proudly presented by Ernst and Young
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Book by Herbert & Dorothy Fields
Annie Get Your Gun opened at the Imperial Theatre on May 16, 1946. It had been written specifically for Ethel Merman. Playwright Dorothy Fields felt that casting Mermana s Annie Oakley would guarantee a surefire hit. The New York production ran for 1,147 perofrmances and was the third longest running musical of the 1940s. In 1999 Peter Stone revised the show for Broadway, where it won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival.
The Production Company’s Annie Get Your Gun in 2004 starred Marina Prior in the title role of Annie Oakley. Marina was joined by Scott Irwin as Frank Butler, with Renee Burleigh as Winne Tate, Michael Carman as Chief Sitting Bull, Terence Donovan as Buffalo Bill, Gary Down as Charlie Davenport, Adam Murphy as Foster Wilson/Pawnee Bill, Ranjeet Starr as Tommy Keller and Nicki Wendt as Dolly Tate.
There really is no business like show business – and this revival of the Wild West Show-within-a-show really demonstrated why. Annie Get Your Gun tells the story of the hapless sharpshooter Annie Oakley and her rocky romance with shooting ace Frank Butler. We follow Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show on tour and fall in love with this backstage story of life on the road and the trials and joys of showbusiness.
Of course Irving Berlin’s classic score couldn’t fail to thrill nearly six decades after first taking Broadway by storm. The score includes some of Broadway’s best known hits including “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly”, “The Girl That I Marry”, “They Say It’s Wonderful”, “My Defenses are Down”, “I Got the Sun in the Morning” and “An Old Fashioned Wedding”.
Director: Roger Hodgman
Musical Director: Kellie Dickerson
Choreographer: Paul Mercurio