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July 25, 2008
TUTS does traditional well
Annie Get Your Gun brings old-style Broadway to Stanley Park.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
Lots of great singing and dancing, colorful costumes and innovative sets make Theatre Under the Stars' Annie Gets Your Gun a fun and nostalgic visit to "old school" Broadway.
Irving Berlin's Annie Gets Your Gun, with book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields, first opened in 1946. It is a highly fictional account of how the real Annie Oakley met her husband and became a sharp-shooting phenom in the 1880s. While it has been updated and made more politically correct by Peter Stone – removing the racism towards Native Americans – it retains its quaintness, especially since Meghan Anderssen, as Annie Oakley in the TUTS production, really hams it up. The purposeful overacting and silliness that apparently pleased audiences so much in the 1940s and '50s is a touch over-the-top for 2008, but, since it is actually humorous on occasion, director Shel Piercy can be forgiven.
Anderssen is paired on stage with Jewish community member Warren Kimmel, who plays Frank Butler, Annie's soulmate and shooting competitor, which gets in the way of the romance, of course. Kimmel is spot on with his acting and singing – he's always pleasant to watch and to hear. He and Anderssen work well together and the strongest performances in the production are those in which the couple star, such as "An Old-fashioned Wedding" and "Anything You Can Do," which both appear near the end of the story.
Annie Gets Your Gun is full of other memorable songs, such as "There's No Business Like Show Business," which opens the musical, "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly" and "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun." There are several big dance numbers, for which choreographer Shelley Stewart Hunt manages to get the large ensemble in sync and looking comfortable with all the steps – no one lagged behind or seemed to be counting.
It was fascinating to see the set, designed by Robert Gardiner, change from pre-performance disarray into a big top, to a train (very imaginative) to a steamer and several other locations. Gardiner creates for the audience the feeling of being part of the travelling show. And Jewish community member Stephen Aberle is wonderful as the show's host, Buffalo Bill. Aberle's comedic timing and physicality are perfect; for example, every time his character mentions Pawnee Bill, who runs a competing show, he spits immediately after, and, every time, it's very funny. Unintentionally funny is the horrible wig that Aberle must wear – every time Buffalo Bill's cowboy hat comes off, which is often, it's a jarring experience, as it looks like a tin foil turban with a long tail.
Other Jewish community members of note in this production are music director/conductor Wendy Bross Stuart, with Andrea Minden (flute, piccolo and bowed saw) and Morgan Fitch (keyboard) joining her in the orchestra; and assistant stage manager Frani Goodman.
Over all, Annie Get Your Gun is a better rounded production than TUTS' Jesus Christ Superstar, with which it alternates nights, but both shows have their charms. Annie Get Your Gun opened July 10 and will close Aug. 15; Jesus Christ Superstar opened July 9 and closes Aug. 16. Tickets are $29 to $36 and can be purchased from www.ticketstonight.ca or by calling 604-684-2787.
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