I can shoot a sparrow with a bow and arrow.

There's something to be said about small theatre companies putting on grand productions, especially in old theaters that have been around for a hundred years. It gives you a very rustic feeling that you're a part of the history of the building, and makes you wonder what the first productions were that ever took place there and how the company has evolved since then.

Tonight I saw Annie, Get Your Gun, a classic American musical by Irving Berlin starring the beloved Annie Oakley as she gives the local sharpshooter a run for his money and consequently winds up falling in love with him. I went to support my friend Kate, who was in the cast, but wound up having a better time than expected.

First, for a small company like the Broadway Theatre of Pitman, the overall strength of the production (singing ability, dancing ability, humor, ability to engage the audience, etc.) was quite good. I was captured from the opening number (the ever-popular stage tune, "There's No Business Like Show Business"). Well-casted characters and a chorus of talented singers allowed for an enjoyable production throughout. While the choreographer's introduction was a bit goofy, as were Frank's "missed" shots in the second shootout, which playfully "took out" members of the pit orchestra, the production overall was very professional.

Second, the theater itself is its own experience. As I mentioned before, walking into a theater that's been standing since the roads were made of dirt is an incredibly nostalgic feeling, especially when popcorn is served at the concession stand (a standard of the American film industry, not typically the theatre nowadays). My mother, who accompanied me to the show, admitted that she prefers theaters of that size compared to larger professional venues like the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, because of the intimacy of the atmosphere and just simply the old-fashioned feeling that overcomes you when you enter. You begin to wonder how many actors and actresses and dancers have graced that very stage, and whose careers were started there.

My AGYG experience was much more than I was expecting, which just goes to show that in the theatre, there's always more than meets the eye and hardly anything is ever what it seems.

--DQ