Being PC on Broadway: "Annie Get Your Gun"
By Elyse Trevers
In an age when PC means more than "personal computer" and people are sensitive to diversity, revivals are facing new challenges. How can you retain the flavor and integrity of an older show when it is laced with bigotry? This was the task undertaken by the producers of "Annie Get Your Gun" at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway.
The original "Annie Get Your Gun" was set in the wild west, back when Native Americans were considered savages and treated like third class citizens without remorse. The musical centers around the cast of Buffalo Billıs Wild West Show: Frank Butler (Tom Wopat), the marksman star of the show, and Annie Oakley (Bernadette Peters), a young woman who competes against him. The two inevitably fall in love, but are kept separated by their competitiveness. A few of the secondary characters are Native Americans, one being Chief Sitting Bull. Undoubtedly, the directors would have downplayed the character and the accompanying "Indian potshots" if they could have, but the Chief is integral to the action, investing in Billıs show and later advising Annie about her relationship with Frank.
The producers chose to keep some of the Indian jibes, so in order to make them palatable they made the character saying the lines despicable. All the nasty comments come from the same character, Frankıs sidekick, Dolly. Dollyıs an unpleasant annoying woman who everyone dislikes and mocks. Since we all scorn Dolly, we realize that her comments are unacceptable. And she is a bigoted, narrow-minded woman. Ironically Dollyıs younger sister runs off and marries someone who is half-Indian.
A feminist, Annie is ahead of her time and thatıs what creates the conflict in the show. The subordinate role that women played in that time is essential to the play and leads to one of the most popular Berlin songs from the show. Annie and Frank sing "I Can Do Anything Better Than You " demonstrating the competitiveness between them. Sitting Bull advises Annie that she must "throw" the shooting match if she wants to win her man.
The music in "Annie Get Your Gun" is vintage Irving Berlin and the show opens with "Thereıs No business Like Show Business." But the main reason to see the show is Bernadette Peters. She won the Tony for Best Actress in this role and sheıs dynamite, a bundle of energy in one small package, lighting up the stage. The rest of the show seems flat without her, but the good news is that sheıs there most of the time. Tom Wopat as Frank Butler projects little sex appeal and appears a bit worn out. Despite his reputation with the ladies, itıs hard to understand Annieıs immediate attraction to him. His best number are the ones he does with Ms. Peters. One especially delightful song, "An Old-fashioned Wedding," has Wopat as straight man with Peters hamming it up around him.
On the whole, the musical is wonderful as long as Peters is onstage. When she isnıt there, though, the audience waits impatiently for her return. If you canıt see "Annie Get Your Gun" with Bernadette Peters, thereıs no reason to go. You may as well just stay home and listen to the tape.
Elyse Trevers is a theater critic from Long Island, New York.
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