| Author | Message: "AGYG" Review from Associated Press | Posted by: bluedenim
On: 3/4/1999 at 5:50:04 PM GMT
Message #: 842
See headers | Peters Hits Bull's Eye in `Annie'
An AP Entertainment Review By MICHAEL KUCHWARA AP Drama Critic
NEW YORK (AP) - ``Anybody can miss a shot,'' sneers sharpshooter Frank
Butler, the macho leading man of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. ``I
can't,'' chirps confident challenger Annie Oakley, a little lady not
much bigger than the rifle she totes.
Durn tootin' she can't - especially when she is played by Bernadette
Peters, who hits the bull's eye every time she is on stage in a new,
aggressively reworked revival of ``Annie Get Your Gun.''
No question about it. Peters demonstrates real star power in this
Irving Berlin musical, now on view at Broadway's Marquis Theater.
Whether dressed in buckskin and fringe or a frilly ball gown, the
actress delivers a performance that lifts ``Annie'' out of the
ordinary and into musical-comedy sublime.
``Annie Get Your Gun'' is a vehicle show, constructed in 1946 around
the mega-talents of its original star, Ethel Merman. Berlin's music
and lyrics are brilliant: simple and direct, yet funny or heartfelt
when required. Its musty book, originally by Herbert and Dorothy
Fields, is, well, serviceable, a chance for the audience to catch its
breath between musical numbers.
The score is an astonishing parade of hits: ``Doin' What Comes
Natur'lly,'' ``You Can't Get a Man with a Gun,'' ``They Say It's
Wonderful,'' ``Lost in His Arms,'' ``I Got the Sun in the Morning,''
``Anything You Can Do'' and that theater anthem to end all theater
anthems, ``There's No Business Like Show Business.''
Peters is not Merman, and you don't want her to be, but she is that
rarity on stage today - a genuine Broadway star. Movies and television
don't do her justice. From her first entrance - shooting the bird off
the hat of the play's nominal villainess - Peters injects her own
considerable personality into the musical.
Her backwoods drawl may be more Granny Clampett than Annie Oakley, but
she is having so much fun, you go along with her hayseed
impersonation. Even better, Peters knows how to handle romance,
something Merman never was quite comfortable doing.
If Merman's vocal delivery was pure foghorn belt, Peters', while
strong, is more sly, with a hint of sexiness. For example, alone on
stage and against a backdrop of twinkling stars, Peters delivers a
meltingly sweet version of ``Lost in His Arms.'' You can hear
theatergoers sighing their approval.
Director-choreographer Graciela Daniele and her team work furiously to
disguise the fact that there is not much of a story on stage. It is
almost as if they were afraid to let the audience hear the creaks and
groans of the original tale.
Even designer Tony Walton gets in on the camouflage act with his
cleverly designed circus set. Daniele has placed the show within a
show, with Buffalo Bill himself cranking up the curtain and announcing
that the center ring of his tent will feature the romantic tale of
Frank Butler and Annie Oakley. It's more of an intrusion than a
device, particularly with actors announcing scene changes.
Peter Stone has revised the original while adding more generic jokes
that the cast puts over with tongue-in-cheek broadness. What he hasn't
done is beef up the plot, an anemic rivalry between Annie and Frank, a
competition that continues for two acts despite protestations of true
love between the two.
Tom Wopat plays Frank in a genial, non-threatening manner. He has a
strong voice, but there's no doubt that this is Peters' show. The fine
supporting cast, including Ron Holgate as Buffalo Bill, Valerie Wright
as Annie's rival and Peter Marx as general factotum Charlie Davenport,
offer enthusiastic support.
Daniele and her co-choreographer, Jeff Calhoun, have concocted the
busiest dance routines on Broadway. Some of the choreography is odd,
even weird, particularly in a jazz-tinged rendition by Wopat and the
boys of ``My Defenses Are Down'' that strains to be gymnastic just for
the sake of being different.
When Peters disappears from view, the show sags. The undernourished
subplot involving the ingenue and her half-Indian boyfriend threatens
to halt the show. Poor Andrew Palermo and Nicole Ruth Snelson are
saddled with two Berlin songs - ``I'll Share It All With You'' and
``Who Do You Love, I Hope'' - that remain firmly in the second tier of
the master's efforts.
Fortunately, there is that collection of Berlin standards that keeps
on coming, no matter what the plot does or does not do. And even
better than that, the show has Peters to sing them - and make them
shine like new.
==
"No one knows how I feel...what I say
Unless you read between my lines"
-Stevie Nicks
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