3442 - The Plot Sings: Story-Driven Songs in Annie Get Your Gun (Bill Allen)
Course Description
Instructor: Bill Allen
Join us for an engaging exploration of Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun and its role in the evolution of mid-1940s musical theater. We’ll listen to dramatic and comedic favorites like “They Say It’s Wonderful,” “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun,” “I Got the Sun in the Morning,” and, of course, the show-stopping “There’s No Business Like Show Business”—all within their plot-driven context. Discover how Berlin’s lighter touch complemented the emerging storytelling style of Rodgers and Hammerstein (Oklahoma!, Carousel), shaping a new era of musical theater. We’ll also examine the show’s socially progressive themes and how certain songs have been adapted or omitted in later productions. Come listen, learn, and enjoy this timeless classic!
Bio: Bill began his lifelong generalist love of history, literature, popular culture, and musical theater while getting his history and English degrees at the University of Louisville. After teaching at colleges in Kentucky and Indiana, he studied at the University of London (Royal Holloway College) and received the Master of Philosophy degree in English Language and Literature with a 500-page dissertation on W. S. Gilbert (Gilbert and Sullivan). Later he received a Master of Librarianship degree from Emory and did doctoral studies in the Institute of the Liberal Arts where he wrote a long, well-received essay on American lyricist E. Y. (Yip) Harburg. He held a research and archives position in the CNN Library for 19 years. Since retirement, he says dramatic and lyrical writing and teaching his special interest courses at OLLI-Emory now give him great pleasure and satisfaction. He has been doing so since 2008. Michiyo Allen (technical assistant)