ANNIE GET YOUR GUN Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin : Book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields New York Imperial Theatre 16 May, 1946 (1147 perfs) London Coliseum June 7, 1947 (1304 perfs) SUMMARY Annie Oakley is a poor, but spirited and happy, country girl who lives by her native sharp-shooting quickly makes her the star of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show where she meets and falls in love with expert rifleman Frank Butler. Unfortunately, the tough, outspoken Annie is not Frank's idea of what a wife should be and the two remain at competitive odds. Then Annie is initiated into an Indian tribe whose Chief, Sitting Bull, gives her some good advice: only by deliberately, but discreetly, losing a shooting contest can she win Frank. Annie does so and the show ends with the exuberant climax "There's No Business Like Show Business". THE STORY: As the overture comes to an end a huge poster advertising Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show flies out to reveal the lawn and front porch of the Wilson Hotel. Charlie Davenport with other members of Buffalo Bill's troupe announce the show to the guests. Charlie wants to match the show's sharpshooter, Frank Butler, against a local marksman. The hotel's owner refuses. Wilson has just had Pawnee Bill's Far East Show staying and, after that experience, he wants nothing more to do with show folk. Frank tries to convince Wilson to allow the match but even a $100 side bet won't persuade him. Frank admits his character to the admiring females who surround him when he sings "I'm a Bad, Bad Man". Suddenly the stuffed bird on Charlie's sister Dolly's hat is shot off. Annie Oakley has mistaken it for the real thing. Annie is there to offer Wilson birds for the table with no buck-shot in them - she always kills with one shot to the head. Wilson says he'll take two dozen, but Annie and the four siblings who follow her around are only able to count to twenty. With Annie on the scene Wilson reckons that he can win his bet with Butler, and the shooting match is now on. When Frank re-appears, Annie is instantly smitten by him. She tells him that she has a shooting match lined up with a 'swollen-headed stiff ', not realizing to whom she is talking. Frank explains about the kind of girl he is looking for, leaving Annie to lament that You Can't Get A Man With A Gun. After Annie wins the match, Charlie and Bill want her in the show. With the help of Frank they convince Annie to join the company and tour with them. The troupe are aboard a train upon which the Indians have converted one of the sleeping cars into an Indian village, much to the conductor's disgust. While the others go to eat, Annie's youngest sibling, Little Jake, tries to teach her to read. Annie doesn't want Frank finding out that she is illiterate, just when he is considering making her his partner on stage: Annie is still hoping for another kind of partnership - and Frank is weakening. Annie, Bill and Charlie are enthusiastically plotting a thrilling new act for the show involving a motorcycle for Annie. Their combined plan is to outshine Pawnee Bill's show completely and to impress Frank so much that he has to ask Annie to marry him. The scene ends with Annie singing her little brothers and sisters to sleep. Annie is now on the poster advertising the show and Frank is less than happy. Pawnee Bill arrives with his troupe, meeting his old friend and rival Buffalo Bill. Pawnee Bill has Sitting Bull as a new attraction. With Annie ready to go on for her new act, Frank is about to propose. However, after the success of her surprise stunt, he is furious. Sitting Bull adopts Annie into the Sioux tribe but the first act ends with Annie discovering that Frank has left her behind to do his old act with Pawnee Bill instead.
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