Annie Get Your Gun

Annie Get Your Gun, award-winning musical with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and accompanying libretto by siblings Dorothy and Herbert Fields. The musical is a fictionalized version of sharpshooter Annie Oakley’s life and her romance with fellow marksman Frank E. Butler. It premiered at the Imperial Theatre in New York City on May 16, 1946, and soon became a popular and critical success, running for more than a thousand performances on Broadway. Annie Get Your Gun has since seen multiple revivals and screen adaptations, and some of its songs, including “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun,” and “Anything You Can Do,” have remained popular.

Background and creation

Songwriter Dorothy Fields came up with the idea to develop a musical based on Oakley’s life reportedly after hearing a story about a World War II veteran showing trivial shooting-gallery prizes to patrons at a New York bar. Fields and her brother cowrote the libretto for the show. The role of Oakley was written with Fields’s friend Ethel Merman in mind. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II signed on as producers, and Merman agreed to star in the musical.

Hammerstein’s frequent collaborator, Jerome Kern, was set to compose the show’s music. However, he died unexpectedly in 1945 before he could begin work on the score. Irving Berlin was subsequently brought on board to compose the score, and Fields agreed to let Berlin take over the lyrics. Joshua Logan later joined as director.

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Plot summary

Annie Get Your Gun begins by introducing Annie Oakley as a frontier girl and skilled shooter who helps support her family by hunting and selling game. After discovering her sharpshooting abilities, Buffalo Bill Cody invites Oakley to join his traveling Wild West show. She then falls in love with the show’s headliner, marksman Frank E. Butler. Oakley’s skills soon outshine Butler’s, and she becomes the show’s main attraction. Butler then joins a competitor’s show and ultimately has a final shoot-out with Oakley, which she deliberately loses to preserve his pride and their relationship.

Notable cast members and major revivals

The original Broadway production starred Ethel Merman as Annie Oakley, Ray Middleton as Frank Butler, and William O’Neal as Buffalo Bill. Mary Martin played Oakley in the subsequent tour. Merman would reprise her role in the 1966 revival, alongside Bruce Yarnell as Butler and Rufus Smith as Buffalo Bill.

Peter Stone adapted the musical’s libretto for a 1999 Broadway revival; the plot and songs were modified in line with contemporary sentiments, specifically regarding the roles of men and women in relationships and the show’s treatment of Native Americans. The revised production featured Bernadette Peters as Oakley, Tom Wopat as Butler, and Ron Holgate as Buffalo Bill. Crystal Bernard, Cheryl Ladd, Susan Lucci, and Reba McEntire replaced Peters at various points during the production’s run, and Wopat was later succeeded by Brent Barrett and Patrick Cassidy.

Annie Get Your Gun was staged in other countries as well; a 1947 production in London’s West End starred Dolores Gray as Oakley and ran for more than 1,300 shows. The musical has also been performed in Australia, France, and Japan, and it continues to be staged by touring productions.

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Recognition and adaptations

Mary Martin, who starred as Oakley in the first touring production of Annie Get Your Gun, won a special Tony Award in 1948 for her performance. The 1999 revival earned a Tony for best revival, and Bernadette Peters was named best actress in a musical; it also won the Grammy Award in 2000 for best musical show album.

A film adaptation of the musical was directed by George Sidney; he replaced Charles Walters, who had briefly taken over after Busby Berkeley was fired. The movie, also titled Annie Get Your Gun, was released in 1950 and starred Betty Hutton as Oakley. Judy Garland had originally been cast in the title role but was fired during the production. The film was a success and won the Academy Award for best music in a musical picture.

In 1957 Annie Get Your Gun was adapted into a TV movie by NBC, starring Martin as Oakley and John Raitt as Butler. NBC aired another adaptation in 1967; this version was based on the 1966 stage production and featured Merman as Oakley and Yarnell as Butler.