Calamity Jane started life as a big technicolour Hollywood movie in 1953, loosely based on the life of an actual wild west heroine, Calamity Jane (real name Martha Canary) played by Doris Day and was a big success, winning an Oscar for Best Song, the big ballad “Secret Love”. Then in 1961 it was turned into a stage musical with some extra songs and this show, with some tweaks along the way, is back on a UK tour that started this week in Wimbledon and then goes around the country until September.
Calamity Jane tells the story of the eponymous, tomboyish woman who guards the stagecoach to and from Deadwood City, South Dakota. She’s got no time for love and spends her days when she’s not on the stagecoach, telling tall tales, sharpshooting and keeping Deadwood safe. She’s entrusted by the local saloon owner to bring Adelaid Adams, a famous actress and vaudeville star, to Deadwood to entertain the gold prospectors and other locals but she comes back with the wrong actress and all sorts of farcical events occur. However, like most Hollywood musicals of the time, it all ends happily with Jane finding love, happiness and her feminine side (there are still echoes of the conventions of the 1950s even in this updated version).
The action is set mainly in the saloon, although it has to double-up for some other locations and there’s some creative use of some chairs and a piano to denote the stagecoach as it heads out of town. This production originally started out at the Watermill Theatre, which is credited for originating the actor-musician style of production and Calamity Jane is no exception. Most of the actors play instruments – these days, you have to be a quadruple threat (acting/singing/dancing/playing) – is there no end to these people’s talents! This gives the production extra energy as they manage all four disciplines superbly – often at the same time! The choreography from co-director Nick Winston is splendid with a lot of variation, including tap and square dancing – yee hah!
The large cast of eighteen give it their all, but the star is of course Carrie Hope Fletcher in the title role, who finds the vulnerability behind the bluster of her character and she pulls everything together and ties it into a nice, neat bow. She’s ably supported by Vinny Coyle as her nemesis and also suitor, Wild Bill Hickock, as well as the two comedy stand-outs, Peter Peverly as the hapless saloon owner Henry Miller and Richard Lock as the banjo-playing, stagecoach-driving, superbly named Rattlesnake. Special mention must be made of Seren Sandham-Davies who is exceptional as Katie Brown, who Calamity thinks is Adelaid Adams but is in fact her maid.
All Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster’s iconic songs are here, such as the aforementioned “Secret Love”, “Deadwood Stage, “Just Blew In From The Windy City” and “Black Hills Of Dakota” amongst others and they’re sung and played with great brio and joyfulness. The show even ends with a hoedown that got the audience up on their feet and dancing.
Calamity Jane was a classic of the silver screen and also a product of its time. Yes, it’s a little old-fashioned and obvious, but it’s also a lot of fun and the cast give it their all, so what’s not to like?
Review by Alan Fitter
The whip crackin’ musical comedy classic will tour all around the UK and Ireland until 27 September 2025, marking ten years since the show last hit the road. Based on the much-loved Doris Day movie, this foot-stomping new production features all the sure-fire classic songs including The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away), The Black Hills of Dakota, Just Blew in from the Windy City, and the Oscar-winning Secret Love.
CAST
Carrie Hope Fletcher – Calamity Jane
Vinny Coyle – Wild Bill Hickok
Luke Wilson – Danny Gilmartin
Seren Sandham-Davies – Katie Brown
Peter Peverley – Henry Miller
Hollie Cassar – Susan
Samuel Holmes – Francis Fryer
Molly-Grace Cutler – Adelaide Adams
Richard Lock – Rattlesnake
Ben Mabberley – Hank & Stage Door Keeper
Fergus Murphy – Joe & Harry
Tomas Wolstenholme – Buck
Claire Greenway – Doc
Lara Lewis, Emma Jane Morton, Theo Diedrick, Jacob Leeson, Stephen Scott Stark – Swings
CREATIVES
Original Director – Nikolai Foster
Co-Director and Choreographer – Nick Winston
Musical Supervisor and Orchestrations – Catherine Jayes
Adapted for the stage by Charles K Freeman from a screenplay by James O’Hanlon
Produced by Warner Bros.
Music by Sammy Fain
Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Original orchestral and vocal arrangements by Philip J Lang
Jamie Wilson Productions, Kevin McCollum, Gavin Kalin Productions, Evolution Productions, Tilted, Willette & Manny Klausner in association with Grace Street Creative Group and David & Hannah Mirvish present The Watermill production of
CALAMITY JANE
New Wimbledon Theatre, 13 to 17 May 2025
UK tour continues to 27 September 2025
