Annie Get Your Gun

Annie Get Your Gun [1] is a 1946 American musical with lyrics and music by Irving Berlin and a book by Dorothy Fields and her brother Herbert Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley (1860–1926) [2], a sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West, and her romance with sharpshooter Frank Butler [3].

Performance history in South Africa

1949: Brought out to South Africa by ACT, starring Bonita Primrose and Bob Lyon. Olive King and June Hern were two notable local artists who were used in the chorus and in feature parts of imported musicals such as this one.

1972: Staged by the Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society.

1973: Presented by CAPAB English Drama in the Nico Malan Opera House, opening 23 June, with Maggie Soboil and Giulio Kukurugya. Directed by Frank Shelley, musical director Russell Channell, choreographer and designer Peter Cazalet. Some of the other cast members were Roger Dwyer, David Crichton, Liz Dick, Stephen Gurney, John Whiteley, Simon Swindell and Lois Butlin.

1985: A production with choreography by Gary Gordon and Sara Cohen as understudy for the title role.

1995: Staged by the Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society.

2004: Staged by the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society, directed by Teddy Davies, with Tracey Petersen/Stacey Rae (Annie Oakley), Gary Mahnke/Selim Kagee (Frank Butler) and others. Musical direction by Alastair Cockburn and choreography by Roxy Levy.

Sources

Wikipedia [4]

CAPAB theatre programme (1973).

Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society theatre programme (undated).

Go to ESAT Bibliography

Return to

Return to PLAYS I: Original SA plays

Return to PLAYS II: Foreign plays

Return to PLAYS III: Collections

Return to PLAYS IV: Pageants and public performances

Return to South African Festivals and Competitions

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page