REVIEW: Annie Get Your Gun, Southwick Opera

Lucy Newton was fabulous in the lead role as Annie Oakley

Annie Get Your Gun is a lively musical telling the story of sharpshooter Annie Oakley.

So it is no surprise that Lucy Newton stole the show in the lead role of Southwick Opera’s production at The Barn Theatre in Southwick last Wednesday to Saturday.

That is not to say she did not have some marvellous support on stage but it was Lucy who was the key feature and it was hard to keep your eyes off her Dawn French-like wide smile.

She was lively and enthusiastic throughout and her solos were mesmerising. She has to spend a lot of time alone on stage and You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun, for example, is a particularly long number but she played it with exuberance.

Alongside, Rob Piatt played Annie’s gun-toting partner Frank Butler and his dulcet tones were a joy to the ear.

Claire Dixon as Dolly Tate matched Lucy for voice and it was fun watching her strutting around the stage as Dolly became more and more jealous of Annie.

There is a nice secondary romance with Dolly’s little sister Winnie Tate, played by Grace Riach, and knife-thrower Tommy Keeler, played by Jamie Hyde, which plays throughout most of the production.