Beef and Boards: Annie Get Your Gun

Why would any theater put a show as old as Annie Get Your Gun on its schedule?
Everyone knows musicals won't draw a crowd. Classics aren't trendy. Dinner theater is out of style. Doug Stark, owner of Beef and Boards, 9301 N. Michigan Rd., has heard all the comments and gone his own way. Thank goodness. His loyal customers have followed him for more than 30 years and, judging by the crowd's reaction I witnessed, Stark has one more successful show on his hands.

The faster-than-a-speeding-bullet paced show is about two sharp shooters (an illiterate, unrefined woman and a smooth-talking ladies' man) who fall in love. Premiering on Broadway in 1946 and starring Ethel Merman, it includes the Academy Award-winning music and lyrics of Irving Berlin. The film version, starring Betty Hutton, hit the big screen in 1950.

Tiana Checchia (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter Pan) returns to portray Annie Oakley, the western girl who falls in love with Frank Butler portrayed by Curt Dale Clark (White Christmas, Treasure Island). The two principals are balanced in talent, stage presence and personalities, with the openly spunky nature of pint-sized Checchia complementing the charming and subtly feisty nature of Clark perfectly. You could not ask for a better pair to watch as they meet up, hook up, break up, and make up.

The majority of musical numbers are performed by the two main characters, Butler and Oakley, requiring seriously talented performers with excellent vocal abilities. Clark and Checchia are more than qualified, squaring off more than once in a singing match, exceeding all expectations of their respective roles. Checchia's, at first stubborn then forlorn, versions of You Can't Get a Man with a Gun, and Clark's heart-wrenching My Defenses are Down, open the audience to the true story romance. Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better) brought the tale of two stubborn lovers to a competitive sing off to the absolute delight of the audience.

This cast is solid and strong throughout the performance, showing zero weak links. Three young performers, Brielle Boynton, Molly Oates and Ellie Oates shoot no blanks as Oakley's younger siblings. Stage and film actor Jack Milo (That Thing You Do) slips into a ceremonial headdress for his role as Sitting Bull, Destination Actor Jeff Stockberger (Camelot, The Foreigner) steps into the large boots of Buffalo Bill, and J. R. Stewart (Run for Your Wife) dons the role of Butler's manager via a brightly colored plaid suit. Which brings us to another character. A silent, often ignored by critics, member of the cast.

The stage's set oftentimes makes or breaks the mood of a show and the Michael Layton-created Ringling Bros.' style set for this production brings forth the playful, colorful side of the traveling medicine/circus/Wild West shows of that era. Bright lights, bold paints and spinning wheels make for a dazzling stage providing the strong background required for the rough and tumble, shoot 'em up world of cowboys and Indians.

Bottom Line: Beef and Boards' Annie Get Your Gun hits a bulls-eye.

Website: Beef and Boards
Photo credit: Julie Curry Photography 
Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated columnist, travel writer, music, restaurant and performing arts critic. Catch her as Indy’s Arts & Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC and follow her on Twitter @ejmusgrave1 and Facebook.

Gotta Go is published in the following newspapers: South Sider Voice, Indiana Weekender, New Palestine Reporter, Pendleton Times Reporter and Fortville-McCordsville Reporter.

Beef and Boards: 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

The stress behind a championship ball game with millions of dollars on the line people understand. But the stress behind a childhood rite of passage such as a spelling bee?

Beef and Boards' Dinner Theatre, 9301 N. Michigan Rd., opens its 2011 season with the Tony-Award-winning hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Bee does more than teach you how to spell superfluous words. It shares the stress-related issues which occur behind any competition, even those which occur before braces are removed.

Add in the angst of maturing bodies, puppy love, emotionally and physically absent parents, and, well, you get the picture. There is a tender age when parental approval is intermixed with the desire to be liked by one's peers and separate from the family identity to create your own. It occurs approximately the same time as the shedding of childhood security blankets and noticing the opposite sex.

All of this is addressed within the scope of the county spelling bee where six overachievers attempt to prove themselves as more than their school's word geek. Students include B&B veterans Jayson Elliott (SOTM), Sarah Hund (SOTM), Tiana Checchia (Peter Pan), Dominic Sheahan-Stahl (Footloose). Kiyo Takami and Seth Tucker make their debuts.

Although the title would make this seem a family friendly show, I recommend leaving the under-13 aged at home unless you want to explain the meaning of an erection.

Sarah Hund

Hund, who is incapable of turning in a less-than-flawless performance, portrays her character (Logainne) with an added ounce of zest, standing out as the caricature stereotype of the perfectionist.

Calling four audience members on stage creates an opportunity for the performers to shine, challenged by the unexpected from the non-pro participation. They are weeded out one at a time, between singing, dancing and spelling by the cast. I was one of the selected. I am not exactly sure how my name got put on the list, but have narrowed it down to two possible culprits. At first, I declined feeling my role as a critic would be compromised. Then it occurred to me this would be an opportunity afforded few critics: a chance to see the talent up close. So, I acquiesced and joined the cast on stage.

Licia Watson and Paul Hansen

This bird's eye view was helpful as I was able to judge interactively. Although I could never claim to be more than a dilettante, one other audience member could barely be separated from the pros. Dustin, a high school student, actor and former spelling bee participant, provides the most chance for Paul Hansen as Vice Principal Panch to show his ad libbing abilities when he has to pull out a dictionary and find an extra-hard word to finally get Dustin off the stage.

I found that a guilty pleasure after being reprimanded by Hansen's Panch at my table when I didn't understand immediately that I was on his clipboard's list of names. His stern look and no nonsense, "You are due on stage, young lady," reminds me of a certain principal back in school. Yep, I'm still getting "the look."

Jayson Elliott

Although all turned in f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c performances, the Gotta Go spotlight shines brightest on a particular body part. No, not that one...

The Foot.

Elliott's character, William Barfee, is the uptight, shirt-untucked, obnoxious know-it-all, who needs the win to prove to himself that he is as brilliant as he proclaims. As with many competitors, Barfee has a 'trick' to help him win. Some write on their arm, or wear a superhero costume, William spells out the word on the floor using his lucky foot. Never missing a beat, Elliott corrects any, and all, who mispronounce his name, even while walking away or seemingly busy with something else. Stroke after stroke, with that lucky foot, Barfee eliminates his opponents, one by one. Until Olive Ostrovsky.

Tiana Checchia

Olive is portrayed by Checchia with a vulnerability, sweetness and virginal innocence that everything can be made right with words, that all the world would be a rosy place if only everyone would befriend their dictionary.

The pairing of Checchia and Elliott may well be the best match I have seen at B&B. Her sweetness gently slips under Barfee's obnoxious skin opening his vulnerable side, allowing that something, or someone, is more or at least as important as winning. His hesitant look toward her before stepping up to spell his last word demonstrates the talent which makes Elliott a favorite of the Indianapolis audience and this critic.

Bottom Line: Beef and Boards' Bee gives Jayson Elliott a chance to share yet one more aspect of his multifaceted talent with Indianapolis audiences.

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated columnist, travel writer and theater critic. Catch her as Indy’s Arts & Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC and follow her on Twitter @ejmusgrave1 and Facebook.

Gotta Go is published in the following newspapers: South Sider Voice, Indiana Weekender, West Side Community News, New Palestine Reporter, West Indianapolis Community News, Pendleton Times Reporter and Fortville-McCordsville Reporter.