show had its first Broadway revival in 1966 at the Music Theater of Lincoln Center. This production opened on May 31, 1966 and ran until July 9, followed by a short 10-week U.S. Tour. It returned to Broadway at the Broadway Theatre on September 21 for 78 performances. Ethel Merman reprised her original role as Annie with Bruce Yarnell as Frank and Jerry Orbach as Charles Davenport. The secondary romance between Tommy Keeler and Winnie Tate was completely eliminated, and the song "An Old Fashioned Wedding" was added to the second act. 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.

1977 LA Civic Light Opera production

In 1977, Gower Champion directed a revival for the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera starring Debbie Reynolds as Annie. The Assistant Director was James Mitchell, Co-choreographer was Tony Stevens, along with musical director Jack Lee, and costumes by Alvin Colt. Harve Presnell as Frank Butler was paired again in this production with Reynolds after "Unsinkable Molly Brown." The cast featured Art Lund as Buffalo Bill, Bibi Osterwald as Dolly Tate, Gavin MacLeod as Charlie Davenport, Peter Bruni as Foster Wilson, Don Potter as Pawnee Bill, and Manu Tupou as Sitting Bull. The cast also included Trey Wilson and Debbie Shapiro. The production later toured various North American cities, but never ran on Broadway, its planned destination.

1992 London Production

A short-lived London production ran at the Prince of Wales Theatre in the West End, starring Kim Criswell as Annie. Criswell's studio cast recording of the show - made with Thomas Hampson and conductor John McGlinn - provided the impetus for the production.

1999 Broadway revival

1999 revival Playbill

In 1999, a new production had its pre-Broadway engagement at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., from December 29, 1998 to January 24, 1999. Previews began on Broadway on February 2, 1999 at the Marquis Theatre, with an official opening on 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, with direction by Graciela Daniele, choreographey by Jeff Calhoun, and music arrangements by John McDaniel. Peters won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical and the production won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.

This production had a revised book by Peter Stone and new orchestrations, and 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 as Annie on September 6, 2000, with Patrick Cassidy as Frank Butler. Country music superstar Reba McEntire made her Broadway debut as Annie from January 26, 2001 to June 22, 2001 opposite Brent Barrett as Frank. 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.

2000 U.S. Tour

The 1999 Broadway production, in a "slightly revised version", toured in a U.S. national tour starting in Dallas, Texas on July 25, 2000 with Marilu Henner and Rex Smith. Tom Wopat joined the tour in late October 2000, replacing Smith.

2006 Prince Music Theatre production

In 2006, the Prince Music Theater, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 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 critics. The production was directed by Richard M. Parison, Jr. and choreographed by Mercedes Ellington.

2009 London revival

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 2 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."

2010 Ravinia Festival concert

A concert staging of the original version of Annie Get Your Gun took place at the Ravinia Festival, Chicago from August 13–15, 2010 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Annie Oakley's birth. Directed by Lonny Price, the concert starred Patti LuPone as Annie, Patrick Cassidy as Frank and George Hearn as Buffalo Bill. The concert received unanimously strong reviews, notably for LuPone and Price's direction.

Other major productions

Lucie Arnaz starred in a production in the summer of 1978 at the Jones Beach Theater on Nassau County, New York. This was the first major production of the musical done in the New York area after the 1966 revival.

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.

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 various recordings of the Annie Get Your Gun score, including:

• 1946 Original Broadway Cast
• 1957 TV Cast
• 1963 Studio Cast
• 1966 Broadway Revival Cast
• 1991 Studio Cast
• 1999 Broadway Revival Cast (Grammy Award)

Conductor John Owen Edwards along with JAY Records recorded the first ever complete recording (with all musical numbers, scene change music and incidental music) of the show's score in the 1990s with Judy Kaye and Barry Bostwick featured.

Awards and nominations

• Mary Martin received a Special Tony Award in 1948 for "Spreading Theatre to the Country While the Originals Perform in New York" (1947-48 US Tour)

1966 Broadway revival

Year	Award Ceremony	Category	Nominee	Result
1966	Tony Award	Best Direction of a Musical	Jack Sydow	Nominated
		Best Choreography	Danny Daniels	Nominated

1999 Broadway revival

Year	Award Ceremony	Category	Nominee	Result
1999	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Revival of a Musical		Nominated
		Outstanding Actor in a Musical	Tom Wopat	Nominated
		Outstanding Actress in a Musical	Bernadette Peters	Won
	Grammy Award	Best Musical Show Album		Won
	Tony Award	Best Revival of a Musical		Won
		Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Tom Wopat	Nominated
		Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical	Bernadette Peters	Won
2001	Drama Desk Award	Special Award	Reba McEntire	Won
	Theatre World Award			Won

2009 London revival

Year	Award Ceremony	Category	Nominee	Result
2009	Laurence Olivier Award	Best Musical Revival		Nominated

Internet Meme

One of the songs from the musical, "Anything You Can Do" achieved meme status after parodies of the song appeared on YouTube, dubbing the song over a video of two characters (usually from video games and tv shows) arguing over who is better. These parodies tend to use the song from the 1999 version of the musical.

References

• Annie Get Your Gun plot summary & character descriptions from StageAgent.com
• The Judy Garland Online Discography "Annie Get Your Gun" pages.
• Listing at the RNH site
• 1999 Revival at RNH
• 'Annie Get Your Gun' Story, Cast, Scenes and Settings at guidetomusicaltheatre.com

External links

• Annie Get Your Gun at the Internet Broadway Database
• Annie Get Your Gun (1957) (TV) at the Internet Movie Database
• Annie Get Your Gun (1967) (TV) at the Internet Movie Database
• Curtain Up reviews from 2/8/01 and 3/9/99
• Annie Get Your Gun at Ovrtur.com