Conway Dinner Theater to present ‘Annie Get Your Gun’

By Carol Rolf

LITTLE ROCK — Conway Dinner Theater will bring the “wild, wild West” to Conway when it presents Annie Get Your Gun as its summer musical.

The local show, based upon the 1999 revival of the Broadway musical that premiered in 1946 starring Ethel Merman, will be presented Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 17, and again Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 23 and 24, at The Old Gin Special Events Center, 1016 Markham St. in Conway.

Conway Dinner Theater is sponsored by Faulkner Academy of Arts. Joan Hanna and Shanna Cummings are co-directors of the academy, which offers both day and evening classes, “focusing on the needs of students through integrated arts.” Faulkner Academy of Arts, 611 Court St., Suite 6, also sponsors the Conway Women’s Chorus. Cummings will direct Annie Get Your Gun.

Ellen Westerman of Conway, a graduate student at the University of Central Arkansas and a return performer to ConwayDinner Theater, will appear as Annie Oakley, the famous riflewoman, brought back to Broadway in 1999 by Bernadette Peters. Andrew Buck, also of Conway, will appear as Frank Butler, sharp-shooting star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Buck is a graduate of UCA with a degree in music and has appeared in Hello Dolly at the Arkansas Repertory Theater in Little Rock; he will appear in the Rep’s upcoming production of Les Miserables in September.

With music by Irving Berlin, Annie Get Your Gun tells the story of Annie Oakley who beats Frank Butler in a small shooting contest and falls in love with him. She becomes a star and steals the show from him, causing Frank to run off. They eventually get back together and “live happily ever after.”

Among the show’s famous tunes are “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better” and “Can’t Get a Man with a Gun.”

Also appearing in Conway Dinner Theater’s productionof Annie Get Your Gun are Jay Ruud of Conway as Buffalo Bill; Samantha Parrish of Forney, Texas, and a student at Ouachita Baptist University, as Dolly Tate; Tommy Mason Jr.

of Conway as Tommy Keeler;

Rachael Small of Little Rock as Winnie Tate; Leo Cummings III of Conway as Running Deer;

Dale Smith of Mayflower and Conway as Pawnee Bill; David Allison of Little Rock as Charlie Davenport; Daniel Collier of North Little Rock, a student at OBU in Arkadelphia, as Foster Wilson; Josh Heffington as Greenbrier as Chief Sitting Bull; Amanda Norris of Conway as Jessie Oakley;

Mary Nail of Conway as Nellie Oakley; Matthew Norris of Conway as Little Jake Oakley;

Corey Smith of Conway as Eagle Feather; Marilyn Brock of Quitman as Mrs. Schuyler Adams; and Amy Ward of Guy as Ms. Silvia Potter-Porter.

Ensemble members include Kimberly Norris, Stacy Butler and Patricia Carlin, all of Conway.

Teresa Sparkman of Conway serves as choreographer and Robert Rubrow is the costume designer.

All night performances start with dinner catered by Oak Street Bistro. The menu is a wild West traditional barbecue combo (ribs and chicken), baked beans, coleslaw and cornbread. The meal will be finished with American apple pie.

For night performances, the doors will open at 6; the meal will be served 6:15-7:15 and shows start at 7:30. “We have included two Sunday afternoon matinees,” Hannah said. Doors open at noon and the meals will be served from 12:15-1:15 p.m. The show starts at 1:30.

Tickets are $30 and are by reservation only. Tickets can be purchased at Oak Street Bistro, 713 Oak St. in Conway, on line at www.conwaydinnertheater.com or by phone at (501)-339-7401.

Conway Dinner Theater will conclude its 2008 season with the comedy favorite, Harvey, in October.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 138 on 08/10/2008