Opera Star to Try Some Musical-Theater Gunplay

Debbie get your gun.

Deborah Voigt, a leading dramatic soprano known for portraying Strauss and Wagner heroines, will be packing heat next summer in the title role of “Annie Get Your Gun” at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival.

The performance will be a major departure for Ms. Voigt, a celebrated singer with an ardent fan base, but it will be within a longstanding tradition of opera stars stepping into Broadway roles. They include Ezio Pinza, Shirley Verrett, Giorgio Tozzi and most recently, Paulo Szot, who did double duty last season in “South Pacific” at the Lincoln Center Theater and Shostakovich’s “Nose” at the Metropolitan Opera.

Ms. Voigt, who like most American singers performed in musicals in high school and has a penchant for excellent English diction in song, often includes American standards and show tunes in her recitals. But a run of “Annie Get Your Gun,” to some degree, is a risky one.
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