Column Chronicles: A Broadway show with a political spin

A Broadway show with a political spin

Frank Cotolo
February 11, 2016

Political movements have been known to affect the themes of pop culture vehicles but this coming Broadway season is about to emphasize that very influence while at the same time possibly start a trend.

The controversy surrounding the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is the theme of a Broadway show that deals with the contemporary issue. Producers of the new musical are hoping that a built-in audience includes people fearing that the government is going to take all of their guns away. That is the entertaining plot of a new play called "Annie Get Everyone A Gun."

Originally a 1946 musical with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and book by Dorothy and Herbert Fields, the fictionalized tale of the real Annie Oakley, an American female sharpshooter who toured with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, the new version focuses on Annie Coulter, a conservative sharpshooter traveling with Buffalo Bill O'Reilly's Spin-Stops-Here Rodeo.

As a parody, the show is filled with comedy and lively songs such as "There's No Bullets Like Slow Bullets" and the challenging "Anything You Can Shoot I Can Shoot Better."

Should this new genre take in a lot of business, play-goers need to be aware that a wave of new shows that use entertainment to sway a political point of view are on the horizon.

"Everyone is watching closely," said a famous reviewer who wished to remain an anonymous famous reviewer in order to be quoted. "We are a bit frightened that conservative and liberal forces will take the precious theater experience and turn it into a moral firing squad for people who don't have a particular point of view."

"Nonsense," said a playwright who still doesn’t understand why playwright is spelled the way it is spelled. "All plays have messages and the Broadway audience is exceptionally smart when it comes to blatant commercial themes. Plus, the average audience member is a dunce, really. You aren't using my name, remember?"

No one knows where the abundance of funds for the production of "Annie Get Everyone A Gun" originates but some reporters claim it is coming from deep politically involved benefactors; people that are financially supporting Right-wing candidates for high offices.

Such a trend could help Broadway thrive in one sense. In another sense, if there is no balance in the political themes, there is more than a possibility that the historic entertainment area in New York City will never again be known as "The Gay White Way."

Frank Cotolo can be found hosting the talk and interview programme Cotolo Chronicles. You can send him an e-mail at this address: frank@148.ca.