Continuing its family-oriented theater productions, Point Loma’s Vanguard Productions of Westminster Presbyterian Church will present Irving Berlin’s classic Broadway musical “Annie Get Your Gun” starting Friday, July 11 at Westminster Theater, 3598 Talbot St.
Based on the book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields, Vanguard’s production will take on the revisions done for its 1999 Broadway revival by writer Peter Stone, according to Vanguard’s director, Lesley Pearson.
“There are some added characters,” Pearson said. “Some of the older sort of … what we would consider maybe politically incorrect now themes are softened a little bit in this adaptation.”
Pearson, a Point Loma native who has been with Vanguard for the last 13 years, said “Annie Get Your Gun” was chosen as the summer musical because of the redemptive quality in its main characters.
“Annie and Frank have a turn-around, from their sort of stubborn hearts to acceptance of each other and the qualities within one another,” she said.
Pearson said the production’s talent pool is made up of a large community cast of both professional and nonprofessional actors, including 24 children.
“Deborah Ford, who plays Annie, just wraps herself up in this character and you can’t help but smile when you watch her,” said Pearson. “The gentleman who plays Frank Butler, Rob Hoadley, has a beautiful singing voice and great stage presence and is a lot of fun to watch as Frank Butler.”
Vanguard Productions, a ministry of the Westminster Presbyterian Church, has been producing two family-oriented productions each year for the last 35 years.
“It is a ministry through the arts, in addition to very high-quality theater doing high-quality work with a very inclusive environment ” very loving and very professional,” Pearson said.
Pearson said the church’s selections fill a niche in San Diego theater.
“In the summers we always do a musical of some sort that allows for family units, both adults and children, to work together, and that’s very unique,” she said. “You really can’t find that anywhere that I’m aware of in San Diego in that way, where you have adults and children working together as equals. And that makes Vanguard very unique in that sense.”
As for what audiences can expect, Pearson said, “I anticipate that they’ll have not just a fun family night at the theater … but that it’ll be a warm and welcoming environment and they’ll see lots of great performances and lots of schtick and gags … .”
Performances will run through the weekends from July 11-27 with an added Thursday performance on July 24. Friday and Saturday performances will start at 8 p.m., while Sunday performances begin at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors and military and $10 for children 12 and under.
For reservations and more information, call (619) 224-6263 or visit www.westminstersd.org.