Annie Get Your Gun at the Crucible Theatre Sheffield Review
Annie Get Your Gun
Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
9 December to 21 January 2017
Reviewed by Jenny Bray
This show was held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The Crucible is within a square that also houses the Lyceum. It is well signposted within the city centre and I knew to park at the local Q parks as the theatre gives you a ticket so you get your first hour’s parking free. The Crucible has a modern feel to it. There is a bar and cloakroom and they sell ice cream and lollies at various points around the forum during the interval.
This show was on the main stage in the Crucible, which is set coming out from one edge surrounded by seating round the other three sides. The setting is smaller than a traditional theatre so feels more intimate.
Annie Get Your Gun is based around the true story of Annie Oakley (real name Phoebe Ann Moses), a famous gunslinger in the late 1800s. This year it’s the 90 year anniversary of her death. Her story was unique in it’s time as it was rare to see a female who could shoot and, even less so, who could make a career out of it in a very male dominated time in a male dominated profession. The musical is centred around both her career in show business and her relationship with Frank Butler, a fellow gunslinger, who she initially meets when she beats him in a shooting competition.
The musical begins with the well known ‘There’s No Business’ and then initially centres around Annie (Anna-Jane Casey), with her 3 younger siblings in tow, becoming a great gun handler. When she first meets Frank she is instantly smitten with him but doesn’t realise he is to be her opponent. He says he likes women to, among other things, look nice and smell nice, neither of which apply to her at the time. She believes that no-one will love her due to her gun, along with the song ‘You can’t get a man with a gun’. Frank is already part of a touring show run by Buffalo Bill (Nicholas Colicos) and Charlie Davenport (Timothy Quinlan) when she is invited along to be his assistant and to occasionally wow the audience with the odd trick (but most definitely being in the sidelines with Frank as the star attraction). This works until Buffalo Bill and Charlie learn that their rival Pawnee Bill (Mike Denman) has a new show that they fear will take away their customers so Annie is encouraged to perform a new shooting trick, which she is led to believe will finally woo Frank. Sitting Bull (Karl Seth), who has previously said he does not buy into show business, sees the trick and buys into the show as he sees her star talent. He also adopts her as his daughter naming her ‘Watanya Cecilia’ meaning ‘Little Sure Shot’. Annie and Frank go their seperate ways and perform in their own shows, with Frank joining Pawnee Bill around America and Annie touring Europe and gaining lots of medals for being the best shooter wherever they are. They are only reunited when both shows come together during a party. Frank and Annie initially want to be reunited so they reconcile and plan their wedding while singing ‘An Old Fashioned Wedding’. However, tensions run high when Annie shows Frank the number of medals she has gained for her shooting. They both want to be top dog so they have a rematch of their original shooting competition. Her gun has been sabotaged but Sitting Bull reminds her that the gun won’t get her the man so losing is her way of winning him back. She concedes to Frank but he says he still has his shots to do.
The show highlights the differences between Annie and Frank with Annie being strong willed and Frank believing that he wants a more meek and mild woman as a wife. This is very well depicted during them singing ‘An Old Fashioned Wedding’ when they have reconciled and also during ‘Anything You Can Do’. ‘An Old Fashioned Wedding’ sees them both have differing views including Frank wanting her to love, honour and obey him and Annie stating that she will love and honour but will not obey him! The final part of this song is them both singing their differing views simultaneously with their backs to each other. This worked really well both as a stage setting and musically and their voices complemented each other well. ‘Anything You Can Do’ is staged just before their competition rerun and again highlights their differences and competitiveness. It is sung brilliantly with them arguing while having a sing off with different competitions over who can sing higher, quieter, hold a note longer etc.
There is also an underlying theme of racism during that time throughout the performance. Winnie Tate (Lauren Hall) who is Dolly Tate’s (Maggie Service, playing Frank’s assistant) little sister falls in love with Tommy Keeler (Cleve September) and marries him secretly at 17 but when Dolly finds out she bans them from seeing each other due to him being half Indian and has the marriage annulled. When Frank and Annie fall out Dolly goes with Frank to Pawnee Bill and forces Winnie to go with them, leaving Tommy behind. They reconcile when Annie and Frank’s teams come together, by which time Winnie is 18 so can make her own decisions. When Sitting Bull’s part develops he has land with oil on but we later find out that this has been exploited and has all gone along with all the money from it.
I must admit that I didn’t know the full list of songs that were included in this musical prior to attendance so was surprised when I recognised several of them. The most well known must be ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’ and ‘Anything You Can Do’ (I can do better). ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’ is repeated a few times throughout the performance. The song lyrics themselves are quirky and original and raised several laughs throughout the night.
Anna-Jane Casey, who played Annie, was a great fit for the part and performed and sung enthusiastically with great stage presence. She also balanced well on a buffalo trapeze while it was hoisted high above the stage and swung back and forth!
I love musicals but found some of the background dancing and performance throughout this one a little too over the top. The music was performed by a hidden orchestra but, at times, sounded pre-recorded somehow. I’m not sure whether this was due to the soundsystem in the room. When Annie was shooting things there were, on occasion, slight delays between the shot and the intended outcome, such as a balloon being burst, which was quite comedic but I’m guessing was unintentional as it didn’t quite work.
There were some really good props during this show that were basic but effective. Due to the shape of the stage, it must be hard to kit out. The rear part of the stage has a rotating circle on it and, at one point, becomes a series of train carriages, which worked really well. At other points it has 2 different stages on which simply and successfully rotate between scene changes. Several scenes were acted out in front of a ‘big top’ style circus tent backdrop.
Overall this was a very enjoyable musical. It just felt a little too overstaged at times. Anna-Jane Casey and Ben Lewis received standing ovations from the audience at the end so I guess my views may differ slightly from the rest of the audience. It’s well worth going to see if you like musicals and/or shows with a western theme.
Overall I enjoyed this show and rate it a 4.5/5.
Rating: 4.5/5
Tickets cost from £25.50 to £40 (booking fees may apply).
Annie Get Your Gun is at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield until 21 January 2017. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0114 249 6000.
Crucible Theatre, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA | 0114 249 6000
