Annie Get Your Gun (1999 Broadway Revival Cast) [CAST RECORDING]

Irving Berlin, Bernadette Peters, Annie Get Your Gun (Related Recordings), Ron Holgate, Tom Wopat

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 20, 1999)
• Original Release Date: April 20, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Label: Angel Records
• ASIN: B00000ID42
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (91 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #38,153 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Broadway & Vocalists > Musicals > Revivals

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This 1999 revival of Irving Berlin's timeless 1946 musical fantasy depicting the love affair between Wild West sharpshooting stars Annie Oakley and Frank Butler has been somewhat updated for modern times. Not only has Peter Stone made revisions to Herbert and Dorothy Fields's original book (the story is now a show within a show, namely Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show), but there have been revisions to Berlin's original score as well. Some of it relates directly to late-'90s political correctness--"I'm an Indian, Too" joins "Colonel Buffalo Bill" and "I'm a Bad Bad Man" among the exclusions. But the tunes that made the cut remain some of the greatest moments of American musical theater, which is especially ironic when one considers that Berlin had to be coaxed into writing the show after original composer Jerome Kern suddenly died. Many of these songs--"They Say It's Wonderful," "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly," "I Got the Sun in the Morning," "The Girl That I Marry," "Anything You Can Do"--have become standards on their own, and the revival thankfully retains the wonderful "An Old Fashioned Wedding," which Berlin wrote for the 1966 Lincoln Center revival of the show, with original Annie Ethel Merman reprising the role. Years after the fact, Merman remains a tough image to follow. But while she lacks Merman's brass and crassness, Bernadette Peters stands as the prettiest and sexiest Annie to date, even in the shadows of Mary Martin and Betty Hutton (the latter in the 1950 film version), not to mention probably the greatest singer of the bunch--her "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun" is an instant Broadway classic. They overdo "There's No Business Like Show Business" just a tad in this new version; it's seemingly reprised endlessly early in the CD. But, hey, if you're going to overdo it, what a song to overdo it with. --Bill Holdship

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cast albums don't get any better than this!, July 20, 2000

By	S. Fennell "pianistcritic" (Somewhere out there.....beneath the pale moon light...) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.........

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maybe not the score's best recording, but who cares?, December 12, 1999

By	Matthew Murray (New York City, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, fresh, and full of sparkle, August 6, 2002

By	Catherine S. Vodrey (East Liverpool, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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!