Through Dolly's Eyes
The play Annie Get Your Gun from the perspective of Dolly Tate, Frank Butler's Assistant
(Diary format)
April 3rd Cleveland Ohio 9am
We've been traveling for about 4 days but finally arrived in Cleveland about 45 minutes ago. Now things are going to be crazy seeing up for the shooting match which is at 2:00pm. Apparently the hotel owner Mr. Wilson does not seem that pleased that we are here. Based on his attitude it doesn't seem like he had that great of an experience when Pawnee Bill and his show company were here. I'm going to go now and try to see if I can lift his spirits a little. Bye!
Later that same day… around 6:00pm
When I was out for a stroll earlier I came upon this girl and she shot the decorative bird clear off my hat. My favorite hat is ruined now and I am so upset and bitter toward this stranger. The shooting match was at 2:00 on the front lawn. Frank looked really handsome in his competition outfit. I found out not soon after I arrived that the girl who ruined my hat is his competitor. Annie Oakley's her name. Her little siblings Jessie,Nellie, Minnie and Little Jake are her assistants. What a family affair! The match went really well until the score was tied at 20. They had to shoot alternate shots until a winner was chosen and Annie outshot him. I think something's fishy between them and honestly think she was just lucky. Apparently she must have really won over Charlie and Bill because they offered her a spot in the show. Frank seems a little impartial but deep down I think he likes her.
4.4 early-mid-afternoon
Ever since we got on this train Annie has made a real mess of things. She claims there was a fire in the Indian's cabin so they were using my car in which to prepare their dinner in. Then those bratty siblings of hers unhooked the baggage car and it's long gone by now. Annie is so clueless to notice anything wrong and Charlie is not any help at all… he's just on her side. She doesn't realize that Frank is just using her to make himself look good in the show she's too head over heals for him to realize that. It is just so infuriating. I liked it better when I was the only person vying for Frank's attention. I want Annie OUT OF THIS SHOW!
4/7 St Paul
Well today was the show in St Paul. Annie is so obnoxious. She did some fancy motorcycle stunt in order to impress Frank. I think secretly he was impressed but he masked it with anger thinking she was trying to show him up. She keeps trying to convince him it wasn't true but I don't think he believes her. He's pretty steamed about it. This is so great! Now Annie will probably be out of the show… oh I can only hope they will get rid of her. If they don't, I am going to quit!
Later that same day
Frank and I had a long talk about the show today. He is still really mad at Annie for that stunt she pulled on him earlier today. I suggested kicking her out of the show and he wouldn't have anything to do with that idea. I KNEW all along that he loves her. She makes me so mad. After a long silence I suggested that maybe we tour with Pawnee Bill for awhile so that way he can get his mind off Annie and focus more on his work. He agreed and left her a note in her tent. We're leaving bright and early with Pawnee. YES! Now I have him all to myself.
4/19
Annie must be pretty upset about what happened with Frank leaving her because he hasn't gotten one single letter from her since we left Cleveland. I've been convincing him to focus on his work and he does most of time but sometimes I catch him daydream. I shoot him a glance that says "You better not be thinking about Annie." He instantly snaps out of it. I can tell he misses her and that makes me upset. She's on that big international tour with Charlie and Bill and is due to come home in a few days. Despite the fact that I hate that he misses her so much I have to do something about or get someone else to do something about it but what?
(Frank picks up Dolly's diary and rips a page out of it and writes his own thoughts down when Dolly is not looking)
Well, this tour is all well and good but I think the only reason why Dolly asked me to come was so that I wouldn't be distracted by thinking about Annie. She guessed wrong. I was originally mad at her about what happened in St Paul but the anger didn't last longer than a few days. I miss her so much and wish she wasn't in Europe. I can't wait to see her again. She's been writing me letters from Europe. I've gotten all of them. I've done a really good job of hiding them from Dolly so she does not read them. She obviously dislikes Annie and the letters would only fuel the fiery rage of jealousy that she feels.
4/20
We are arriving in New York tomorrow and Annie and her crew will be arriving the day after. Her boat comes in at midnight. Pawnee is throwing a big party to celebrate the success of our tour. I'm not sure how successful their tour was because Charlie is a crummy brother and doesn't keep in touch with me when he's out of the country. I'm gonna send one of the messenger boys on to their ship with an invitation to the party. I would guess that once Frank gets wind of Annie being invited he will be happy that he wills see her again. I need to think of someone to distract him but who?
4/21
Well everything is all set. Charlie and his crew have their invite to the party and I have Frank's distraction all set up. My friend Sylvia is supposed to meet him at his hotel room and then take him down to the ballroom for the party. This should be interesting. I wonder if he will still be thinking of Annie when he's with another girl. I am so sneaky.
(FRANK)
Well, we're in New York. The big party is tonight and it starts at 7pm. I was just starting to get ready when I heard a knock at my door. I opened it and saw a blonde girl standing there. "Hi, I'm Sylvia, Dolly's friend. I'll be your date for the party tonight." I wanted to say that I already had a date that I would be meeting me at the party but I decided it was not in my best interest to bring up Annie in conversation. That Dolly what a creep. She is always thinking of ways to distract me. Sylvia was pretty enchanted by my routine to get ready. It was almost like she had never seen a guy get ready for a party before. It makes me wonder if her and Dolly have ever had long standing relationships. I can't wait to see Annie tonight. I've really missed her since she's been in Europe.
4/21 6:54pm
Well the party is about to start. I can't wait to see Charlie and Bill again. Not looking forward to seeing that twerp Annie again. I wonder how much money they made on that international tour. We sure haven't been making a lot with our show so hopefully they've been making a lot. A lot of the society ladies have arrived so now we're just waiting for Frank and Sylvia and Charlie and his crew. This should be a fun night.
(The butler who announces the names of the people who enter the party.. he finds Dolly's diary and rips a page out of it)
When I was hired for this job I didn't know what to expect… just another low paying party host job I guess. I hate this job and hope to find another one soon. Hopefully my mood will change as the night goes on. So far I can't stand any of the people who have arrived they all seem really stuck up and snobby. The hostess, Dolly Tate is not very pleasant to work for either. I like Pawnee Bill though, he seem really nice. He's the one who hired me. Hopefully this job will be worth it.
7:10
Well Annie just arrived. All of the society girls have been making a big deal about all the medals she won on the international tour. Bil Bill and Charlie are in the back room discussing the merger. I'm anxious to see what happens.
7:15
Well this is just great! We just threw this big party and it's pretty much been a waste. The merger is off because they didn't make half as much money on the international tour as I had originally thought and combined together with how much we made it's not nearly as much as I thought. Annie, perky as she is trying to stay on the bright side of it. Sitting Bull suggested that she sell all her medals she won on the international tour and she agreed to do so as soon as she shows them off to Frank. Charlie doesn't like that idea at all but Annie assured him that everything will be just fine.
(The butler) 7:15pm
This party just started to get interesting. Apparently there was supposed to be some big merger between the two Wild West shows. There's a huge uproar that neither show made enough money and they don't have enough money combined together to complete the merger. I really like Annie Oakley a lot. She is the ONLY down to earth person at this party and has the best attitude I've ever seen. Unlike this stuck up society ladies and Dolly Tate. She offered to sell her medals she won on her international tour after she shows them to Frank Butler which I thought was a nice gesture. Charlie Davenport didn't seem to keen on that idea at all. Annie assured him that everything would be fine and now everyone started to dance.
Frank 7:30pm
This party has been kind of a dud. I just heard the merger between our show and Buffalo Bill's show is off. Seems like a waste of time because that's the reason why we planned this whole party in the first place. On the plus side Annie is here She looks gorgeous. I am kind of jealous of her because of all those medals she won when she was traveling. I don't have quite as many from our show. We kind of got into a little fight about that and that made the evening even more sour for me. She challenged me to another shooting match in the morning on Harper's Island. Hopefully I'll beat her this time.
7:50pm
Frank got all mad because Annie won more medals than him on her tour so he challenged her to a shooting match. A rematch of the very same match he lost by default in Cleveland. Annie doesn't know what's coming to her. I'm going to find some way to get revenge on her. The revenge she deserves!
Early the next morning in the gun cellar of the ferry boat to Harper's Island
It's GROSS down here! I don't know how Jessie Nellie Minnie and Little Jake can withstand these horrid conditions but somehow they manage. I noticed they were cleaning Annie's guns for the match so I bribed them away from their job by offering them money to buy ice cream. I plan on fixing Annie's guns so that way she loses the match! I don't want her to win and end up with Frank.
Charlie finds Dolly's diary and rips a page out of it to jot his own thoughts down.
I walked in on Dolly messin' with Annie's guns. She denied she was doing it but I caught her REDHANDED! I am so mad at her. At the same time I feel like fixing the guns myself. I am feeling continuosly guilty for how I took part in staging the whole mess in Cleveland that caused Annie and Frank to split up. I'm torn because Frank and Annie deserve to be together and I know this is true. At the same time I know before Annie joined the show that Dolly had feelings for Frank. Frank always seemed to put up with Dolly. I don't know how he managed to do that because sometimes I can't even tolerate how annoying she is and I live with her on a daily basis.