'Annie' gets a star

RALEIGH -- 'Annie Get Your Gun" automatically brings two things to mind: the beloved Irving Berlin songs and a star performer with a big voice. N.C. Theatre's production provides so much pleasure in both categories that most of this vintage show's inherent problems can be overlooked.

Lauren Kennedy, our homegrown Broadway star, is a natural for Annie Oakley, the gawky, backwoods sharpshooter turned international celebrity. She throws herself into the character with great energy and spirit, finding genuine humor in a role that can easily become hokey and overdone. Kennedy has impressive power for the big comedy numbers "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly" and "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun" and endearing warmth for the ballads "They Say It's Wonderful" and "I Got Lost in His Arms." The show rests squarely on her shoulders, and she joyously propels it along.

Male lead Frank Butler, the star sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, is an underwritten role. His egotistical competitiveness -- grounds for his love/hate sparring with Annie -- makes a shallow character. Still, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Larry Gatlin sells this thankless part in Frank's few solos (best in the cleverly staged "My Defenses Are Down"), and he holds his own with Kennedy in the big duets "An Old-Fashioned Wedding" and "Anything You Can Do." But his laid-back "aw-shucks" approach, though openly charming, isn't really right for the swaggering chauvinist and it softens the comic conflict between the two.

A dozen other characters are made to fill in the flimsy story with lengthy setups for stale jokes and verbose dialogue about weak subplots. One concerns Tommy, the half-Native American who wants to marry Winnie, the young sister of Frank's assistant, Dolly. Wes Hart and Erin Henry sing and dance their hearts out, but the cardboard relationship and second-rate songs hobble them. There are fleeting fun moments from Lamont Wade (Buffalo Bill), Robert Mark Kaufman (show manager Charlie Davenport) and Marshall Factora (Chief Sitting Bull), but Kathy Calahan takes the jealous, conniving Dolly to irritating caricature.

Director-choreographer Richard Stafford does his best to keep the staging boisterous and the dancing lively, but he can only do so much with this old-fashioned piece. The 1999 Broadway revival attempted to rectify the treatment of Native Americans in the 1946 original, but the result is an uncomfortable mix of modern sensitivity layered onto past stereotypes.

Edward G. Robinson's snappy orchestra is a big plus, setting many a toe tapping throughout the show. Bruce Brockman's colorful show tents and backstage scenes are complemented by Ann M. Bruskiewitz's glitzy costumes. John Bartenstein adds vivid lighting, although he reaches for too many effects in the ballroom scene.

Despite the material's flaws, nothing should keep audiences from the delights of Kennedy's star turn and the catchy lilt of Berlin's best songs.