Fulton Theatre Goes Under the Big Top with ANNIE GET YOUR GUN!

The nationally regarded Fulton Theatre is excited to continue its record breaking season with Irving Berlin's classic musical comedy, Annie Get Your Gun. Prepare to be dazzled as Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show returns to the Fulton Theatre after 100 years and the theatre is transformed into a big top, surrounding the audience with all the action.

"There's No Business Like Show Business," and that cannot be more true than with the Fulton's production of Annie Get Your Gun. This production will mark the celebrated return of 2 Ring Circus (having appeared in the 2015 production of The Wizard of Oz).

Annie Get Your Gun is based on the real-life story of Annie Oakley, who appeared in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show as a star attraction. Set to the brilliant score by Irving Berlin, Buffalo Bill's Wild West show arrives in Cincinnati Ohio and the show's womanizing star, Frank Butler, challenges anyone willing to go against him to a shooting match. The town's feisty country girl, Annie Oakley accepts his challenge and proves to be the perfect shot. Recruited into the Wild West Show, she quickly falls for its star, but will he be able to accept her rising stardom? For over 70 years, this Broadway classic has made audiences rediscover their love of the Broadway Musical through songs like "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)", "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun", "Sun In the Morning" and, of course, "There's No Business Like Show Business".

Annie Get Your Gun opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on May 16, 1946 starring Ethel Merman as Annie Oakley and Ray Middleton as Frank Butler. Directed by legendary director, Josh Logan, with the glorious Berlin music and lyrics, and the book by Herb and Dorothy Fields, the show was an instant hit, running for 1,147 performances. A perennial favorite, the show has had many revivals through the years, including a 78 performance run in 1966, once again featuring Ethel Merman in the title role. The show was revived again in 1999, with Bernadette Peters as Annie Oakley, and Tom Wopat as Frank Butler. This very successful reworking of the Annie Get Your Gun featured a "show within the show" concept, and ran for 1,095 performances with a number of different Annie's including Crystal Bernard, Cheryl Ladd, Susan Lucci and Reba McEntire.

The Fulton Theatre is producing the 1999 revival. This production stars Heidi Kettenring (Annie Oakley), Curt Dale Clark (Frank Butler), Richard Costa (Buffalo Bill Cody) and Kathy Voytko (Dolly Tate).

Kettenring returns to the Fulton where credits include The Addams Family (Alice) and Elf (Emily). Chicago credits include Wicked (Nessa), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Mistress Page), She Loves Me (Ilona), The King and I (Anna) and Harper in Angels In America. She toured the U.S. in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and her film and television credits include Man of Steel (Warner Bro's), Chicago Fire (NBC) and Cupid (ABC). Clark is very familiar to Fulton audiences through roles in Legally Blonde, Carousel, The Music Man, LES MISERABLES, Sunset Boulevard, Singing in the Rain, The Irish and How They Got That Way, All Night Strut, Phantom and White Christmas. When he is not in Lancaster, Curt is the Artistic Director of the Maine State Music Theatre in Brunswick, Maine. Costa's Broadway credits include Spamalot, Cabaret and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. He has also been featured in National tours of Spamalot, Annie and Annie Get Your Gun and his regional credits include the U.S. premiere of Count of Monte Cristo and the role of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. Voytko's Broadway credits include Tuck Everlasting, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Oklahoma!, Nine, The Frogs, The Pirate Queen and Next to Normal. Kathy was last seen at the Fulton as Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins.

Joining Kettenring, Clark, Costa and Voytko are Zach Porter (Tommy), Natalie Powers (Winnie Tate), Eddie Curry (Charlie Davenport), Neil Friedman (Foster Wilson/Pawnee Bill), and Tony Lawson (Sitting Bull).

Zach Porter returns to the Fulton for his third production, having just completed the run of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Recent credits include Action in West Side Story and Dance Captain for Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas. Natalie Powers makes her Fulton debut with Annie Get Your Gun. Recent credits include De Materie at Park Avenue Armory with Heiner Goebbels. She is currently a senior BFA Commercial Dance major at Pace University. This show marks the Fulton debut of 30 year stage veteran Eddie Curry. The Artistic Director of the Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre, in Indianapolis, Curry's most recent credits include productions of The Odd Couple (Felix), The Addams Family (Gomez) and Guys and Dolls (Nathan Detroit). Neil Friedman lists his Chicago credits with the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, The Marriott Theatre, The Court Theatre, The Porchlight Theatre, Steppenwolf and The Goodman Theatre. Regional credits include The Utah Shakespeare Festival, The People's Light Theatre, The Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis and Austria's Vienna English Theatre. Tony Lawson is familiar to Fulton audiences from The Addams Family (Mal Beineke) and Lend Me a Tenor (Tito Merelli). Lawson appeared on Broadway in LES MISERABLES (Thenardier) and in national tours of Disney's Beauty and the Beast (Gaston), Damn Yankees (Joe Hardy) and White Christmas (Sheldrake)

Rounding out the cast in alphabetical order are; Katie Anderson (Ensemble/ U/S Annie Oakley); Joshua Bellamy (Roustabout/Ensemble); ChristIan Brown (Messenger/Ensemble); Casey Clark (Ensemble); Sarah Crane (Ensemble/ U/S Dolly Tate); Preston Cuer (Roustabout/Ensemble); Joshua Dean (Ensemble); Adena Ershow (Ensemble/ U/S Winnie Tate); Mary Frances Eschenwald (Jessie); Ben Franklin (Ensemble/ U/S Foster Wilson/Pawnee Bill); Jessica Lawyer (Ensemble); Gage Martin (Ensemble); Alli McClune (Ensemble); Austin Nedrow (Ensemble); Brady Norgaard (Little Jake); Sydney Norgaard (Nellie); Herb Porter (Mac/ U/S Frank Butler); Buddy Reeder (Ensemble/ U/S Tommy); and Kenneth Ziegler (Ensemble/ U/S Charlie Davenport).

The creative team for the production includes Marc Robin (Director/Choreographer; Fulton Theatre's Executive Artistic Producer), Ray Fellman (Music Director), William James Mohney (Scenic Designer), Travis M. Grant (Costume Designer), Paul Black (Lighting Designer), Anthony Lascoskie, Jr. (Wig Designer), Jacob Mishler (Sound Designer), Katelin Walsko (Props Designer), Ryan B. Gibbs (Production Stage Manager), Douglas Lamb (Assistant Stage Manager) and 2 Ring Circus (Aerial and Circus Choreography).

With special thanks to our Season Co-Sponsor, Fulton Bank, Season Co-Sponsors Hagelgans & Veronis, Rodgers & Associates, and Wendell Funk, Cosmetic Surgery and Laser Center, Production Co-Sponsor Franklin and Marshall College, and UGI.

New York Casting is done by Bob Cline Casting. Interviews are available with the cast and/or director based on availability. Production photos are available upon request. Performance Schedule follows at the end of the release.

Single ticket prices range from $28 - $71, with Student Rush available. Fulton Theatre performs in its home, the national historic landmark Fulton Opera House located at 12 North Prince Street in Lancaster, PA. For more information or to purchase tickets call 717.397.7425 or visit theFulton.org.

About Fulton Theatre:
The Fulton first opened its doors in 1852. 164 years later, this national historic landmark theatre continues to entertain, educate and delight audiences, bringing live theatre, music, and more than 120,000 patrons into downtown Lancaster annually. Since its inception, some of the brightest stars of theatre, music and film have appeared on its stage, including Sarah Bernhardt, Mark Twain, Lionel Barrymore, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, W.C. Fields, George M. Cohan, Treat Williams and Lancaster's own Jonathan Groff.

Today, under the leadership of Executive Artistic Producer Marc Robin, the Fulton Theatre produces a mix of comedies, dramas and musicals, employing the talents of professional directors, designers, playwrights from across the country. The Fulton also offers classes for children, teens and adults as well as numerous community engagement programs across the region.

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