Show I tt 1 ANNIE DEMONSTRATES some fancy shooting through a mirror no less as cast members members members mem mem- bers look on Jean Sheller Sheffer will ploy play the part of Annie Annie made one mistake she missed the Kaiser Annie Oakley the heroine of Irving Berlins Berlin's musical comedy I Annie Get Your Gun who will be portrayed by Jean Sheffer when this famous hit is presented here at the UHS The Theatre tre on March 21 23 25 2526 26 was a sharp girl irl whose trigger-fingering trigger with rifles shotguns and pistols was nothing short of fabulous and her feats of marksmanship have remained unequalled to this day Who could hit two Inch inch flying balls by taking sight in the shiny surface of a bowie blade she shot cigarettes from her husbands husband's mouth with a 22 and shot a dime from between his thumb and forefinger at al thirty paces With the same caliber weapon she shot at 1000 flying balls balIs in succession and hit of them and using three double- double guns she punctured in midair mid six balls sprung simultaneously from as many traps MISS OAKLEY OAI was born on onan onan onan an impoverished farm in Darke County Ohio in 1866 Her lIer life story is a typical rags- rags to-riches to saga such as Horatio Alger would have been proud to dream up Her stepfather a rural mail-deliverer mail and the support of her family froze to death when she was four and she was buta but a few years older when she fired tired her first shot from rom an old inch 40 Kentucky cap-and-ball cap rifle The r recoil broke her nose but she kept on shooting and soon was sup sup- plying her family and n neighbors with game The story of Annie Get Your Gun on stage written by Herbert and Dorothy Fields parallels fact when it portrays Annie as selling fowl to Cincinnati Cincinnati Cin Cin- hotel keepers it fails falls to mention that the real Annie was trying to pay off ff a mortgage on her family's farm It is also a fact that Frank Butler leading marksman of his day was stopping at a hotel on the outskirts of Cincinnati in 1881 To publicize his traveling show it was arranged that he would challenge the best local talent in a shooting contest for a prize He lie had already vaguely heard about a girl in this vicinity who was supposed to be bea a remarkable shot but he was dumbfounded to note how eagerly the local citizens were seeking takers for bets on her ability Butler didn't gamble himself but he was puzzled at their confidence in this year 15 old girl CONDUCTED to a spot well out in in the country he did the best shooting he had done in a along along along long time but hadn't a chance against the fantastic precision of his opponent Annie Oakley Each shot at 25 live birds from a trap Butler hit 24 and Annie hit 25 He Ire didn't meet her until after the match but it wasn't long about a year before they fell feU fellin fellin in love and were married married As a wedding present he gave ave her a partnership in the show and her superior skill soon was so evident that he retired from Crom competition to devote himself to managing her business When Butler contracted for her to star in Buffalo Bills Bill's Wild West Show she became an international celebrity Royalty paid homage to Annie on the European tour of the Buffalo Bill show in 1887 Twice Queen Victoria commanded private performances Edward Prince of Wales squired her about among the crowned heads of the continent and arranged a match matchin in which she beat Russia's Grand Duke Michael IN GERMANY Annie shot a cigarette from the mouth of Wilhelm then the Crown Prince Years later during World War Wat I she wrote the Kaiser that she was sorry she had been so accurate and asked for another chance Annie announced her farewell performance in 1901 After it was over the show train heading South for winter quarters collided on head-on with another train Frank Butler pulled i the unconscious Annie from the wreckage In 17 hours her chestnut hair had turned pure white Doctors said she would never move again much less shoot but in five years she was shooting better than ever She quit show business entirely entirely entirely en en- in 1910 taught marksmanship at Pinehurst N N. C. C and at 50 could still do her six-ball six three-gun three trick She t g 1 L I Is s s sL L s c Are Reid Hansen music director and Corey Grua drama wondering Will we make It by March 21 finally settled down in Dayton Ohio where she died in 1926 It was reported that she left nearly to relatives friends and charities Frank Butler died 18 days after shedid she shedid did The rhe production is as the story Please dont don't miss it |