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Stage Review: 'Annie Get Your Gun' a musical treat
Wednesday, August 23, 2000 By John Hayes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Times change. In a politically correct world maybe "Annie Get Your Gun" should be retitled "Annie Get Your Recycled Post-it Notes Dispenser." And instead of killing partridges they should be planting trees.
But that's not how Irving Berlin and Herbert and Dorothy Fields saw their brash fictionalization of the life of vaudeville sharpshooter Annie Oakley. They envisioned the rootinest, tootinest musical hootenanny that Broadway had ever saddled up to. Even Peter Stone's revival pumped up the Western drawls and cocked the shootin' irons, taking aim last year at a Tony for Best Musical Revival.
In a national road tour produced by Dallas Summer Musicals, CLO's partner in "Copacabana," the timeless show does everything required of an old-school musical. The costumes are grand, the dancing is spectacular, the singing of familiar hits is over the top and, in the end, the girl gets her man.
This "girl," Marilu Henner, has been playing young women since before "Taxi" in the '70s. Despite the years, she hasn't aged a day.
Henner gives her Annie a wind-blown burlap quality that contrasts nicely with the elegant diamond-in-the-rough that she becomes. She does dreamy-eyed well but sparkles on the comedy, nailing the timing of the one-liners that the show's original audiences must have loved. Henner goes hog wild with the Western drawl on "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly," but her wistful voice works wonders on tender tunes like "Moonshine Lullaby" and "Lost in His Arms."
Last night, Rex Smith had barely gotten the first line to the first song out of his mouth -- "There's no business like show business ... " -- when something loudly crashed to the floor back stage. He could have ignored it. He could have gotten irritated. Smith just laughed and worked it into the appropriate line: "Let's go on with the show."
Smith has swagger to spare as the arrogant sharpshooter and star of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show who makes scrub-brush Annie yearn to be a lady. He goes down deep for a powerful, masculine delivery of songs and works well with Henner in romantic scenes. He's not convincing as a cowboy, but with ballet interludes going on behind him no one is likely to forget that it's only a show.
Larry Storch revisits the stereotypical Indian imitations that he did as Cpl. Agarn from the old "F Troop" TV series in his current role as Sitting Bull. Storch doesn't get much to work with but he milks it for laughs as his aging, former warrior embraces the white man's ways as a venture capitalist investing in Wild Bill's show.
"ER" and "Days of Our Lives" veteran George McDaniel plays a savvy William Cody who puts on the Western charm for the audiences but pinches pennies as the company manager.
Half-price seats for the remaining shows will be available at the Heinz Hall box office at 7 p.m. today and tomorrow.
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