Annie Get Your Gun

What a wonderful surprise to discover this DVD. I could listen to John Raitt's voice forever. His voice and towering, elegant presence are as thrilling now as they were when I first saw this production on the west coast. The songs, in themselves are wonderful and brought to life by Raitt's magnetic voice, they make for chills upon chills. As always, Mary Martin is a joy. Her portrayal of Annie is spirited and convincing. This year, Bonnie Raitt, John's daughter, won a Grammy - one of many she has won. Sweet to know his fine talent shines through the next generation. It is difficult to overlook the aspects that certainly would not be tolerated today, But it'is well worth accepting this arose in a different b time. We can appreciate that we have moved ahead with some stereotypes and prejudices while not dismissing the pleasure of viewing this production.

In tackling one of the great Ethel Merman's three or four signature roles, Annie in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, Mary Martin (possibly the only actress who could surpass Merman as THE musical comedy star of the 20th Century) refused to play the role anywhere near New York where Merman "owned" it. That didn't stop her from winning her first Tony Award for the part - a "Special" award "for bringing Broadway to the nation" when she took out the first National Tour for 11 months from 1947 to 1948, under Joshua Logan's original Broadway direction before going into her career re-defining role under his direction in SOUTH PACIFIC (Martin had begun as a classic sex-kitten in LEAVE IT TO ME, ONE TOUCH OF VENUS and a score of fairly delightful but now largely forgotten Paramount films and two pre-Broadway flops in between).

A decade later, after SOUTH PACIFIC (Broadway and London), PETER PAN (Broadway and TV), an international tour (also winding up on Broadway and TV) of THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH, and a TV production of BORN YESTERDAY, Martin returned to Annie, this time with John Raitt as her Frank Butler and new direction by Martin's favorite director for the later part of her career, Vincent J. Donehue, for runs in San Fransisco and Los Angeles from August through November of 1957, when the show was colorcast on NBC on the 27th.

Native Texan though Martin was (interestingly, the initial scenes in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN are set in Ohio - it's as far west as the show ever goes!), truth be told she was, under Donehue's revised direction, too lady-like and modern to be entirely satisfactory as Annie Oakley, but any Martin performance was (and is) a joy to behold and in the ANNIE GET YOUR GUN broadcast, her supporting cast (including the wonderful Reta Shaw as the comic Dolly Tate) was as close to perfection as anyone could wish.

In the days before videotape, Irving Berlin (who wrote the show's score when Jerome Kern died after first being contracted, and owned the rights) was convinced that the survival of even the improved quality kinescopes which were being made by 1957 would harm the continuing value of his underlying property, and demanded that ALL network copies of the broadcast (AND the later broadcast of the 1967 Broadway revisal with original star Ethel Merman!) be destroyed.

It is our GREAT good fortune that at least one copy survived to resurface years later (the Merman broadcast is still among the missing) to be briefly (and without rights clearances) issued by a tiny company before the Berlin estate could get a "cease and desist" order.

SOMEONE should persuade the estate to negotiate for an official release of this wonderful document, for unless and until the promised film of the piece is made with Reba McEntire (who stood Broadway on its ear when she replaced a miscast but award winning Bernadette Peters in a poorly rewritten 1999-2001 revival), this is by far the most satisfying version extant of the classic musical - and it won't be TOO long before the more reasonable European copyright laws may make the broadcast legitimately available there without generating ANY income for the Estate.

I just watched some clips from this production on Youtube. It's corny, but it's wonderful. Mary Martin brings great clowning and athletic dancing to this role, as well as great B'way singing. Her singing has much more guts than it did on the audio recording of the national touring company. In the studio she tended to sweeten things up and sing with a warmer sound. This was filmed "live" in front of an audience and has all the energy and spontaneity of a theatrical performance.

The "I'm an Indian Too" scene is wonderful. It includes a fantastic and athletic dance as Annie arrives for her initiation into the tribe. I believe this song was cut from the new Broadway production as it's comic take on American Indians would be a hard sell today.

I didn't expect much. Uusally when I see Mary Martin, she plays a version of Mary Martin. In this case, she acted the hell out of Annie Oakley. She was charming, funny, believable and totally committed to this role. She was incredibly believable as a hillbilly. I think this is a role she was born to play. I think she was better than any other Annie-even (dare I say it as an Ethel lover) Ethel Merman. If you can, see this performance- see it! . It shows why Mary was the beloved stage star she was. I also think the judicious trimming of Annie Gets Your Gun works in its favor. Always a treat to see Rita Shaw in a musical and she doesn't disappoint as Dolly. John Raitt is good too. A delight. Wish they'd re release it on DVD