Event

Annie Get Your Gun

Irving Berlin's Tony Award-winning musical tells the fictionalized love story of sharpshooters Annie Oakley and Frank Butler. In a book by Dorothy Fields and her brother Herbert, the two unlikely lovers meet when Buffalo Bill's traveling Wild West Show comes to town. From her humble beginnings in backwoods Ohio, Annie becomes America's first legendary female sharpshooter. The show features timeless musical numbers such as "Anything You Can Do,""You Can't Get a Man with a Gun," and the song that has become the anthem for theatre: "There's No Business Like Show Business."

Premiering in 1946, Annie Get Your Gun was written when men were returning from WWII to the workforce and women were uncertain if they should return to being housewives. It was a time when women had won the right to vote and the prevailing 19th Century ideal of women's roles was beginning to change. The real Annie Oakley helped pave the way for women as she and Frank Butler were true show business partners. As the conversation about gender pay gaps continues within this country, the themes within Annie Get Your Gun still resonate with us today.

Annie Get Your Gun is an all-American success story, a cherished love story, and a musical gem. Waterman's excited to bring Annie Get Your Gun this summer and hope you enjoy our production of this classic tale.

Additionally, we are very thankful to the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation for its support of this production.