HIt or Miss | Annie Get Your Gun

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The Play

Annie Get Your Gun

What’s Going On?

Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre once again delights audiences with the classic musical Annie Get Your Gun, onstage until May 8, 2011. Annie Get Your Gun, written by Herbert and Dorothy Fields, features music and lyrics by the legendary lyricist and composer, Irving Berlin.

It’s Like This

Annie Oakley, played by the charismatic and vocally talented Tiana Checchia, is a spunky and skilled shooter out selling game when she ends up in a shooting contest in the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Her opponent, Frank Butler, made memorable by Curt Dale Clark, is as handsome as he is melodically gifted. It’s no wonder Annie falls in love with Frank at first sight... all without knowing the he’s the same man she’s bragging that she’ll beat.

The stage is set for a great show down by Buffalo Bill (Jeff Stockberger) and Charlie Davenport (J.R. Stuart), the loveable but slightly devious co-owners of the Wild West Show. Annie’s competitive nature gets the best of her and she proves to Frank that, “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better.” Annie’s win earns against Frank earns her co-billing and eventually top billing because “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Frank then signs with a competing show and he and Annie once again find themselves in a shooting contest.

The audience will enjoy Sitting Bull (Jack Milo) who also has joined the competing show to give them an edge over Annie. This doesn’t stop Buffalo Bill and Charlie as they try to persuade Sitting Bull to invest his recent financial windfall in their show. Sitting Bull lives by a few rules. One being, “Never invest in show business.” After witnessing Annie’s skills, he not only changes his mind but adopts Annie as his Indian daughter and helps her realize she and Frank belong together. Annie then has to decide what she wants to win most — the contest or Frank’s heart. She realizes, “You Can’t Get A Man With A Gun.”

See it? Or Skip It?

This highly entertaining musical has something for everyone, dueling sharpshooters, crooked businessmen, high society ladies and adorable children, all with tremendous vocal talent. The band skillful accompaniment adds to the immense fun to be had by audiences of all ages.

by Nicole Kearney Cooper