I Got the Song in the Evening

As I mentioned the other day, Ethel Merman's iconic role was, arguably, as Annie Oakley in Irving Berlin's 1946 musical, Annie Get Your Gun.  But renowned as she was for the show, she never had any luck with it whenever the musical got made for another medium.  When Annie Got Your Gun was adapted by Hollywood as a feature film in 1950, the role went to Betty Hutton.  Even when television decided to remake the show in 1957, they didn't go with the original star there either, but rather to Mary Martin, who had toured the country with the show.  So, other than the famous cast album, there's no record of Ethel Merman in her celebrated performance.

But we aims to please, as best we can.

Twenty years after originated the role, Lincoln Center brought Ethel Merman back to recreate her performance in a revival of Annie Get Your Gun.  And though I'm not aware of a full version of the show, we at least have this video of her and the cast.  She's clearly much too old for the character at this point, but sometimes, being able to capture something legendary lets you overlook the quibbles.

Here then is Ethel Merman and company from 1966 and "I Got the Sun in the Morning."  (And despite what the person who posted the video wrote, it's "I Got..."