By Joy McKay.
I grew up enjoying the big Hollywood musicals shown on TV on Sunday afternoons, but my favourite was always Doris Day in Calamity Jane. I related to this hopeless tomboy, never quite getting it right, but always trying so hard to make her mark in the town of Deadwood. Zoom forward many years and the HBO TV show Deadwood painted this mining town (and Calamity Jane) in a very different light. Not quite the town Doris Day’s ‘Calam’ sings so fondly of. However, being a big fan of both, I was keen to see the show when it rode into town.
Carrie Hope Fletcher plays the title role and will be familiar to many musical theatre fans having previously starred in West End productions including Les Misérables and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s fantastic, but short lived, Cinderella.
I was slightly disappointed on entering the theatre to see there was no orchestra pit. Having live music is such a wonderful part of the musical theatre experience for me and it always seems such a shame when the music is ‘piped’. The stage was mostly bare, save the curtain, a few scraps of fabric and, I soon noticed, a banjo. As the theatre lights dimmed a sole actor appeared on stage this was, I was later to learn, Rattlesnake. He walked slowly towards the banjo, picked it up, and started playing. I was delighted and, as the curtain raised, quickly discovered that the reason that there was no pit was that this show would be performed by Actor Musicians, even better!
Most of the cast acted and sang whilst playing piano, guitar, oboe, fiddle, double bass, cello, banjo and mandolin. They did this unobtrusively, weaving their music into the narrative in the most beautiful and natural way. They looked like they were having the best time really giving a sense of the atmosphere of ‘The Golden Garter’ the theatre famously at the centre of the story. Additional songs had to be added to turn the film into a stage musical and these were completely fitting – if you weren’t familiar with the original you probably wouldn’t be able to identify the old from the new. We were even treated to a Hoedown which was so much fun, I wanted to jump on stage and join in!
My least favourite number from the film (although Doris Day’s favourite) ‘Secret Love’ allowed Fletcher to literarily and figuratively take centre stage. A boring dirge of a song turned into a masterpiece. It was stunning both in performance and production, leaving me with goosebumps. The show ended in the same way as ever with the guys getting the girls and, as ever, I was slightly irked the girls didn’t just go off together on their own. But as the curtain fell the audience was raised to a standing ovation.
As a die-hard Calam fan I loved it, and I challenge anyone to go see the show and not leave smiling and singing.
Tickets for Calamity Jane (Tuesday 3 – Saturday 7 June 2025) are on sale at mayflower.org.uk or 02380 711811.
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Interview: Carrie Hope Fletcher ahead of her role as Calamity Jane