Everything, including the play, cast, choreography, direction, costuming and set design, comes together to produce a near-perfect show of “Annie Get Your Gun,” which opened at Music Circus Tuesday night. The original producers of “Annie Get Your Gun,” Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, no slouches at musical theater music and lyrics themselves, persuaded a reluctant Irving Berlin to write the music and lyrics for the show when Jerome Kern died suddenly. Berlin is considered to be the preeminent American songwriter, and he created some of his most popular music for “Annie Get Your Gun.” It has song after song that became popular hits, including the opening song, “There’s No Busines

Opening its 61st season with a highly popular contemporary musical with good casting has paid off for California Musical Theatre’s Music Circus. “The Producers,” which opened Tuesday night, involves a failed Broadway producer whose most recent show closed on opening night. A passing remark by the low level accountant sent in to audit the books puts the plot in motion. If the producer would have a guaranteed flop, they could bank the investment, close the show and keep the money. They set out to find the worst play, a lousy director and terrible actors. Many complications and much humor ensue, along with lots of great songs and dancing. “The Producers: the new Mel Brooks Musical,” while b

Take an iconic piece of american musical theater by arguably the best musical theater writing team of all times and add Music Circus talent and production values and you have a splendid evening of entertainment. "Oklahoma" was the first collaboration between composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers had previously worked with Lorenz Hart creating "Pal Joey." Hammerstein had been teamed with Jerome Kern, with "Show Boat" as their best-known production. The new collaboration worked well for both. Hammerstein preferred to write lyrics before they were set to music. Rodgers preferred to have completed lyrics before creating the music. There previous co