Customer Reviews

Annie Get Your Gun (1999 Broadway Revival Cast)

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

An absolutely impeccable recording of a Broadway classic! Yes, this version deletes a couple of numbers from the score, (Colonel Buffalo Bill, I'm an Indian Too...etc...), but let's face it; they ain't missed. What's on this disc is so overwhelmingly enjoyable, it MORE than makes up for any omissions. Bernadette Peters is outstanding in the lead. Her performance of "I Got Lost In His Arms" is breathtakingly beautiful, not to mention "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun" where she gets to display her comedic talents. Her co-star, Tom Wopat, is equally great here on his solos, "My Defenses are Down", "The Girl that I Marry", and "They Say it's Wonderful". There simply is not a bad track on the entire disc, and the new arrangements of the songs are fantastic. Now if only someone had the sense to FILM the show and release it on video.........

In my heart of hearts, I expected not really to like Bernadette Peters doing the role of Annie Oakley in Irving Berlin's terrific "Annie Get Your Gun"--I am delighted to say that I was wrongedy-wrong-wrongo and she is stellar! Peters has a crystalline purity to her voice that I was afraid wouldn't stand up to the robust American tunes Berlin wrote for this show, but she does them justice and then some.

So many outstanding musical actresses have played this role--from Hutton to Merman and beyond--that it must be difficult to overcome the audience's expectations and make the role your own. Even though I did not see Bernadette Peters in the role on Broadway, I can tell you that merely from listening to the CD I have a different perspective about the character because she so fully claims it from the very start.

Peters' Annie is frustrated with her Oklahoma background at the same time that she's fiercely proud of it. She's afraid of and admiring of Frank Butler (played with lazy charm by Tom Wopat), and irritated by him at the same time that she's falling in love with him. Peters gets Annie's spark and verve exactly right, while also imbuing her with a little-girl quality of wanting to prove herself to everyone around her. When she first starts into the classic "There's No Business Like Show Business," her voice is tentative and quiet with wonder at the gaudy world surrounding her now that she's performing for audiences instead of just her little sisters and brothers. This makes a much more effective platform for building to the song's rousing crescendo than simply starting off booming and trying to take it from there.

Peters and Wopat are absolutely hilarious and wonderful on "I Can Do Anything Better Than You." The part where they are challenging each other to see who can sing more sweetly is especially great--each puts frilly, over-the-top operatic spins on the "Yes, I can" and "No, you can't" lyrics that makes you giggle just to listen. And on "An Old-Fashioned Wedding," Peters' lip-smacking anticipation of the "big church, with bridesmaids and flower girls" is palpable.

The supporting cast is fine, too, and Wopat acquits himself very handsomely, but this is really Bernadette Peters' show and she seizes it and runs with it--beautifully!

Bernadette Peters, who is just too cute for words, tackles the role of Annie in "Annie Get Your Gun." She is more than able to handle all of the vocal stuff thrown at her in the classic Irving Berlin score, yet seems to be coming up a little short in the acting department. With an accent and over pronouncing the "thar's" and other colloquial expressions, the magic of her voice seems to disappear little by little.

This is too bad, because overall the disc itself is a wonderful collection of the songs int he show, with new arrangements in dance and vocal numbers, the leads are more than ample in their parts, and the instrumentation, with the exception of the crazy fiddlers, provides us, the listeners, with a wonderful image of what this show might look like on the Great White Way.

Peters is especially stunning with her renditions of "I Got Lost In His Arms" and "Moonshine Lullaby." With Tom Wopat, the two of them are simply endearing in the comical song, "Anything You Can Do," and it provides one of the best songs on the disc. Their take of "Old Fashioned Wedding," with the exception of the accented dialogue from peters at the beginning, is a fun song and makes all who listen awestruck at the purity and sheer force behind Bernadette Peter's voice.

If you are a collector of musical theater discs, or simply a fan of Bernadette Peter's, this is definitely one disc not to miss.

Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat sing beautifully and in character but there is not a whole lot of pizzazz or star power to this recent Broadway revival - not compared to the Merman, Hutton and Martin versions anyway (and let us not forget Kim Criswell's fabulous Annie on the recent and now out of print studio cast recording). The show has been rewritten and some of the songs have been re-orchestrated (why?). Dropped are the supposedly ethnically offensive COLONEL BUFFALO BILL and I'M AN INDIAN TOO (Honestly, if the lyrics in these songs are offensive, then you're entirely too bloody sensitive to be let out of your teepee!) - and I'M A BAD BAD MAN (I suppose the latter was offensive to the lothario population).

Despite THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS being sung and revived after every other song (it seems like), it is never put over with any ounce of the excitement and enthusiasm in other recordings. The rest of the score is also sung in a tired fashion (although sung well).

It doesn't add up to any special reason to run out and add this to your collection unless you are a fan of the show, Ms. Peters or Mr. Wopat.

Bernadette Peters serves up a vocal preformance unparraleled by any of her other albums. Above "Sunday in the Park." Surpassing "Into the Woods"

Tom Wopat wasted to many years on "Dukes of Hazzard" and has a brilliant voice. His No Buisness. Is perfect. The Anything you can do duet is breathtaking. A must hear for the holidays!

I've never seen this show, but, by just listening to this CD have fallen in love with Annie Get Your Gun! For anyone who loves Broadway music, I strongly advise you to get this CD, I guarantee you'll enjoy it!

I recently bought the revival CD of the classic Irving Berlin musical, "Annie Get Your Gun", and found the music to be excellent! In my opinion, Bernadette Peters allows the other Annie Oakleys to step aside and she shines above all the rest. Her approach to this character is obviously one of great understanding. Her comedic timing is heard through her singing and seen on television at the 1999 Tony Awards. She is really a SHOW STOPPER! I also have the version of "Annie" from the 1966 revival. Merman's voice is classic, but it is not as in tune as Ms. Peter's voice. Bernadette outshines Ethel with her ability to take her time with these classic songs. She allows them to be funny! I would suggest this CD to anyone who loves this show! I was in it last year, and I find that I still cannot stop listening to it. It is a classic musical which will forever deserve my attention!

I saw the Broadway Revival of "Annie Get Your Gun" a month before Bernadette Peters left the role of Annie Oakly and I had bought the CD by intermission. Peters who is usually in anything with the name Sohndiem in it, is an absolute joy to watch and listen to as she makes Irving Berlin's words something to talk about. The first time I listened to this CD after seeing the show I wanted to go back. I can't go through a week without listening to this CD because every song in it is a masterpiece in itself, including the fabulous Broadway Anthem, "There's No Business, Like Show Business." As much as I am glad for Reba MacIntire that she stepped into Bernadettes shoes and also has won rave reviews, I would have liked to have seen Bernadette in the movie remake. But I will take Reba anyday, because this is one musical which DESERVES to be made into a movie so thousands upon thousands may enjoy this new classic version!

Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat give great performances on this disc. I've heard a lot of people say they dislike the changes made to the show for the recent revival, but their casting was mostly excellent. If you're a fan of either performer, you won't want to miss this recording of some of the most well-known tunes of all time. "There's No Business Like Show Business," "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun," "Everything You Can Do," "Moonshine Lullaby," "Doin' What Comes Naturally," "They Say It's Wonderful," "I Got the Sun in the Morning and the Moon at Night," and many others are all here. The disc plays like a best-of-Broadway collection, and may as well be with such talented performers at the helm.

I sort of consider myself somewhat of an Annie Get Your Gun junkie. When I heard that a rival of this show was being done, I ran to buy this disc. Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat are very good, but the story and music have been rendered unrecognizable from the original. The story has been sanitized to be politically correct. Trying not to offend American Indians, the Overture, Colonel Buffalo Bill, and I'm An Indian Too are all cut. Also, who was responsible for the musical arrangements? Simply awful. Just compare My Defenses Are Down to past recordings and you'll see what I mean. It sounds too modern and out place for a song that was being sung in the 1800's. For crying out loud, why not keep the music in the era and spirit that it was intended? Thank goodness other classic recordings exist. Don't waste your time with this one. If you want to see how this story and music should be treated, rent or buy the 1950 movie when it becomes available this November.