This is a show that I had starred in my calendar for over a year. I lost count of how many times I watched this film as a child, but for some reason, perhaps due to its large scale and dated connotations, I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing it performed live.
It’s always a gamble going to see a musical that fills you with warm nostalgia… could this classic Western keep standing the tough test of time?
Based on the much-loved Doris Day film, this musical is centred loosely on the true story of Martha Jane Canary. Here we see the fearless, loud mouthed, gunslinging, trouser-wearing Calamity come face to face with something scarier than the wild American frontier…. a proper lady! As the town falls head over heels for the actress they believe is Adelaide Adams, Calamity faces the trials and tribulations of both jealousy and love in this small, gold mining, 19th century town of Deadwood, South Dakota.
For a script that is heavily dated (the later stage adaptation was written in 1961) other techniques were used to make it a modern production. The strongest attribute to this show was the live band on stage. There are no musicians hiding in the orchestral pit; instead, they are the actual actors on stage, an outstandingly talented ensemble team who can dance, sing, act and play their instruments exceptionally well…often at the same time!
This created a real sentimental sense of time and location for me, brilliantly capturing the folk-style feel of this small frontier town. Occasionally, the sound levels were off balance, making some libretto hard to hear but for an opening night with such a challenge being presented to the techie crew in terms of musicians dancing, this can be forgiven, especially on the first night.
Carey Hope-Fletcher (West End star famous for her roles in Les Misérables, Heathers and of course being Tom Fletcher from McFlys’ sister) was presented with the mammoth task of reimagining the great Doris Day’s role of Calamity Jane and wow…she was stunning. She has a sensational, voice along with charm, sass, great dancing skills and whole of lot of comedic talent.
Vinny Coyle provided a solid (if not quite as rugged as I’d hoped) performance as the infamously wild Bill Hickok, with some fun moments of banter, especially the raucous and vicious ‘I Can Do Without You’, creating a highly comedic love-hate relationship between the two.
The direction by Nikolai Foster was excellent, with varied use of levels and precise, sharp, creative actions, reminiscent of a contemporary theatre show. There were perhaps fewer dance and set changes than you might expect, but this was owing to the limited cast of 17 (instrumentalists included!) and if anything, this simply demanded more creativity, which actually resulted in quick transitions and one of the shortest musicals I’ve been to at just over two hours, which on a Tuesday evening is always welcome.
I particularly loved the varied ways in which the scenes on a stagecoach were produced, with one seeing the driver sitting on top of a straight-backed piano with parasols being used as wheels. There were a few points where I felt the energy lacked and the story dwindled: there’s no denying that the stage version isn’t as strong as the film and the additional songs aren’t as catchy as the original ones. There’s also at times a lack of wildness and fun for me, but I think this was down in part to the sound issues not quite giving it the ‘umph’ a corny Western like this needed. This was a sacrifice I think the production made to include the clear idea of the musicians performing on stage – it was a fantastic concept; it just didn’t 100% work in execution. However, it did have significantly more strong moments that weak ones and indeed many that were fantastic.
There is no denying that there some horrendously sexist moments in this show, where ‘women thoughts’ are considered dangerous and weak, and how Calamity isn’t really looked at as a woman until she puts on a dress. However, you simply have to let that pass over your head, for they are only portraying the attitudes that were around both at the time it was set and also when it was written. Take this show for what is – a good bit of fun, and just be thankful you weren’t a woman born in the 19th century….those corsets look painful, for one!
If you’re a fan of this film, then you’re just not going to help yourself from tapping your foot along to the classics tunes of ‘Just Flew in From The Windy City’, ‘The Deadwood Stage’ and ‘Black Hills of Dakota’. One of the highlights for me was when the cast asked the audience to join in singing this latter song with them before the ball in Act 2 and it was a beautifully nostalgic moment which created the peaceful,
nighttime atmosphere of the Dakota countryside. Even if you don’t know the songs, there’s enough fun, energy, creativity, fast paced action and pure musical talent to make this a thoroughly enjoyable performance.
Calamity Jane is at Leeds Grand Theatre until 8 March.
Photography by Mark Senior.
