"What Did She Just Say?"

Life is funny in the theater world. It seems like one just can't win sometimes when it comes to pleasing everybody. Take my current show for example, Annie Get Your Gun, first produced on Broadway in 1946 and then the script was revised and a revival was presented on Broadway in 1999. The revival script is the one we are using for our production and as is always the case we take a look at our target audience being a very religious crowd made up of families and the retired generation, and we think, "Okay, we really should not cut the script in any way, because our theater company could get sued for tampering with copy write laws." But we do it anyway thinking that we won't have an audience if we don't cut certain things down to a bare minimum! So here is a list of things that we cut as to make this show, Annie Get Your Gun, non-offensive: 1. Any swear word pertaining to Deity. GONE 2. The reprise to Doin' What Comes Natur'lly because there are too many sexual innuendos. GONE 3. A line pertaining to a man groping a woman's unmentionables. GONE 4. All firearms are represented with capped guns and sound effects. We don't even pull the trigger, we just make a slight jerk movement to the sound effect. Very theatrical and puts everyone at rest that no one will be harmed during the production. So, live ammo...GONE Then as an actress, I make sure that what I have left (which is the word "Hell",that I have to say 5 times during the two hour production) I do not PUNCH like the amateur swearer that I am. I make it part of my backwoods, country drawl, and let it roll lightly off my tongue as I hear so many of my friends do that are "Expert Cursers". Now granted two other actor's in the show have gone through the same process as me and have been given some "Hell's",and to add to the profanity, some "Damn's" to complete their repertoire. Granted that adds to the total tally of swearing and subjects the audience to even more cursing during the two hour production, but our logic is that these are minor swear words that most people are subject to through different sources everyday. Regardless these two actors handle the material with care and try not to PUNCH their choice words, like myself, as we rehearse and then open the show... Cut to two weeks into the run of the show and the box office receives a phone call of complaint from one individual and then receives a "Letter to the Editor" from another who intends to send their complaint into the paper the following day. The complaint is the same, that there is "too much profanity in our show"....AND I am sure the complaints are not over... I will not go into detail at how offensive the letter to the editor was to me personally. I will not go into the fact that the other person who made the phone call is actually a neighbor and a friend of mine, that has yet to speak to me in person about how they were offended. (Not worried, I am sure they will speak to me eventually, and they are sincerely a real nice person) Because to be honest, I respect their views, I see it as their right to express their opinion and to stand up for what values they believe in. And I say "Here, Here for their Constitutional and Moral Right"! And now we get to the part where I get to express MY views: I will NOT apologize for the minor swear words that I say in the play and for my involvement in this most wonderful, lighthearted, uplifting show that is doing such a service to the community. The majority of our audiences are allowed to forget for two hours about their problems in these troubled times and they leave the theater in high spirits, with the biggest smiles on their faces. Some are even crying tears of joy! Live theater makes such a positive impact to the soul. And on a more selfish note, to be able to sing a classic score by Irving Berlin that has lived in the hearts of all Americans for over 70 years, absolutely priceless to me. And then to top it all off, the feminist inside me receives much satisfaction while performing in a play with the theme that men and women should share equality, I say, "YES", I want to be a part of it, minor swear words and all!! I guess what I am getting at, and I do mean this with respect to those who are offended by the language in our show, but really one can be offended at anything, if they allow themselves to be. And sometimes I feel there is an imbalance with our audience here. Why are some shows with themes of 'Adultery' like Camelot, acceptable for those same people that are offended by the "Hell's" and "Damn's" in this production? And not to drive the point too far, but I must say to anyone who reads the King James Version of the Bible, do you allow yourself to get offended by the language? I can count many more "Hell's" and "Damn's" in the Good Book than are in our show. This whole thing is interesting to me, and it came quite unexpectedly after the care we took to NOT have this happen... Life sure is funny in the theater world, you think you are doing the right thing and there is always something that's comes back to bite you. You truly cannot please everyone, just do the best you can do and as long as I am at peace with it, what more CAN I do?...