Annie Oakley — The Myth and the Musical [audio 9min]

It is 60 years since Irving Berlin’s musical Annie Get Your Gun was first performed on Broadway. In 1950 it was made into a feature film and has been regularly revived ever since. The role of sharp-shooter Annie Oakley has been taken by actresses including Ethel Mermen, Doris Day, Suzi Quatro and, more recently, Bernadette Peters. But what do we know of the real woman on whom the musical was based — Phoebe Moses, a poor Quaker from rural Ohio? And how far does this fictional account reflect the realities faced by a woman living in the Wild West? Host Jenni Murray discusses theatrical image and historical reality with Jay Kleinberg, Professor of History at Brunel University, and with theatre critic Matt Wolf.