By Dale King
Delray Beach Playhouse steps back to the 19th and early 20th centuries to revisit an American icon, sharpshooter Annie Oakley, in its presentation of the Broadway favorite, Annie Get Your Gun, which boosted singer Ethel Merman’s status and gave composer extraordinaire Irving Berlin a chance to notch what many consider to be his best show score.
Director Helen Buttery helms this mix of great lyrics and tunes penned by the same musical master who crafted “White Christmas.”
A cast of more than 20 performers – many new to the DBP stage – whip up an engaging evening of entertainment, led by Kaylee Cooper as the eagle-eyed lady shootist and Christopher Burdick as Frank Butler, the smug, self-righteous star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West. This musical homes in on their tumultuous romance which hits more potholes than the Overland Stage. In real life, Annie and Frank fell in love, married, and were husband and wife for some 50 years.
The music is the true winner in this frontier extravaganza whose plot is just a tad boring and repetitive. Irving Berlin crafted a saddlebag full of songs that became hits, including “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.”
While the music helps carry the show, the stage setting is excellent, created by scenic designer Norma O’Hep and scenic artist Sage Neighbors, along with their crafty colleagues.
Live music also fills the theater, giving the performance the light feel of vaudeville – with whimsy and bits of melodrama thrown in. Toni Stamos is musical director, with Steve Jernigan on bass, David Kroll on percussion and James Poch on keyboard.
Having musicians on hand helps perk up some of the less-experienced singers, though most performers do exceedingly well in the vocal department.
The show begins with the arrival of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show in Cincinnati (“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 (Peter Raycroft), the local hotel owner, doesn’t appreciate the show taking over his inn, so Frank gives him a side bet of $100 on the match. Annie Oakley enters, shoots a stuffed bird off Dolly Tate’s hat, 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 to win the bet against Butler.
This kick-starts an on-again, off-again liaison between Annie and Frank that lasts throughout the play as meet while working for opposing road shows.
While Annie Get Your Gun is musically enjoyable and situationally amiable, some may frown on the depiction of Indians, with feathers and other affectations that look like they were taken from a B-grade Western. One of the songs, “I’m an Indian, Too,” which was cut from some productions, is performed in the DBP version.
Women get short shrift, too. The character of Frank Butler is particularly guilty of objectifying the opposite sex. But the musical dates from 1946, and depicts behavior from 50 to 75 years before that. Considering its ethos, it shouldn’t detract from the overall production.
Burdick, making his DBP debut, has portrayed a variety of characters in a string of shows, from South Pacific to Hairspray and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He has a fine voice, though it tends at times to be muffled. He and Cooper are at their best vocally in “Anything You Can Do” and “An Old-Fashioned Wedding.”
Cooper brings youthful energy to the role of Annie. Her vocal ability improves as the show goes on. She excels on “Moonshine Lullaby,” sung to her siblings (Capri Bold, Carsten Kjaerulff, Linnea Lacey and Lucas Lacey) and kills “I Got the Sun in the Mornin’.”
She carries off “There’s No Business like Show Business” with finesse, and Spensyr Bach, Scott Travis and Burdick bring back the reprise in Act II.
John Caparosa is an elegant actor/singer and sharp-dressed man who portrays Buffalo Bill, and Peter Raycroft adds an early hint of comic relief as the demanding, yet crafty hotel owner, Wilson. Choreographer Dennis Schabar imparts some fancy footwork.
Annie Get Your Gun plays through Dec. 17 at the Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St. (Lake Shore Drive), Delray Beach. Tickets are $30 and may be purchased online at delraybeachplayhouse.com or by calling 561-272-1281.