"Annie Get Your Gun" by Erewash Musical Society Youth Group.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Every blockbuster has a strap line. 

If I was to suggest a strap line for this show, it would be "just when you thought local theatre couldn't get any better........" Let me elaborate.....

Musicals like this take me back to when I was a young lad; sitting at home  with my mum and dad watching television on a Sunday afternoon where they always seemed to have a classic musical on. Oh, what memories!.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West show is in town and visits Cincinnati, Ohio, Frank Butler, the show's star, challenges anyone in town to a shooting match. Foster Wilson, the local hotel owner, doesn't appreciate the Wild West show taking over his hotel, so Frank gives him a side bet of one hundred dollars on the match. Annie Oakley enters and, when Wilson learns she's a brilliant shot, he enters her in the shooting match against Frank Butler.

Annie meets Frank Butler and is instantly smitten with him, not knowing he will be her opponent, which she then discovers and ends up winning the contest. She is invited to join the travelling show, which she accepts because she has fallen for Frank, and even though Frank proposes to Annie, things have a way of not running too smooth for the love struck sharp shooters!

Based on the true story of Miss Annie Oakley, this is one of those musicals that is packed with show tunes that you’ll know, “The Girl that I Marry”, “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, “Doin’ What Comes Naturally”, “They Say It’s Wonderful”, “Anything You Can Do”, “The Sun In The Morning", all instantly recognisable, although there is one omission. I can guarantee that you will leave the theatre with one or all of the above rattling around your head for days afterwards.

Okay, I'm going to go in at the top and, well, stay there!

Frank Butler is played by Joel Dawson. I've seen Joel in many shows in the last few years and have become a fan of his voice. This show tops his other shows, or should that read, that this show is another step on his ascent of musical theatre productions, a continuation of his upwards trajectory of talent. One thing that I especially love about this young man is that he enunciates every word so that you hear every single syllable he utters. These songs are classics and young actors, often without the life experience of what the musical's characters have been through, could find getting the feel of the songs not such an easy task, but Joel made the message in these songs utterly believable. Listen to the way he sings "The Girl That I Marry", and you believe that he is on the lookout for that perfect match. The duet of "Anything You Can Do" is full of flirty fun, a complete U Turn from "I'm A Bad, Bad Man", warning the ladies to keep away from him and his past list of conquests, that he is so obviously proud of. This part is perfect for a brilliant character actor, and Joel has been cast perfectly for this character.

Annie Oakley is played by Bethan Moore. I think I became a fan of Bethan's when she played Malificent in the recent Erewash Musical Youth Group's pantomime, "Snoring Beauty". I am now a super fan of Bethan's. Bethan is an incredible comedy actor, she is an amazingly expressive actor; she gets every comedy nuance from this role. She captures the accent perfectly. Bethan is a wonderful dancer and an even more amazing singer. Annie gets a lot of comedy songs to perform and Bethan smashes those, but listen to the emotion in her performance of "I Got Lost In His Arms". Bethan is the cause of so many of the tingles I got throughout the two and three quarters show. 

I could put the incredibly natural "asides" shown in songs like "Anything You Can Do" down to the intuition of a wonderful young actor or the attention to performance detail of the brilliant direction received. Either way, like Joel, this young woman has just topped any other performance she has given in any other show that she has been in. Perfectly cast, in fact, probably the best Annie Oakley I have seen on stage.

Buffalo Bill is played by Drew Boswell. You know, this production has so many of my favourite young actors in, and every single one has upped their performance skills. Drew is excellent as the Wild West Show creator and organiser, also bringing more than a modicum of comedy to this production. It's an absolute joy to have seen many of these actors grow, not only in stature, but in talent and Drew falls into that category.

Dolly Tate is played by Eleanor Cooper, who injects plenty of character into Dolly, and brings out an enormous amount of fun for us all to enjoy.

Charlie Davenport is played by Yasmin Aldous. I've always seen Charlie played by a man, but this twist in genre actor also works well. It's another fun character who shows that they are in charge, but has a sense of humour. A lovely voice and Yasmin can move as well, both highlighted in the opening number "Colonel Buffalo Bill".

Chief Sitting Bull is played by Evan Hagan, who has moved up from the panto ensemble to play this relatively serious Indian who is so impressed with Annie that he makes her his new daughter. A solid performance from Evan.

Foster Wilson is the owner of the hotel where the action all starts, and is played by another wonderful comic actor, Oliver Nolan. My first sight of Oliver on stage was in February's panto role as the King, and I know that he caught my attention at that stage. As Wilson, Oliver brings a lot of character to this role, and also a wonderful easy comedy presence.

Lil Jake's role is shared between two young men, Noah Hickling and Blake Hagan. On Thursday night I saw Noah, who is also performing on Saturday night and Jake on Friday night and Saturday matinee. One of those roles that made the audience emit a few "aahhs" for his cuteness.

Annie's other siblings are played by Eloise Chamberlain (Minnie), Livvi Hickling (Jessie) and Lacey Swinburne (Nellie). All great fun to watch and fiercely loyal to Annie.

Pawnee Bill, Sitting Bull's right hand person, is played by Lowri Moore, who also breaks out of her previous ensemble role to showcase her talents as Pawnee Bill.

There's also a very talented ensemble working in with these main characters who flesh out the dances and crowd scenes, who we must not forget. The ensemble has always been an integral part of any production, but for me it's like a talent pool, and there are always a few people who grab your attention, like some of the above that I've mentioned above and have spotted in previous productions.

Toby Wykes, who we last saw as Prince Prancer in "Snoring Beauty", straight away caught my attention because he enjoyed every second of stage time. His face expressed his joy and his choreographical skills shone from the throng. You know that phrase "dance like there's nobody watching"? Well that phrase sprung to my mind watching Toby because that enjoyment of dance was apparent, and while he was an ensemble member, he had that "eyes and teeth" of a proficient dancer and actor.

The other young man who permeated the ensemble was another actor who I've seen in several productions. This time around though he has shot up in height and his voice has lowered. Harry O Boyle is maturing splendidly as an actor, singer and dancer.

This pair though are only a couple of ensemble cast members; the remaining members being Lauren Hazeldine, Gabriella Tilley, Martha Smart, Izzy Cole, Elis Moore, Clarissa Armitage, Sophie Forman, Grace Simms and Rose Staniford.

Directed by Chris Renshaw. Everything and everybody involved in this show has clearly invested an incredible amount of time and energy to produce a show of this quality. It's the sort of professionalism that is seen on stages a lot bigger than The Duchess. Chris has extracted some incredible performance from this cast, making the show feel beautifully retro, and retaining that "classic" tag. 

Choreographed by Hayden Fletcher, assisted by Megan Asher. This show has a lot of numbers which means that there is also a lot of choreography, and I loved the energy levels of these dances and dancers. The ensemble numbers have been choreographed to within an inch of their lives and this could be the best choreographed musical that Hayden has been involved in. It's exciting and thrilling, and while the cast make it look easy, at times, and wonderfully intricate at others, this does not belie the intense work that Hayden and Megan have put into this show. There's also a big element of fun in this field and that shows with the way that the EMUS Youth Group execute Hayden and Megan's choreography.

Musical Director is George Parkinson. I have mentioned earlier the execution of the lyrics in some of these classic musical theatre songs and, like the choreography side of this show, it indicates the amount of hard work that has gone into the delivery of these songs. The lead vocalists wonderful diction, especially singing with an accent, is all down to a hard working Musical Director. Some people may just think that an MD is in charge of the music side of a production, but it's all to do with getting the sound and presentation of a musical spot on and spending that time with the cast, both separately and in groups. You just need to listen to these results to know that George Parkinson knows exactly what he wanted, and got, from this talented cast and ensemble.

The set design is by Mark Robbins and Bill Robbins, and while there was nothing fancy about the design, it all worked brilliantly, with props and additional set items placed and replaced on stage by the cast and crew. I was slightly worried about the chandelier which swung perilously above the cast as it was hoisted into place, there was absolutely no need to worry though.

Stage managed by Mark Robbins which kept a constant flow and pace, which made the two and three quarter hour show run as smooth as Frank Butler's patter with the ladies.

Loved the costumes, and they must be great fun to wear; let's face it who wouldn't want to dress up as a cowboy or Indian and dance around on stage? Annie's final dress was gorgeous and was almost as glittery as Bethan's performance.

And last, but not least, because where would we be with the sound and light guys (in the dark and silent)? 

Sound design and operation was by Dave Dallard and Jack Clark, and the light design and operation by Richard Chamberlain and Dave Martin; the four theatrical musketeers. There were a couple of sound issues which may have been due to mic packs, but apart from that, the sound was very, very clear, mixed well with the sound of the band and the vocalists.

It's productions like this that make me so proud to shout to the world just how good local "amateur" theatre, and the incredibly talented actors are. You certainly get your money's worth with this running time, as well as the quality of the talent on (and off) stage. Even without the song "I'm An Indian Too", this is one of the best musicals, and one of the best performances of a "classic" musical ever. It'll be a long time before I forget this show.

"Annie Get Your Gun" is at the Duchess Theatre until Saturday 6 July.