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Synopsis This comedy musical tells the romantic story of Annie Oakley, a shooting female hillbilly who becomes the star attraction of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.
Jane Horrocks & Julian Ovenden in Annie Get Your Gun
Date: 19 October 2009
The Young Vic revival of Irving Berlin's classic Wild West musical Annie Get Your Gun opened to critics on Friday (See Today's 1st Night Photos), marking the show's first major London revival in over 15 years.
The production features Jane Horrocks as gunslinger Annie Oakley, hoping that anything Ethel Merman can do she can do better, while Julian Ovenden stars as Frank Butler, her sharp-shooting rival and love interest.
The revival, which contains additional dialogue by April de Angelis and features a score arranged for four pianos by Jason Carr, is helmed by renowned opera and theatre director Richard Jones, designed by Ultz and choreographed by Phillipe Giraudeau. It continues until 2 January 2010.
Critically, Annie Get Your Gun didn't hit the bullseye across the board, but it certainly came close. The 'two Michaels' - Coveney and Billington - both raved, awarding five stars each and praising Jones' “Brechtian” staging. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Daily Telegraph's Charles Spencer found himself wanting to “shoot both director and designer” for over-meddling, but nevertheless found comfort in the “real chemistry” between the two leads. Horrocks fared well, her “kooky” take on Annie proving popular with most, while Julian Ovenden also hit the target with a performance oozing “swagger” and showcasing his “magnificent" vocal abilities. But it was Berlin's music that emerged as the real star of the show - an "astonishing string of hits" according to the Evening Standard's Fiona Mountford.
** DON’T MISS our Whatsonstage.com Outing to ANNIE GET YOUR GUN on 22 October 2009 – inc a FREE programme & EXCLUSIVE post-show Q&A with Horrocks & Ovenden - all for only £29.50!! - click here to book now!! **
Michael Coveney on Whatsonstage.com (five stars) - “There’s nothing not to like about Richard Jones’ revival of Annie Get Your Gun which solves the book’s problems by being cheeky about them and delivers Irving Berlin’s wonderful score with wit, brio and a sly, musicianly expertise … Jones spreads the action of the Wild West travelling show high, wide and handsome in Ultz’s design, with gorgeously minimal choreography by Philippe Giraudeau … The two previous London Annies I’ve seen - Suzi Quattro in 1986 and Kim Crisswell in 1992 - forced you to bear Ethel Merman in mind when writing about them. But Horrocks side-steps this by being so kooky and unusual … A palpable hit.”
Dominic Maxwell in The Times (three stars) - “Four saloon pianos handle the entire score; a couple of numbers, including the jauntily insensitive 'I’m an Indian Too', have vamoosed; and the Wild West setting has moved, not always comfortably, into the 20th century … Jane Horrocks as Annie starts out as a gawky naif in a Mickey Mouse T-shirt before her success in Buffalo Bill’s travelling circus turns her into a gawky celebrity. She’s sparky, adorable, plays it big - yet needs to play it even bigger; and she lacks the truly big voice that would really grab hold of the songs … The piano backing requires sustained exuberance, otherwise the performance looks like a dress rehearsal. Skilful though the cast of 20 are, the show lacks hips … Jones’s production isn’t fully achieved yet, but Annie Get Your Gun is still great fun.”
Michael Billington in the Guardian (five stars) – “Richard Jones' brilliant production … offers the wittiest musical staging London has seen in years … I would, in fact, call the staging 'Brechtian' if that were not now seen as pejorative. Ultz has transformed the Young Vic into a wide proscenium stage studded with footlights which is wonderfully apt for a musical that announces 'There's No Business Like Show Business' … Everything about the musical has been radically re-thought. Annie herself is normally played, in the Ethel Merman tradition, as a brass-lunged belter. Here the matchless Jane Horrocks plays her as a scrawny, dirty-knee'd ragamuffin frustrated by her lack of obvious sexual allure … And there are perfect performances from Julian Ovenden as the strutting, cocksure but not unlikeable Butler, John Marquez as an archetypal fixer and Liza Sadovy as his mutinous partner.”
Fiona Mountford in the Evening Standard (three stars) - “If the production and Jane Horrocks as sharp-shooting tomboy Annie Oakley, don’t always come natur’lly, at least the next delightful number is only moments away … It’s unclear what director Richard Jones hoped to gain from updating the action (Oakley was at her height in the 1880s) to a loose approximation of the 1940s. The mock-up video sequences of Horrocks receiving medals from the likes of Churchill and, er, Hitler, are amusing enough but make no sense … Ovenden hits the target absolutely on the sweet spot, strutting about Ultz’s narrowed-down, saloon-bar-style stage with magnificent swagger. His lovely voice is a joy and helps smooth over a less accomplished turn from Horrocks. Annie’s pronounced Hicksville accent seems a struggle and she has a worrying tendency to gurn. Confident ensemble singing and nifty accompaniment from just four pianos shoot sharper than she does.”
Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph (three stars) - "It says much for the melodic and lyrical brilliance of Irving Berlin that this revival of Annie Get Your Gun survives almost everything the tediously contentious director Richard Jones can throw at it … Then there is the design, or rather the anti-design, by Ultz … All I got was a murderous desire to shoot both director and designer. Yet this great show somehow survives. The score is one of the finest in Broadway’s history and Berlin’s gift for unforgettable melody and witty lyrics ('You can’t shoot a male in the tail like a quail') have a superb, polished panache … we are deprived of lavish orchestrations, but musical director Jason Carr has done a decent job and the small musical forces mean the artists can be heard without amplification. There is also real chemistry between the two stars ... Tall, handsome and with a wonderfully rich voice, Ovenden is a great leading man, though feminists will be outraged by the sincerity with which he sings 'the girl that I marry will have to be/as soft and as pink as a nursery'.”
There’s nothing not to like about Richard Jones’ revival of Annie Get Your Gun which solves the book’s problems by being cheeky about them and delivers Irving Berlin’s wonderful score with wit, brio and a sly, musicianly expertise.
Favouring a great wide stage, as he did in last year’s collaboration with Jane Horrocks, Brecht’s The Good Soul of Sezchuan, Jones spreads the action of the Wild West travelling show high, wide and handsome in Ultz’s design, with gorgeously minimal choreography by Philippe Giraudeau, as if in sarcastic one-dimensional retort to a filmed travelogue of forest landscapes and grizzly bears during the overture.
Two children hold hands through that scenic prologue, and Horrocks’ impish, slightly crazed little Annie Oakley – her childish knees are both knocked and grimy – and Julian Ovenden’s likeable Frank Butler work out their romance against a background of professional rivalry.
Both are exceptional shooting aces, but Annie wins her man by ceding hot shot supremacy, a preemptive strike against the political correctness that simply doesn’t figure in the book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields. Nor does the hilarious filmed inset of Annie chumming up with world leaders – Churchill, Hitler, Mao Tse Tung – on a triumphal tour.
The two previous London Annies I’ve seen – Suzi Quattro in 1986 and Kim Crisswell in 1992 – forced you to bear Ethel Merman in mind when writing about them. But Horrocks side-steps this by being so kooky and unusual. She doesn’t have Merman’s lungs, but she has a dry, skilful way with the songs; her sweetness comes laced with acid.
Ovenden shapes his performance around her, and there are delicious turns by Liza Sadovy and John Marquez in the troupe, some additional dialogue by April de Angelis, a travelator of scaled-down scenery as the train crosses the country, and a brilliant arrangement of the score by Jason Carr played on the four pianos Stravinsky also used in Les Noces.
The pianos can be a bit relentless, but the concept is so fresh and delightful (the pianists pop up with cacti and odd props) it outweighs the misgiving. The programme fails to list the musical numbers (naughty), but there are corporate intakes of pleasure as one great song follows another.
Everyone knows “There’s No Business Like Showbusiness,” but a whole generation will rediscover the irresistible jauntiness of “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly” and “I Got the Sun in the Morning,” and the lyrical beauty of “They Say It’s Wonderful” and “Moonshine Lullaby.” A palpable hit.
** DON’T MISS our Whatsonstage.com Outing to ANNIE GET YOUR GUN on 22 October 2009 – inc a FREE programme & EXCLUSIVE post-show Q&A with Horrocks & Ovenden - all for only £29.50!! - click here to book now! **
Oh come on! Did you really expect lush strings and beautiful orchestrations at the Young Vic?! On Tuesday I sat through 'Oliver!' at Drury Lane; a ponderous, leaden supertanker of a production, weighed down by its own scale. By contrast, AGYG is light, inventive and most-of-all, great fun. It's a tribute to all concerned that never once did Betty Hutton, Howard Keel or (thank God) Ethel Merman come to mind. Unlike Mr Hewitt et al, I don't go to the fringe to come out whistling the sets. If you want juggernaut theatre, stick with Lloyd Webber and Mackintosh. - Paul Arthur
20 Dec 09
What great fun this show is. It was quirky, witty and thoroughly enjoyable. Not sure about some of the sets, all a bit basic, or the newsreels which added nothing but the performances were good. Jane Horrocks isn't the greatest singer but she does act well and brings a real warmth to Annie, although a little bit of Bubbles from Ab Fab came over from time to time. Julian Ovenden certainly can sing and does so brilliantly. The two together have great chemistry which adds to the enjoyment and what a score. The kind of show that makes you leave the theatre humming the tunes. - Paul Wallis
11 Dec 09
I don't think I've ever seen a show so affected by the decisions of the director and designer. Setting it in the 1950s is pointless and the post interval newsreel demonstrates a very shaky grasp of 20th century history (unless Annie is a timelord). The set is low budget in the extreme with obvious rip-offs of Joseph and the musical accompaniment of just four pianos all combines to lend the show the air of a church hall am-dram. Irving Berlin's score and witty lyrics just about survive and the cast give it everything. Julian Ovenden has a wonderful voice but it is not ideally suited to Berlin whilst Jane Horrocks proves that she is a great comedienne but only an adequate singer. The Young Vic also earns condemnation for a shambolic unreserved seating policy which created mass confusion and a ridiculously crowded foyer. The Chocolate Factory bowed to criticism; it's about time the Young Vic followed suit. - David Baxter
02 Dec 09
I know not everyone likes this production but I found it a really enjoyable show. - CAA
23 Nov 09
I went back again, not because I was so enthralled the first time, but because two tickets came my way and so I took two friends. The first time I saw it I gave the cast the benefit of the doubt as, if I remember rightly, it was still in preview. Nothing's changed, it still has an overwhelming whiff of the AmDram about it, except of course for Julian Ovenden and the wonderful John Marquez who's character Charlie, for me, steals the show. His every move and gesture is mesmerising.
- rds
10 Nov 09
This show is awesome, if you're looking for broadway production standards, don't expect it from a show miles from the west end with such low ticket prices. The production is minimal and creatively put together, Horrocks is brilliant, totally stealing the show in my opinion but my other half was pretty smitten by Mr. Ovenden. If you're looking for Broadway production standards, don't expect it from a show miles from the west end with such low ticket prices, if you're looking for a thoroughly entertaining show then this will keep you engaged throughout - Kieran
06 Nov 09
How can this show deserve one star? Anyone who put that has no sense of humour - this is a brilliant new take on the classic. The songs are catchy and leave you singing them for a long time afterwards - the four piano's were a great idea, fun and original. Space on the relatively small stage was well used - the conveyor belt idea was very unique and memorable and worked very well. The choreography was fun, as were the bright, new-fashioned costumes. The cast were very strong- Horrocks had a fantastic voice and a great personality. She portrayed Annie in a new and innovative way, and Annie's sidekick, Jessie, is very endearing. Ovenden wowed with his superb voice and an excellent portrayal of the vain Frank Butler, Annie's sweetheart and rival. One tip - sit near to the centre if possible, otherwise it is quite difficult to see everythingthat goes on on stage, especially in the upper 'window'. It is a sparkling new take on this show and is thoroughly enjoyable. Unless you have no sense of humour, like those people who rated this one star.
- Minus R
01 Nov 09
Terrible set, Horrocks isnt great and the 4 piano accompaniment gives it the flavour of a school production. However, the male lead (Julian Ovenden) is going to be a star - gorgeous, sexy, and can sing. - addicted to theatre
28 Oct 09
Lets get things straight, this is a production at the young vic not in the west end, so if you expect big production special effects you'll be disappointed. If you go looking for a wonderful night out with an excellent cast and some of the best show tunes ever written then you won't be disappointed. Horrocks is as mad as ever, but gleefully so. - Paul
26 Oct 09
Despite the many flaws in this production, I really, really enjoyed this show. Yes, the set, lighting and costumes are dire, and sitting where I was, I missed most of the bedroom action (must go again to fully catch Julian Ovenden's pecs!) BUT -
I really enjoyed Jane Horrocks's take on the show. No, she's not Ethel Merman but her quirky portrayal was very endearing. And Julian Ovenden really MUST get some high profile roles after this - his effect on the ladies (and some men) in the audience was tangible. His voice is fantastic too, and I am regretting not going to "Margeurite" because Ms Henshall was in it....Great performances by some support members (although Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull were just WRONG).
Sitting at the front, I particularly appreciated the pianists and their contribution to the show. All in all, like another reviewer, I had a huge smile on my face when I came out. I would have given it 5 stars if the sightlines and some of the production values weren't so dire....
- Helen Brown
[TMA] member. 2004 - to close for an estimated 18 to 24 months to undergo an essential overhaul costing £12.5 million. Re-opened Oct. 2006 with the new auditoria named in honour of two theatre women, designer Maria Bjornson and director Clare Venables who died in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The Maria seats 160 while the Clare seats 80.
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