Bernadette's ANNIE GET YOUR GUN Revival — Page 2

So she was really that good?

Reba? Yeah. She really was. It was one of those "made to play the part" things.

It was supposed too but I don't know what happened to it.

Actually it was Reba's label that got in the way. The production was going to cut a cd of Reba singing a couple of the songs to sell in the theater, but an agreement with her record label couldn't be hammered out.

---

I'm not a big fan of AGYG -- Never have been, but I actually saw the 99 version FOUR times (all for different reasons)

I thought Bernadette was one of the weaker Annies. In my opinion she over did the 'hick' accent and it really annoyed me. Don't get me wrong, vocally she was outstanding, just didn't think her Annie was memorable.

I saw Marilu Henner on the opening night of the tour and she was AWFUL. I saw the "Annie-lite' as she was dubbed, Cheryl Ladd and thought she was TERRIFIC. Balanced the 'hickness' and sung it beautifully -- She was my second favorite Annie

Reba, as mentioned before was by FAR the best. "Born to play it" kind of thing. She was amazing. Ironically, she was the last of the Annies I saw and by that time I couldn't STAND the show, but wanted to see her in it. She made it fresh, new and exciting!!

Does anyone have good quality versions of Reba's promo shots from Annie...? She used to have them on her site but the layout was redone & now there is only one big picture.


^That is was of them, but I can't get in any better quality.

Slightly off topic . . NBC, I think, broadcast an 'edited for TV' version of the 1966 Revival with Merman and Bruce Yarnell. Am I correct that the video of that is lost? What a shame if true. I'd love to see that again

Yes there was a TV version in 1967 and although the box showed up in an NBC storage facuility in Burbank, the listing was crossed out and the box was empty.

The 1957 TV version with Mary Martin is still around and worth seeing, and based on reports from people who saw both it was the more successful TV version of the two.

Of course for years I ahd heard the 1972 TV version of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS was far inferior to the 1964 version. Only recently did I have a chance to see it and it's actually better!

---

I think cutting Who Do You Love I Hope and Tommy and Winnie's other song was a smart move, first and foremost, because they're both lousy songs. I've been seeing Annie since 1956 and, for me, the best version was the Lincoln Center in 1966. It got rid of the bad songs, added a wonderful number for Annie and Frank, and kept the I'm an Indian, Too without offending much of anybody. Yes, I know all the jokes about Granny, Get Your Gun, but Merman was Merman and she had a way with that score that no one, nobody, no how ever came near to equalling. I saw that production several times. Unfortunately, the televised version of that production just wasn't all that good and I don't think it's any great loss that it's disappeared.

RE: 1999 production. IMO, it was LOUSY (although I didn't see Reba do it -- apparently, she made a big difference to the show). And starting the show with a melancholy There's No Business Like Show Business was a GIGANTIC mistake. That overture is a joy and the placement of Show Business later in Act One has always brought the house down -- you should have heard the audience reaction when Merman joined in the chorus later in the song. I mean, that's Show Biz, guys and gals!!

---

Updated On: 7/9/09 at 12:51 PM

Barbara Cook practically wet her pants over Reba's performance. You know when Barbara is taking time in her concert to sing Reba's praises, there was something there.

BTW, did Forbidden Broadway ever do a parody of Reba? I still laugh at their parody of Linda Rondstadt in Pirates of Penzance.

---

We are currently doing the revival version of the show at our theatre and it is a huge hit.... I also did the original version of the show at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 1986 with Judy Kaye and Richard White. I don't think that the newer version is inferior at all to the original. They are both very viable. The revival was a huge hit and brought this old chestnut to a brand new audience. ANNIE GET YOUR GUN is a winner no matter the version!!!

We are currently doing the revival version of the show at our theatre and it is a huge hit.... I also did the original version of the show at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 1986 with Judy Kaye and Richard White. I don't think that the newer version is inferior at all to the original. They are both very viable. The revival was a huge hit and brought this old chestnut to a brand new audience.

It did but I'm not so sure it won over any new fans. The revised script eliminates a lot of the humour. Some of the old jokes were getting moldy, but they still worked in context.

For a piece set in the late 19th century to be rewritten to make Annie more of a feminist was....baffling. Having her purposely throw the match to soothe Frank's masculine pride, while not historically accurate, was certainly true to its time period.

For me, the most embarrassing aspect of the 1999 production was the musical staging of "My Defences are Down." (or as some call it "Mighty Fences Are Down.")

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN is a winner no matter the version!!!

Perhaps not, but as a genre example of traditional musical comedy it is one of the few of its age that can still hold up. It also has one of the most hit-filled scores this side of BABES IN ARMS.

I would just also like to note that Reba in the South Pacific Concert was amazing

Fore sure! For me it came down to the way she reads the lin3 "Yah I really went and washed him outa my hair" before launching into "A Wonderful Guy." Perfection! Still, she would be way too old to play Nellie in the revival. (Also love the bit in the concert where Alec Baldwin loses his place and Reba ad libs until he can find his line.)

---

Just to clear up my comment about Reba in a South Pacific revival, producers knew she was a little "aged" to play the role on Broadway. It was the response of the public to coming to rediscover the classic musical.