Photo Flash: ANNIE GET YOUR GUN Opens at GOODSPEED Tonight, 5/12

Annie Get Your Gun features Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin and Original Book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields as revised by Peter Stone.

Broadway sensation Jenn Gambatese is returning to Goodspeed Musicals as sharp-shooter Annie Oakley. Previously Gambatese performed in The Norma Terris production of All Shook Up. Her Broadway credits include Tarzan, All Shook Up, A Year With Frog and Toad, Hairspray and Footloose.

Leading man Frank Butler is being played by Broadway's Kevin Earley. Mr. Earley's Broadway
credits include A Tale of Two Cities, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Les Misérables.

Buffalo Bill Cody is being played by David McDonald whose Broadway credits include the revival of Bye, Bye, Birdie; Mamma Mia; Side Show and Les Misérables. Dolly Tate will be played by Rebecca Watson who performed in Goodspeed Musicals' 1776 and Me & My Girl.

The role of Tommy Keeler is being played by Andrew Cao. Chelsea Morgan Stock from Broadway's The Little Mermaid is playing Winnie Tate, James Beaman Charlie Davenport, and Michael Nichols Chief Sitting Bull. Nichols' Broadway credits include November and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Three Connecticut natives are featured in the cast; Joy Rachel Del Valle of Farmington playing Jessie, Marissa Smoker of Branford playing Nellie and Griffin Birney, also of Branford, playing Little Jake.

The ensemble includes Brandon Andrus, Sean Coughlin, Orville Mendoza and Pilar Millhollen. Bill Nabel returns to Goodspeed where he previously performed in The Most Happy Fella and Hit the Deck. Other members of the ensemble include Con O'Shea-Creal, Natalie Ryder, and Dorothy Stanley. Joining them will be Molly Tynes, Amos Wolff and AaRon Young. The swings will be Noah Aberlin, Hartleigh Buwick and Jake Poulios.

Annie Get Your Gun is directed by Rob Ruggiero, whose work has been seen in award-winning
regional theatres around the country. Mr. Ruggiero returns to Goodspeed where he directed 1776, Big River and last year's sensation Camelot. His off-Broadway and tour credits include All Under Heaven and the world premieres of Ella and Make Me A Song, all of which he both conceived and directed. His newest production, Looped starring Valerie Harper, is currently running on Broadway.
Choreographer for this production will be Noah Racey who thrilled Goodspeed audiences as Charley Wykeham in Where's Charley? . Mr. Racey served as Associate Choreographer of the Broadway sensation Thoroughly Modern Millie. Other Broadway credits include Curtains, Never Gonna Dance, and Follies.

Returning to Goodspeed Musicals is the design team that brought last season's hit Camelot,
2008's Big River and the inspiring 1776. Scenic designs will be by Michael Schweikardt whose designs have been seen off-Broadway in Golden Boy, Waiting for Lefty, and The Seagull, among others. Costumes will be designed by Alejo Vietti who also designed the 2006 production of Meet John Doe at The Norma Terris Theatre. Lighting design will be by John Lasiter who designed the Broadway production of A Grand Night for Singing and the off-Broadway productions of The Seagull, Common Vision, and Make Me A Song.

Tickets are available by phone 860.873.8668 or online at http://www.goodspeed.org/.

Photo Credit: Diane Sobolewski