As first reported in MI's Kalamazoo Gazette (Aug. 9), Tom Wopat will appear with Bernadette Peters in the long awaited, Broadway-bound revival of Annie Get Your Gun. The show begins previews Feb. 2, 1999 and opens Feb. 20, 1999 at the Marquis Theatre, following Peter Pan's run there (Nov. 20-Jan. 3, 1999), according to the League of American Theatres & Producers. Tickets are now onsale for the show via Ticketmaster, (212) 307-4100.
Details are sketchy, but the show apparently plans to try out in Seattle, WA, starting Dec. 1, followed by a run in Washington DC, beginning Dec. 29.
Shay Moore, publicist at MI's Barn Theatre (where Wopat recently appeared in South Pacific), told Playbill On-Line (Aug. 11), "[Wopat] got the news on Thursday [Aug. 6], and we were all cheering for him." Moore also told the Kalamazoo Gazette rehearsals begin in October for the show, which would mark Wopat's third time on Broadway (City of Angels, Guys and Dolls), but "the very first time he's originated a role... This is something he's been looking forward to for some time now."
Annie Get Your Gun's New York press representative, Pete Sanders, told Playbill On-Line (Aug. 10), "We don't have any information on Annie Get Your Gun at this time."
Back in May 1997, Playbill On-Line reported that Irving Berlin's 1946 musical comedy, Annie Get Your Gun, would likely be coming back to Broadway in spring 1998, after a national tour. At the time, producers Fran and Barry Weissler were considering both film actress Geena Davis and stage actress Bernadette Peters for the title role. Early on, James Naughton had been rumored for the role of Frank, while Patti LuPone sparked rumors of taking the lead when she did a concert version of the show months ago. Weeks ago, Theatrical Index reported that the Irving Berlin and Herbert & Dorothy Fields musical would be directed and choreographed by Ragtime's Graciela Daniele. Designers listed include Tony Walton (sets), William Ivey Long (costumes) and Jules Fisher (lighting).
Annie Gets Your Gun tells of rootin'-tootin'-shootin' Annie Oakley, who nevertheless falls for Frank, the kind of man who wants the girl that he marries to be "as soft and as pink as a nursery" -- not quite a perfect match for a gal used to "doin' what comes natur'lly." The title role was originated on Broadway in 1946 by Ethel Merman.
The classic Irving Berlin score includes "The Girl That I Marry," "I Got Lost in His Arms," "Anything You Can Do," and the Broadway anthem, "No Business Like Show Business." It was Berlin's longest-running show.
Peters' career has included starring roles in Sunday in the Park with George, Mack and Mabel, The Goodbye Girl Dames at Sea, Song and Dance and Into The Woods, among others.
