Stage: Annie Get Your Gun

To be honest, we're not too into musicals. Then again, when Robrt L. Pela gives a show like Hale Centre's Annie Get Your Gun a favorable review, the least we can do is give it a shot. Robrt L. Pela on Annie Get Your Gun: It hardly seems fair to...

By Jonathan McNamara

August 5, 2010

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To be honest, we're not too into musicals. Then again, when Robrt L. Pela gives a show like Hale Centre's Annie Get Your Gun a favorable review, the least we can do is give it a shot.

Robrt L. Pela on Annie Get Your Gun:

It hardly seems fair to comment on Hale Centre Theatre's hyper-cheerful Annie Get Your Gun. In a better world, a community theater production of the Irving Berlin perennial would be exempt from the considerations of any critic. But it's summer in Phoenix, which means three months of warhorses performed by well-meaning amateurs. And I am a columnist with a quota to fill.

This Annie is not without its charms. Matt Crosby sings Frank Butler's numbers in a warm, clear voice and brings a calm appeal to this famously caddish cowboy. And the two dozen musical numbers are more than ably executed by a floor full of non-dancers, thanks to Tamera Young's spirited choreography (rather a lot of which was lifted from previous professional stagings and, in a couple of cases, the 1950 film version of this musical celebration of male chauvinism)...full story

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