Patti LuPone and Brian Stokes Mitchell to Star in Annie Get Your Gun at Ravinia Festival

Can Patti LuPone get a man with a gun? We just bet she can—and the Tony Award winner will get to prove it when she plays Annie Oakley opposite Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell in a semi-staged production of Annie Get Your Gun at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival. Tackling her third iconic Ethel Merman role (after Gypsy and the Broadway revival of Anything Goes), LuPone will appear alongside Mitchell as Frank Butler August 13-15, 2010, directed by Lonny Price. Paul Gemignani will conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the performances, commemorating the 150th anniversary of Oakley’s birth.

LuPone, who appeared in Ravinia productions of Sweeney Todd and Gypsy before headlining Broadway revivals of the two shows, will also be part of the cast of a gala benefit concert honoring the 80th birthday of composer Stephen Sondheim. Titled “Sondheim: Timeless,” the July 31 concert will feature LuPone, Michael Cerveris, Audra McDonald and George Hearn, with Price as director and Gemignani as conductor.

In addition, the 20th anniversary of the deaths Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland will be commemorated on July 11 in a concert that features music from Appalachian Spring, The Age of Anxiety and Candide.