Show Synopsis:
Annie Oakley enters a sharpshooting competition and beats the famous Frank Butler, who is amazed to be beaten by a girl. Buffalo Bill asks her to be an act in his traveling circus, and Annie and Frank fall in love on the road. Annie becomes a bigger star than Frank, which hurts his ego and their relationship. They meet after Buffalo Bill's show tour Europe, and decide to get married, but Annie's medals and accolades are too much for Frank. They have one final shooting match to determine the best sharpshooter, which ends in a tie.
Character:
Annie Oakley, a young woman who has grown up in the country with her family and is exceptionally talented at shooting; she is rough, uneducated, and naïve about most things in life; very proud.
Song Context:
Annie has just met Foster Wilson, who does not understand why or how she could shoot the stuffed bird off of Dolly Tate's hat. Annie begins to explain that she's never though of an outfit like that, since she and her siblings were brought up a very different way than Dolly, the other circus performers, and people in town.
Fun Facts:
1. This role was written for Ethel Merman, who was passed over for the role when it was adapted to film. The role eventually went to Betty Hutton.
2. This song became a hit, and was later recorded by Judy Garland.
3. This musical is based on the real life accounts of Annie Oakley, a female sharpshooter who toured with Buffalo Bill's show and married her costar Frank Butler.
"Folks are dumb where I come from,
They ain't had any learning.
Still they're happy as can be
Doin' what comes naturally.
Folks like us could never fuss
With schools and books and learning.
Still we've gone from A to Z,
Doin' what comes naturally.
You don't have to know how to read or write
When you're out with a feller in the pale moonlight.
You don't have to look in a book to find out
What he thinks of the moon and what is on his mind.
That comes naturally.
My uncle out in Texas can't even write his name.
He signs his checks with ""x's""
But they cash them just the same.
If you saw my pa and ma,
You'd know they had no learning,
Still they've raised a family
Doin' what comes naturally.
Cousin Jack has never read an almanac on drinking.
Still he's always on the spree
Doin' what comes naturally.
Sister Sal who's musical has never had a lesson,
Still she's learned to sing off-key
Doin' what comes naturally.
You don't have to go a private school
Not to pick up a penny near a stubborn mule.
You don't have to have a professor's dome
Not to go for the honey when the bee's not home.
That comes naturally.
My tiny baby brother, who's never read a book,
Knows one sex from the other,
All he had to do was look.
Grandpa Bill is on the hill
With someone he just married.
There he is at ninety-three,
Doin' what comes naturally."