Musical may be outdated, but talented cast pulls it off

By Megan Ma, Town Crier Staff Writer

Nancy Fitzgerald/special to the town crier Jessica Raaum and Byron Westlund star in “Annie Get Your Gun.” The Foothill Music Theatre production closes Aug. 20.

If, indeed, “there’s no business like show business,” then perhaps there’s also no local musical theater like Foothill Music Theatre - at least one that performs song and dance as engagingly and with as much clever panache.

Foothill’s latest production is Irving Berlin’s “Annie Get Your Gun,” and yes, it features that song - many times over, practically beaten into your spurs.

A few of the archaic references may be offensive to some, so if you need to, wash the doubt down with a truckload of salt. Even the skeptical might suspend their politically correct jabs for a minute.

Veteran director Jay Manley and his large cast do justice to this big, extravagant Broadway blockbuster - and in truly Western style.

Manley has made some expert choices updating the show, an ode to formidable sharpshooter Annie Oakley, celebrated heroine of the Wild West.

Gone may be the days when soaring odes to dainty femininity and illiterate country life were considered inspired, but there’s something convincing and innocent in the delivery of “Annie Get Your Gun.”

While numbers like “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly” might seem slightly disparaging in modern times, suspend your discomfort. Jessica Raaum as Annie, with her full-operatic range and cheerful finesse, is charming and intelligent.

Katie O’Bryon, who plays Dolly Tate, the flamboyant and cunning stage manager of the Buffalo Bill Wild West tour, is particularly memorable.

The ballroom scene from the grand European tour is incredible - a pompous, glitzy number that ends with a raucous hoedown. The ensemble dance team is adept and energetic.

Even as the notion of political correctness has reached a fever pitch of silliness these days, Manley shows himself not to be overly serious. He’s added a character, Tommy, a mulatto who marries Winnie Tate, Dolly’s enlightened younger sister.

Steve Completo as Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux chief who joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West tour, lampoons contemporary conditions of reservation life with surprisingly tasteful aplomb and deadpan curtness.

There’s a tasteful exchange of gender dynamics in the grand love story of real-life sharpshooter Frank Butler (Byron Westlund) and Annie Oakley. The two wrangle over their guns, compete in shoot-outs, separate temporarily and reunite, sacrificing a bit of their own ideologies for love.

Despite its flaws in narrative, Foothill’s latest aims high and captures the overall experience of a popular old musical. “Annie Get Your Gun” is refreshingly free of cynicism and sarcasm, and roots itself in the outdated - if not romantic - unbridled optimism of the Wild West.