There’s No Business Like Show Business

Director/Choreographer Jon Engstrom brings to the Welk Resort Theatre a fantastic cast that delivers comically, musically, and dancingly, headed by the stellar performance of Joy Yandell as Annie. Joy doesn’t allow any single scene to be just “mediocre,” instead wringing out every drop of hilarious comedy, enchanting romance, and touching poignancy to create an unforgettable Annie Oakley who is destined to find out if You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun.

The comedy kicks off when hickish Annie travels from the sticks with her adorable little brother and sisters to the big city of Cincinnati where she sells some of her game birds to a local eatery. Running into an impressed hotel owner named Wilson (Ralph Johnson), the charming Oakley family ends up explaining their simple philosophies of life to Wilson in the amusing Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly scene. Of course, one of the things that comes natur’lly to Annie is shootin’, and as it so happens Wilson had just met shootin’ superstar Frank Butler who is traveling through town in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and Frank is lookin’ for someone in town to challenge him in a shootin’ contest.

Annie gets willingly drafted, and finds herself in a contest with the ruggedly handsome Frank Butler (played by Andrew Husmann, who just finished playing Captain Von Trapp in Welk’s Sound of Music). Despite being more than a little bit gaga for him to the point that she can hardly see straight, Annie can still shoot straight, and she quite natur’lly wins. So begins the professional and romantic seesaw between Annie and Frank – a seesaw that ranges from starry-eyed duets like They Say It’s Wonderful, to their amusingly different visions of their nuptials in An Old Fashioned Wedding, and culminating in their hysterical Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better) that features Annie and Frank competing in one quirky contest after another (Annie wins most of those, too).

Other highlights include Annie and Wild Bill’s marketing guru Charlie Davenport (John Richard Petersen) giving a hard time to the delightfully obnoxious Dolly Tate (Frank’s assistant and his wannabe bride) played by Susan M. Bell. Not to mention the great facial expressions by Chief Sitting Bull (Jeffrey Arnold Wolf) who joins the Wild West Show and becomes “Papa Bull” to Annie. And rounding it all out are the very talented Robert Marr and Jill Lewis who team up with the ensemble for a couple of great song-and-dance routines including Who Do You Love, I Hope.