Review: Granbury Opera House’s Annie Get Your Gun

The drive to Granbury for the musical Annie Get Your Gun, presented by Texas Family Musicals which also has shows in Galveston as Galveston Summer Musicals, is worthwhile – mostly.

The Irving Berlin score contains some of the best –loved songs in musical theater: “Doin’What Comes Naturally,” “The Girl That I Marry,” “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun,” “They Say Its Wonderful,” “I Got the Sun in the Morning,” “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better,” and that ultimate paean to show business show stopper: “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” It is worth the drive to hear these songs in context.

About the play itself, I have reservations. What kind of man wants a woman who will pretend to lose a match she could have won in order to win him? A very insecure man, that’s what. Which will lead her to a lifetime of stifling herself.

In the context of the time it was written, 1946, women had moved into the work-force in large numbers to aid the war effort. There was some angst about what would happen if they refused to go back home after the war. (After World War I, many soldiers returned to find unemployment, in part because some industries scaled back and had to retrench when they weren’t producing goods for the war effort. There was some worry about the returning veterans. One result of this angst was the G.I. Bill which eased the unemployment situation by sending large numbers of G.I.s to college instead of directly into the workforce.)

I doubt that Herbert and Dorothy Fields who wrote the book deliberately set out to support the idea that women should leave the work force and go home but that was the result. In any case the prevailing ethos of the time was that women should find a man at any cost, get married, and forever limit herself to what would not “threaten” her man. If that meant she stunted her own growth, so what?

Kelly Maier shone as Annie. She sings pretty, she dances pretty and she is pretty. And her acting -- tinged with the melodramatic manner of the play -- was fine. A lot of talent in a petite package and, unless I miss my guess, a director’s dream. How far she will go will depend upon her drive, her ambition and her luck. I wish her well.

Ryan Vallo as Frank reminded me in his looks and manner of the most arrogant SOB but one the best directors I worked for. Fortunately, arrogant SOB exactly fit the character. “Swollen-headed stiff” I believe was the phrase. Vallo has a big, magnificent voice, but needs to work on his breath control. Sometimes his expression didn’t match the words which I attribute to forcing his voice rather than producing it naturally. He is a good dancer. If he gets his vocal control, he can go as far as he wants.

Both the stars are well worth watching.

I would have liked both James Fairchild as Buffalo Bill and Shaun Yates as Pawnee Bill to be more “larger than life.” Neither actor came across as the kind of commanding personality that these men were. It takes a delicate balance to play these two parts correctly without overpowering the leads. Nevertheless, I would have liked more bluster. This was the greatest failure of the show.

Jeff Van Damme was suitably deadpan as Sitting Bull. He needed to project a little more, but all in all, I liked him.

Two little girls playing Annie’s sisters, Jessie and Nellie, were absolute dolls. Unfortunately, their names weren’t included in the program. I asked them afterward if they had fun. They assured me that they did. I enjoyed them, too.

Tim Pare as Charlie Davenport, also needed to be larger. I don’t know if he was holding back in order to stay in balance with the other performers. He was personable enough, but to be believable as the entrepreneur, he needed more presence.

Jacqueline Rez as Dolly was wholly satisfactory as Dolly Tate. She has a leading-role voice. I hope to see more of her.

Julie Richter as Wild Horse was a delight.

The ensemble dancers, Chelsea Serocke, Carly Vernon, Anna Egenes, Audra Rizzo, Meg Lanzarone, Stacie Gogo, among the women, and bit players: Patrick Morrisey, Spencer Curnutt, and Shaun P. Kelleher added a great deal to the productions. I noticed Elliott Graber’s dancing particularly so it came as no surprise that he was also the musical director.

Techie stuff:

I don’t like that staple of the community theater, canned music. It doesn’t work for me. I was surprised to find it here. Otherwise, they should have put mikes on the two little girls. Jessie’s dialog was very good – what I could hear of it. The sound was by Daniel Totten.

I particularly liked Cece Sickler’s costuming. It was well planned and well thought out.

I didn’t find any thing wrong with Amy Stein’s light design. From me, that is high praise.

Erin Johnson’s set was interesting. I thought the use of slide projections of scenes that coordinated with the supposed location was different, but a couple of times I wasn’t sure how it coordinated with the plot. The set changes were a little slow, but okay. No complaints.

Overall, the cast did a good job on the musical numbers, but was very uneven in between. Go see Annie Get Your Gun, if you are inclined to drive to Granbury.