Annie Get Your Gun (1946), a musical comedy by Herbert and Dorothy Fields (book), Irving Berlin (music, lyrics). [ Imperial Theatre, 1,147 perf.] Annie Oakley (Ethel Merman) is an uneducated but happy country girl who is an infallible shot, an asset that lands her in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. She falls in love with a rival sharpshooter, Frank Butler (Ray Middleton), but when Annie's popularity soars, the romance is soured. After separating for a time, a shooting match is arranged between Annie and Frank, and Sitting Bull (Harry Bellaver) takes her aside to counsel that she can win her man only by losing the match. So she swallows her pride, loses the match, and gets Frank. Notable songs: They Say It's Wonderful; There's No Business Like Show Business; I Got the Sun in the Morning; Doin' What Comes Natur'lly; I Got Lost in His Arms; Moonshine Lullaby; You Can't Get a Man with a Gun; My Defenses Are Down. Berlin's biggest Broadway hit also boasted more song standards than any of his (or just about anyone else's) other scores. Jerome Kern was scheduled to compose the songs, but when he died before he could begin work, producers Rodgers and Hammerstein approached Berlin, who hadn't written for Broadway for six years. The show remains a popular favorite, while “There's No Business Like Show Business” has become a theatrical anthem. A 1999 Broadway revival, with an altered book by Peter Stone, managed a long run by featuring a series of stars (Bernadette Peters, Cheryl Ladd, Reba McIntyre, Crystal Bernard) in the title role. The real Annie OAKLEY [neé Phoebe Ann Moses] (1860–1926) became famous as a sharpshooter in the circus and, after beating Frank Butler in a shooting match, married him. The couple then joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. The Ohio‐born Oakley was reputed to be a shy woman and a homebody. One of her most celebrated stunts was to shoot holes in tickets that were thrown up into the air. Later, free theatre tickets that were punched with a hole became known as Annie Oakleys. Biography: Annie Oakley of the Wild West, Walter Havighurst, 1954.

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.