Annie Get Your Gun
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7. HISTORICAL CONTEXT Annie Get Your Gun premiered on Broadway in May 1946, a year and a week after World War II ended. America was arguably the only major industrial power whose economy, after a very short period of transition, emerged strengthened. The US turned its highly-tuned war machine (factories, workforces, technology etc) over to the manufacture of consumer goods and the fresh zeal of a consumer culture was created. The increased availability and variety of products, combined with the development of strong advertising, led to an increase in spending and nationwide prosperity. This was the beginning of what was to become the defining image of America in the 1950s and 60s; a middle-class, white suburbia busily buying cars, televisions and dishwashers. The creator of Annie Get Your Gun, Dorothy Fields, also knew the time was right for a show about the headstrong, high-achieving Annie Oakley. As in Britain, women had increasingly taken on more traditionally male roles in society during the war; indeed, Fields herself was a successful woman in male-dominated industry. Other social groups were still struggling for equality however. The rosy picture of an affluent America did not extend to the lower-classes, and ethnic minorities were still discriminated against, although change was underway. Over a million African-Americans fought during the war. This, coupled with the aim of the war (fighting Hitler’s theories of racial supremacy), led more white citizens to question the treatment of minorities in their own country. Individual victories, such as Jackie Robinson becoming the first black player in the Major Baseball League (1947), combined with government policies such as the ruling that segregation on interstate bus travel was unconstitutional (1946), increased public awareness. The annual salary of a black citizen began to increase, although it still remained significantly lower than the white equivalent. The migration of African-Americans from southern states to northern cities increased as black Americans began to seek a better life. The rapid rate of this social upheaval led to conflict between different ethnicities and riots were increasingly commonplace. Although the 1940s were a period of transition, it wasn’t until 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man and Martin Luther King became leader of the NACCP [National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People] that the Civil Rights Movement would really begin. 1940s Foreign policy was dominated by President Harry Truman’s determination to open trade routes across the world and increase American prosperity. The US played a fundamental role in establishing international agencies like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The US were adamant they would be at the centre of world affairs. These moves were blocked by Russian Premier, Joseph Stalin, who refused to join the new organisations and instead set about installing Communist governments across Eastern Europe. This led to the formation of the Iron Curtain, an ideological and physical boundary dividing the west and east. The formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) amongst western Governments in 1949 was designed to promote collective defence, stating that its members would support each other upon an external attack. Stalin responded by establishing an Eastern equivalent, The Warsaw Pact in 1955. These power struggles between East and West, the Cold War, were to last until 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. The tension between the US and the east was the dominating force behind American foreign policy for decades and led, among other things, to the race for nuclear armament. Whilst a prosperous era, the fragile foreign relations quickly subdued American optimism after winning the war. Annie Get Your Gun, set in the 1880s, was deliberately chosen by its writers to provide the Broadway audience with an escape to a time of expansion, overcoming frontiers and pride. The director of the Young Vic’s production, Richard Jones, however has set his production in 1946 and scatters reminders of the historical context throughout the show. Images of Hitler on the video screen are designed to contrast with the Mickey Mouse t-shirt Jane Horrocks (playing Annie) wears in Act 1, the ultimate symbol of American pride. This is just one example of the way he uses two of the most famous images of the 1940s to keep his audience alert and stimulated by the very different reactions they provoke. He has located his production in a 1940s diner, another iconic American image. 
An example of a 1940s diner 8. THE AMERICAN DREAM A central theme of Annie Get Your Gun is the pursuit of the American Dream. Not just Oakley, but all the leading characters go from humble beginnings to prosperous celebrity. This theme was common in the Broadway musical comedies of the 1930s and 40s which offered escape from the shadow of World War II. The concept of the American Dream can be traced back to the discovery and colonisation of the New World, when the potential for land and riches drew Europeans to the continent and a new life. These principles were set down in the 1776 Declaration of Independence which stated: “We hold this truth to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among this are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The phrase itself entered the English language in 1931 when it was coined by James Truslow Adams [American writer and historian] in the Epic of America: “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” The idea has its detractors who feel that over the last century the phrase has become synonymous with financial - as opposed to spiritual - success, leading to an obsession with material goods. The term is frequently used in contemporary America to describe specifically the ownership of a home, seen as the ultimate symbol of prosperity. (This aspiration has long been an American preoccupation however; hence the land rushes of the 1890s when the western territories were opened up for homesteading.) American artists have often tackled the subject, the most famous being F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. Written in 1926 (the Jazz Age, associated with decadence and hedonism), Fitzgerald’s protagonist idolises wealth and glamour whilst worrying about the consequences of such a lifestyle. Fitzgerald’s concerns pre-empt the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the result of the carefree greed which had gripped the country. This in turn pre-empts the recent collapse of Lehman Brothers Bank and the current economic crisis. Detractors of the current interpretation of the dream cite past examples of the American work ethic such as Benjamin Franklin’s [President of Pennsylvania] yearly pamphlet, Poor Richard’s Almanac (1732-1758). This publication was popular in colonial America and issued maxims such as: “Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” The rise of industrial manufacturing in the 19th century led to an increase in urbanisation and workers became a cog in the machine. This loss of identity signified a shift in the average American’s values and whilst the American dream did not fade, many began to see it as an entitlement rather than something to be worked for. More recently TV talent and game shows, and the lottery sell the idea that the American Dream is achievable through luck. There is a 1 in 80 million chance of winning a big prize in the American Power Ball Lottery but it is estimated that America spends over 50 billion dollars a year on tickets. The British TV programme Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? has been exported around the globe but the American version is by the far the most popular. 29 million viewers tune in to watch each episode, with 240,000 calling the show each registration day in an attempt to become future contestants. The show’s title is taken from a Cole Porter song from his 1955 Broadway musical, High Society. Ironically the song’s message in the context of the show is that financial success does not necessarily lead to happiness: “Who wants to be a Millionaire? I don’t.” Contemporary historians also cite the current obsession with libel suits as an example of achieving the dream without working for it. Tens of thousands of law suits are filed in the US each year for personal injury or product liabilities. Of course, aside from a tiny proportion of the general public, the people who are actually achieving financial gain are the TV producers, state governments and lawyers. The concept of the American Dream enjoyed a healthy relationship with musical theatre until West Side Story hit Broadway in 1957. The shows’ portrayal of gang rivalry in New York between the Caucasian Jets and Hispanic Sharks exposed the extent of racism in inner-city America. Both gangs are poverty-stricken, bigoted and thoroughly disillusioned with the American Dream. Many musicals have since mined the pain of those disheartened with America, each decade producing work which explores the theme in a new way. A Chorus Line (1975) portrayed dancers in New York auditioning for a Broadway show, half the auditionees fail to win a place and it’s clear that even those who are successful will never achieve their true ambition of fame and fortune, remaining faceless bodies in the ensemble. Little Shop of Horrors (1982) concerns a poor florist who happens across an unusual plant which requires blood to survive. The plant becomes a tourist attraction, but the florist struggles to keep up with its ever increasing bloodlust, until eventually it devours him. The show ends with the plant threatening the world - the suggested moral being our desire for money and recognition can only be satisfied at a cost. Rent (1995) centred on a group of bohemians in New York’s dilapidated Lower East Side under the shadow of AIDS. The musical explored the reality of coping with the medical condition without money in a corporate society ruled by a government which no longer cared for its citizens. In contrast, the golden age of musical theatre in the 30s and 40s is often accused of offering an unrealistic portrayal of life by touting the American Dream. However, all the leading characters in Annie Get Your Gun were based on historical figures who had overcome the odds to achieve their potential. Also, many of the writers of these shows (including Berlin) had arrived in America as penniless immigrants, fleeing persecution and had climbed the social ladder to achieve riches, fame and recognition. They were living proof that the American Dream was a possibility. One of Berlin’s most famous songs, ‘God Bless America’, was inspired by a phrase his mother had often used when reflecting how grateful she was that America had offered her family asylum and the chance to better themselves. 9. NATIVE AMERICANS Annie Get Your Gun is controversial for its portrayal of the Native American chief Sitting Bull and the various other Indians who performed in Buffalo Bill’s show. The relationship between white people and Native Americans has a long and complex history. Native Americans4 are the indigenous populations of the US, Alaska and Hawaii. When the Europeans began to explore the continent in the late 15th century it is estimated that up to 18 million Native Americans were living there. Over the following 300 years up to 80% of that number were destroyed through genocide, enslavement, internal warfare and, most prominently, disease. (Some European diseases such as measles were rarely fatal for the Europeans, but the indigenous population had no immunity to them and they proved the biggest killer.) In the late 18th century, politicians began a policy of assimilation which in essence meant ‘civilising’ the natives. Tribes found their children forcibly sent to state-run boarding schools which forbid them from speaking their native language and practising their own religion. Government policy was extended in the 19th century with the beginning of territorial expansion and the concept of ‘Manifest Destiny’. ‘Manifest Destiny’ was the assertion that Americans were destined, or even divinely commanded, to expand from their existing settlements in the East across the continent to the West. Native American tribes, already pushed West by earlier colonisation, stood in their way. This policy led to the Indian Wars, violent clashes between the two parties as the tribes resisted. It is now widely acknowledged that much of this conflict came as a consequence of the US government breaking the terms of previous treaties they had struck with the Indians. President Jackson [1829 - 1837] ruthlessly pursued a policy of killing Indians if they refused to move to Native American reservations [areas of land set aside exclusively for tribes to live on]. 46,000 Native Americans were relocated by the government during these years and many died of starvation, exposure and disease whilst en route. The relocation is now known as the ‘Trail of Tears’. The Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 asserted that “no Indian nation or tribe within the territory of the United States shall be acknowledged or recognised as an independent nation, tribe or power”. Today there are 310 reservations in the US which accommodate 550 tribes. During the 1960s the Civil Rights Movement, now associated predominantly with the drive for African-American equality, encouraged a change in US government policy towards Native Americans. The 1975 ‘Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act’ was passed to assist the 562 federally-recognised tribal governments in self-rule. Many Native Americans think the policy does not go far enough as it still subjects them to US law rather than granting them the freedom of sovereign states. The social issues which exist amongst the 2 million Native Americans living on reservations today are well reported by the media, including high levels of alcoholism, drug addiction, mental illness and suicide. Whilst the portrayal of Native Americans in art has progressed from old racist stereotyping there has recently been much controversy about the use of Indian mascots and names in American sports. Teams such as American football’s ‘Washington Redskins’ and baseball’s ‘Cleveland Indians’ cause offence to many Native Americans who argue that the teams would not be allowed to use the equivalent African American imagery and terminology. Contemporary producers of Annie Get Your Gun have to make decisions concerning the controversial nature of some the musical’s depictions of Native Americans. The song ‘I’m an Indian Too’, about Annie’s initiation into the Sioux tribe by Sitting Bull, is now often cut from the musical for its racial insensitivities. Lyrics like: "Just like Rising Moon, Falling Pants, Running Nose/ Like those Indians, I'm an Indian too” are no longer politically acceptable. The 1999 Broadway production also cut the ‘Buffalo Bill’ number as it could be accused of depicting Native Americans as base savages whilst glorifying white American violence towards the race: CHARLIE: We see the stage coach Climbing up a hill, Suddenly there’s a shout. CROWD: What is it all about? (whisper) CHARLIE: What is it all about you ask - it’s Indians! CROWD: Indians! (whisper) CHARLIE: Indians. CROWD: Indians. (A little louder) CHARLIE: Very notable - cut your throatable Indians. CROWD: Indians. (louder still). CHARLIE: Just when they’ve taken everyone by force, Who makes an entrance on the big white horse? Who starts a-shootin’ till there’s no one left to kill? Colonel Buffalo Bill! The Young Vic’s creative team have decided to include the number however. This is defensible because rewrites of the script counteracts the song by re-imagining the Native American characters as more sophisticated and civilised than their white counterparts, as the following scene depicts: DOLLY: I’ve got a lot on my mind, sometimes I envy you people your simple lives. INDIAN 1: (Reading paper to INDIAN 2) Dow Jones up ten points, Hang Sen down three. DOLLY: Your savage and untamed spirit! INDIAN 2: I hear the new Oldenburg exhibit has divided the Upper East Side. INDIAN 1: Well, we all got bored with the tropes of post modernism. DOLLY: Haven’t you got to go some place to go for lunch? There’s a snack bar at the back of the train. INDIAN 1: We have a reservation. DOLLY: But that’s a long way off, three days ride. INDIAN 1: In the dining car. We’re having Sole Meuniere with creamed spinach and a side order of fries washed down with a decent chardonnay... Scuse us. The Native Americans are having a private joke at the expense of the other characters and, by turning the stereotype on its head, the Young Vic production makes it clear any racism in the production is the opinion of the bigoted, unintelligent white characters, not the creative team or audience. The historical figure of Buffalo Bill has frequently been accused of exploiting the Indians in his show for financial gain; however it is known that Sitting Bull negotiated a competitive fee for his appearances, presenting a canny businessman rather than an exploited minority. The Young Vic’s approach legitimises the otherwise politically incorrect, unusable material, so its portrayal of the prejudices of the era can be judged by the show’s audience. 10. MUSICAL THEATRE OF THE 1940S Although the use of song and dance in the theatre can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, the musical form as we recognise it today has its roots in the Viennese operettas of the 1800s. Gilbert and Sullivan5 combined this influence with the populist forms of Vaudeville6 and Burlesque7 in the late 19th century and invented the comic operetta. This new form felt contemporary and witty and took the theatrical industry by storm on both sides of the Atlantic. The shows were known for the high production values which set the bar for future West End and Broadway musicals. In the 1910s Jerome Kern, Guy Boulton and British writer P.G.Wodehouse collaborated to put on a series of new musicals in New York which featured believable people in real situations for the first time. Simultaneously however Florenz Ziegfield began his Follies shows. This form of variety featured famous burlesque singers and beautiful chorus girls and had no plot. In many ways this was a regression for the art form but the perennial Follies proved highly popular with the public and ran for decades. During the 1920s innovative composers such as Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart and, of course, Irving Berlin began to emerge. It was Showboat (Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II) in 1927 which really challenged the musical form however. An epic story of the lives of a group of entertainers who lived and worked on a Mississippi boat, Showboat explored themes of racism and marital troubles. Not only were its themes controversial, it also featured the first racially integrated cast in a musical. After the financial and critical success of the pioneering Showboat, shows began to explore new thematic territory during the 1930s such as war, national politics, local corruption and the labour movement. However, unlike the dramatic Showboat, the predominating form remained musical comedy, safely following a formulaic structure. It was not until the early 1940s that Richard Rodgers (composer) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyricist) formed a new partnership to write Oklahoma and musical theatre became sophisticated - a theatrical form with integrity that could rival plays. The collaboration was forced out of circumstance and might never have actually occurred. Richard Rodgers’ writing partner was Moss Hart, they had written several successful shows together (including Pal Joey) but Hart was a renowned alcoholic and was incapacitated for increasing lengths of time. Rodgers had wanted their next project to be a musical adaptation of a play called Green Grow the Lilacs but was eventually forced to approach Hammerstein instead. Hammerstein had already tried to persuade his regular partner Jerome Kern to work on an adaptation of the same play but Kern had rejected the material as too banal for musical conversion. Green Grow the Lilacs was set in Oklahoma in the 1900s and explored life in the territories through the love story of a young farm girl. The writers knew the material could not be approached in the same way as the musical comedies of the time and made the unique decision to write the lyrics before the music so it was easier to integrate the songs into the story. They spent months analysing the characters and working out their motivations; thinking ahead to how the scenes could eventually be directed and staged. The ending result was a musical play with 3-D characters which the audience could really invest in. They took further risks. The opening song was a ballad about the weather (‘Oh What a Beautiful Morning’) sung to an old woman churning butter rather than the usual brash, up-tempo ensemble number designed to grab the audiences’ attention. They refused to hire stars for the principle characters, opting to employ actors who suited the specific roles. They also used the medium of dance to tell aspects of the story, rather than to just provide spectacle. This was a musical theatre first. Initial reaction was mixed, one columnist wrote “No gags, no girls, no chance”, but word-of-mouth soon ensured a hit. By the time the US run concluded, its backers saw a 2500% return on their original investment. Oklahoma is now known as the first integrated musical where the acting, singing and dancing work together towards a common aim rather than standing alone. It had a major impact on the genre. Rodgers and Hammerstein had worked together as dramatists, not just individually as composer and lyricist; their songs were not just beautiful, they developed character and advanced action. When listening to a Cole Porter or Lorenz Hart song, you could hear the lyricist speaking but in Oklahoma you heard the character’s voice. This meant the audience believed in the characters, sympathised with them and cared about their fate. The duo went on to write the most famous musicals of the 20th century including Carousel, South Pacific, The Sound of Music and The King and I. It was this new environment that Berlin returned to after touring the world with This Is England. He was concerned. Whilst a renowned composer, he had never previously had to write songs that could fit into a specific dramatic context. This was one of his initial reasons for rejecting Rodgers and Hammerstein’s (who had used their Oklahoma profits to establish a production company) offer to compose Annie Get Your Gun. He need not have worried; the production not only proved that he could score a musical play but also that integrated musicals could be funny. Many other composers also tried to replicate Rodgers and Hammerstein’s winning formula but few succeeded. Berlin and Cole Porter (with Kiss Me Kate in 1948) were really the only established musical theatre writers who managed to master successfully the new form without compromising their own artistic identity. 11. DRAMA EXERCISES BASED AROUND ANNIE GET YOUR GUN Warm-up Game This is a great game to warm-up actors before starting rehearsals. Step 1 All actors stand in a circle. Chose a person to begin. That person says ‘Ye-ha’ and energetically swings their arms pointing (cheesily – think of Saturday Night Fever dance moves) to the person to their left. The next person does the same and so on, passing ‘Ye-ha’ clockwise around the circle. This should be done with high energy and speed. |