Annie Get Your Gun takes a fun-loving look at the spectacular career of sharpshooter Annie Oakley and her legendary romance with Frank Butler, the gun-toting star of Buffalo Bill's famous Wild West Show.

When they first meet, Frank finds his position as champion threatened by this backwards young woman with incredible shooting prowess.  In a publicity stunt shoot-out, Annie turns the tables on the Wild West star: she wins the contest, but at the same time, falls head-over-heels in love with him.  To be near him, she is offered and accepts a small part in the show.

There is escalating competition between Buffalo Bill and his rival showman, Pawnee Bill.  Charlie Davenport, Buffalo Bill's manager, convinces Annie to do a sensational solo act, which makes Frank furious; he leaves and joins the competing Pawnee Bill show.  A European tour follows with the backing of the droll and witty Chief Sitting Bull, who also adopts Annie as his daughter.

But there is a happy ending, a wagon-load of fun along the way, a true love story behind all the shenanigans along with the incomparable music of Irving Berlin.   
 

 
The YCT Players
Analynn Riley
as
Annie Oakley
David Warford
as
Frank Butler
Douglas Virgil Riley
as

Buffalo Bill Cody
Mark Claxton
as

Charlie Davenport

       
Tamara Hall
as
Dolly Tate
Ray Stokes
as
Foster Wilson
Kenton Lysak
as
Tommy Wheeler
Sayward Krofchek
as
Winnie Tate
... and a large supporting cast of singers and dancers.

 
ANNIE ON BROADWAY

Annie Get Your Gun
opened at the Imperial Theatre on May 16, 1946. It had been written specifically for Ethel Merman. Playwright Dorothy Fields had felt that casting Merman as Annie Oakley would guarantee a surefire hit.

The New York production of Annie Get Your Gun ran for 1,147 performances and was the third longest running musical of the 1940s. It was the biggest Broadway hit of Merman's career. In 1966, she returned to the role for a revival at Lincoln Center. The 1950 screen adaptation starred Betty Hutton and Howard Keel.

The 1999 Broadway revival showcased Bernadette Peters. While she lacks Merman's brass and crassness, Peters stands as the prettiest and sexiest Annie to date, not to mention probably the greatest singer of the bunch. The show was somewhat updated for modern times. Not only did Peter Stone make revisions to Herbert and Dorothy Fields' original book (the story is now a show within a show, namely Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show), but there have been revisions to Berlin's original score as well.
 
Webguy's note: Although I do not doubt the veracity of the author of the above piece, nor Ms. Peters' attributes and voice, they obviously did not have the opportunity to view our Annie's performance. ;-)