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Mickey Jo
Oh, the Deadwood stage is a heading on over the hills. See, individually, all of these elements made sense for a thematic outfit, but together, just tell me, tell me that I don't look like a gay Frenchman because I feel like that's how I look. Oh my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Or hello to you. If you are listening on podcast platforms. If you are listening on podcast platforms, it's the Neckerchief. The Neckerchief is what's taking this sort of western inspired look to the territories of gay Frenchmen. My name is Mickey Jo and I am obsessed with all things theater, theatre. I am evidently a very serious professional theatre critic here on social media and today we're going to be talking all about the new UK tour of the musical Calamity Jane, which I saw yesterday last night at the new Victoria Theatre in Woking. It commenced last month, it's visited a handful of venues already and it's going to go on to visit a handful more. Check the tour dates to see if it's travelling to a place near you Now. I had actually seen this production before, back in, I want to say, 2014, 2016, the 2000 teens. In any case, when Jodi Prenger was starring as Calamity Jane. Shortly after, this production premiered at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury. And it was very interesting getting to revisit it so many years later with a performer I would describe as a very different star in the leading role. We are talking about the very popular and very talented Carrie Hope Fletcher, who is playing Calamity Jane alongside Vinnie Coyle as Wild Bill Hickok. Now, for those of you who know nothing about Calamity Jane, we're going to talk a little bit about the nature of this show in today's review. For those of you who only know the film, we're going to talk a little bit about how it fares on stage. Of course, it was a famous film in the 1950s starring Doris Day and as always, we are going to talk about this production. Does it work? Do the creative choices pay off? Does the casting work? All that and more will be discussed in today's full review. If you have already seen this production, either on its previous tour or on the current one already, let us know what you thought in the comments section down below. If you have seen a completely different production of Calamity Jane, if you've been in a production of Calamity Jane, share those stories with us as well. It's a very charming show and I would like to hear about it. And finally, if you do enjoy this review and you want to know what I think about various other pieces of theatre that I see in my very, very busy theatrical schedule, make sure you are subscribed right here on YouTube with the notifications turned on somewhere below my face so that YouTube tells you whenever I have shared a new video or following me on podcast platforms. If you would prefer to listen to me as you go about your day. In the meantime, here is what I thought of Calamity Jane So in the world of classic, beloved movie musicals and their stage counterparts, this is a bit of an interesting example because the film starring Doris day and Howard Ke was released in 1953 and it was subsequently turned into a stage musical in 1961. Normally that would have happened the other way around, and I do think that that origin story can be perceived in some of the show's material and some of its quirks, but we'll talk about that in just a moment. For now, let's talk about the narrative and this story. Who is Calamity Jane? Well, she was a real life historic sharpshooter and frontier woman who lived during the second half of the 19th century. She was a contemporary of Wild Bill Hickok, who also features in this show. In the two of them are understood to be very close friends, the kind of close friends that deeply loathe each other. But perhaps there's something else significantly more passionate happening beneath the surface there that neither of them can really perceive until the events of the thing have unfolded. That's right, it's much ado about nothing with shotguns. Now, Calamity in real life after Bill Hickok's death in the late 1800s. Spoiler alert. Doesn't happen in the show. So history Spoiler alert I guess claimed to have been not only his lover but also the mother to his children. But at the same time she was also perceived by those around her, his historically to occasionally be a little bit of a liar. Something that features within the show and is one of the reasons why Bill Hickok becomes so aggravated with her because he claims that the fantastical stories she tells about fending off multiple different now let me be careful here. Highway gold, bandits, and definitely not Native Americans anymore might be exaggerated or entirely fabricated. That's not the only reason that he finds her distressing, because he would also prefer her to dress and act in a more ladylike fashion because she wears trousers and she carries a gun and she does not concern herself with feminine comportment, partially because it's Just never really occurred to her. That is, until she finds herself in the company of a more refined lady. This because the local proprietor of the theatre, whose name is Henry Miller, has accidentally hired a man when he'd been advertising a woman. He gets the man to perform in drag. It doesn't go well. And Calamity, in order to keep the patrons from rioting, promises that she will bring from Chicago the very famous, the very adored Adelaide Adams, whose photo they have all seen in a cigarette packet. These being the times. However, in an absolutely classic theatrical mix up, Calamity mistakes Adelaide's maid, Katie Brown, who of course has aspirations of being on the stage. Doesn't everyone, in these kinds of stories? For Adelaide Adams herself, Katie sees the opportunity to finally live out her dreams in Deadwood City of all places, and goes with Calamity on the Deadwood stage, which is a sort of. A. Sort of a buggy back to Deadwood, where everyone is very excited to see a performance from Adelaide Adams. Now everything sort of plays out from there and we get ourselves tied up in a little bit of a knot, of a. Of a love rectangle. I would say this because Calamity, although she does not bother herself with any aspect of traditional femininity, has a substantial crush on Dani, who I believe is the second lieutenant at the fort. Dani, however, along with just about every other man in town, including Wild Bill Hickok, takes a liking to Katie Brown upon her arrival, who doesn't want to get involved for about five minutes and then she changes her mind. Absolutely zero prizes for anyone who can already guess where this is all going. And if the plot itself is a little thin, making for an objectively rather short show and not offering us a lot in terms of subplot or tangents, then it makes up for that in charm as well as a secondary layer beneath that that you can read into with a very queer context. This has always been one interpretation of Calamity Jane because you have this leading female character wearing trousers, wielding a shotgun and defying anyone who tells her that she ought to act in a more ladylike fashion. Calamity and Katy end up living together in order to chaperone and take care of each other, where they sing a song in which I quote, one ought to never underestimate a woman's touch. But the film was made in the 50s, so, you know, definitely not lesbianism. Even when Calamity sings about having a secret love that she has kept hidden for years and now longs to share with the world, that's not familiar and relatable whatsoever. Excuse me while I adjust my gay neckerchief and roll my eyes. Now, I alluded to some references to Native Americans earlier, and the film is riddled with them. They were excised from the show when this production specifically was first brought to the stage at the Watermill around a decade ago, I believe. The show's original director, Nikolaj Foster, when producer Jamie Wilson brought him the idea of doing it, made it clear that he was eager to get rid of all of the. How to put this gently? Objective racism only not unlike unattractive subm. Supporting walls and old houses. A lot of the plot does kind of fall down without it, so they had to make adjustments. When Dany is brought down from the fort and sort of gravely injured because of an attack, it's by bandits. When Calamity talks about how important it is that she rides alongside the driver of the Deadwood stage, shooting passersby, she's shooting bandits. When she talks about the many different violent encounters she has, it is with bandits. The place is crawling with bandits, almost like they're native to the country, but they're not. That's not what we're doing. There are also a couple of lyric changes to go with this, and there is a moment in the show where they play the banjo and they encourage you to sing Take Me Back to the Black Hills. The Black Hills of Dakota. Spoiler alert. Like God Save the King. Absolutely nobody knows the second verse. So if you want to be wildly impressive and you're planning to see this show on tour, learn all of the words to the Black Hills of Dakota, but learn the new words, because we are no longer singing about the beautiful Indian country that we love. It is beautiful, mountainous country. Mountainous. And it's always been mountainous, they promise. I mean, in fairness, it was mountainous. They just weren't there. Mountains. Anyway, despite these changes, there is still a quality of the material that feels inherently quite old fashioned. And, you know, it's of the time. So Bill and Calamity's relationship, where he tortures her a little bit and says that she ought to dress like a real woman and inexplicably ties her to a chair at the end of the first act in a plot point that goes absolutely nowhere, all of that has the potential to leave a little bit of a poor taste if it weren't directed with care. At which point I think we should talk about this particular production and how they bring this to the stage with a nostalgic charm. Now, the first thing you have to know about this particular version of Calamity Jane, like I said, originally directed by Nikolai Foster and then co directed and choreographed for this return by the very talented Nick Winston, is that because it was originally at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury? It is. Actor, musician, which is to say that we don't have a band in a pit or up on the stage or hidden away in a different room. The actors on stage in the show's company are also its musicians. Just like in the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, currently in the West End, just like in various John Doyle Broadway revivals over the years. I'm thinking of Sweeney Todd, I'm thinking of Company. And just like almost every musical which is produced at the Watermill, not only because it's sort of their creative specialty but but also because it's a requirement of the space. It's a very intimate converted Watermill, as the name would suggest. And there literally isn't any space for them to accommodate a band. But they like to produce musicals, which means the players have to be amongst the action. Now, the challenge that you have with this are moments within certain shows where you need to find a sense of intimacy. There's always going to be unusual trying to play a tender moment between two characters when one of the ensemble members is staring them down and playing a piano or holding a tuber. Of course, alongside those inherent challenges, you also have creative opportunities which are very much seized upon in this production. Rather than bringing on a set piece to look like the Deadwood stage instead, Carrie Hope Fletcher as Calamity Jane sits atop a upright piano and they create it out of wooden chairs and twirling umbrellas. And the company, which is exactly the kind of staging that I particularly enjoy. I really like an acting musician production that doesn't just feel like it has to be. That feels like it is bringing in those creative elements and like it's part of the show's DNA. And this one really works because I mentioned a lot of people have to sort of linger on stage. And even in personal moments, even when Calamity is singing Secret Love, even when she is having a one on one conversation with Bill, it sort of feels like you have this small Deadwood community of busybodies who are always just hanging around. In terms of the set design, everything is contextually within the saloon. I love this feature of the set that the proscenium at the front is replicated at the back because a lot of the action is motivated by what is happening at the theatre. The Golden Garter. And so there is a parallel between the front cloth and that stage's own curtain as well as a row of footlights that we see at the front of the stage as well as at the front of their stage within the stage. I think that's very clever. The pretty brilliant set design is from designer Matthew Wright, who also did the costume design. And to have the stage consistently bustling with these company members strumming a banjo or holding another musical instrument, it does evoke a sense of community and there's a real charm that comes with that as well. The whole show is entirely charming. And listen, it's a little bit rustic, it's a little bit sepia tone. I think for you to particularly enjoy this you probably have to be quite enamoured with old fashioned musicals. If you are a fan of the film, needless to say, you're going to enjoy this on a very nostalgic level. But the plot is a little slower. The songs are of that era. There are some knee slapping tunes in there. I'm a big fan of the Deadwood stages. Heading on over the hills Set em up Joe Set em up Joe Set em up Joe oh, I just blew in from the windy city the windy city is mighty purdy but they ain't got what we got and of course who could forget Tail us another one Tailor's another one oh, my aching tooth she's not exactly lying but she's careless with the truth Anyway, what I want to tell you about these songs is because they are from the film, they are quite short. It's an interesting feature of the show that they get into a great groove with these songs. They're playing their instruments on stage, you know you're enjoying it. And then they say to you, are you enjoying this song? Good. Well, it's over. That was it. You should have been paying attention. And everything gets reprised a little bit because we're trying to flesh out a film's worth of songs into two acts. And the score was expanded when it was first brought to the stage. But the extent of the plot and the extent of each of those songs do still feel familiar of a film that was subsequently turned into a musical. Now I would like to shout out one of my favorite lyrics, which I believe was in the song Men in the first half of the first act. I think it was something to the effect of Go Tell the Minister I'll Stay a Spinister, which a lovely little concocted rhyme in there. That's the kind of wit and silliness that I can't say no to. But all of this to say it is not fast paced, it is not high octane. Just because they keep talking about shootouts doesn't mean they ever really happen. Guns get fired often enough, but it is largely without threat or without tension. You have to be happy with the idea of spending a couple of minutes just listening to a man croon while sat on a barrel. And not unlike a Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It's really just a romantic storyline. Dressed up in a western outfit. It is sweet and romantic if not particularly breathtaking. It is charming and witty if not side splittingly hilarious. I would say this is really ripe for a particular demographic and a particular theatrical taste as well. Let's conclude then by talking about the performances now. I was so intrigued about Carrie Hope Fletcher's performance as Calamity Jane because I think she is not only very different to Jodie Prenger who I had seen before in the role, but it also feels very different from many of the other roles that Carrie has played before and where it finds kinship to her previous roles. And what she does very well is in crafting a particularly endearing take on Calamity, who is not oblivious to the things that are being said about her by the likes of Bill Hickok, but just sort of lets them wash off her like water off a duck's back. In fact, later in the show Bill chastises her for thinking in a womanly way and acting on her feelings when it comes to her romantic inclinations towards Dani and this being out of character for her. True enough for the rest of the show, she doesn't get insulted by comments about her appearance. She gets bothered when he ties her to a chair, but who wouldn't? I mean, for one thing, rope burn. But there is something very sweet about her calamity and her ability to smile through her circumstances. It feels a little naive, but just also very comfortable in her own skin. And even when she goes to a fancy ball in the second act and we see her with her hair tied back and wearing a dress and everyone gasped because she's dressed differently and suddenly they see her in a way they had never seen her before. We've seen it on stage, we've seen it on film, we know exactly what's happening here. It doesn't entirely shift her mindset and send her spiraling into an identity crisis. All of which is an important quality for a show about a strong willed heroine who is consistently told that she should behave differently. But she's also full of folly. We know when she is telling tall stories about her experiences of retrieving Adelaide Adams from Chicago, that she is lying. This makes us think that she's lying about a lot of the other stories of her exploits that she has told. And we can see the way that her infatuation with Dany reduces her to a sillier and more juvenile version of herself who can't particularly see clearly or, you know, gain enough perspective to realize that he doesn't reciprocate her affections. And Carrie, who we have seen play these strong willed and angsty and petulant often younger characters, feels entirely natural in this characterization and manages to marry all of those qualities and of course sounds formidable, particularly when she gets to really dig her teeth into secret love at the end of the show. This is where we get to hear her belting out a torch song, because everything is a lot more fast paced before that, and especially when she gets into those long phrases and she's singing now I shouted from the highest hills. It sits in a lovely place in her voice, sounds terrific and easily got the biggest reception of the evening overall. What I think I really appreciated about Carrie's Calamity is that she didn't go to this place of nervousness. There was a trembling vocal affectation that I remember Jodi Prenger doing, especially around Dani when she was trying to court his affection. And Carrie plays it a little clueless and a little convinced that Dany already really likes her. So she doesn't try too hard around him in an awkward way. She just smiles real big and rushes to take care of him when he's injured. Now, the man who will ultimately become Calamity's love interest is Wild Bill Hickok, played in this production by Vinnie Coyle, this one of his first principal roles. He has previously been seen on stage alongside Carrie Hope Fletcher in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella, funnily enough. And he again plays the role a little differently to the characterization that I remember from a few years ago that seemed a little harder, a little more stern. He is still gruff, he is still quick to threaten, and he is still bruising in his admonitions of calamity. But he also rushes to her defense. It's a big green flag very early on that he won't hear ill words spoken about her. Even if he doesn't want to be the one to have to take her to the dance. He doesn't want to hear anyone else complaining about the possibility. It's a bit of a challenging bridge to cross with limited material, but the two of them manage to strike A pretty believable romantic note. And Vinnie's singing the crooning is just wonderful. He immediately needs to be catapulted from this show to a lot of those regular gigs at the Royal Albert Hall. If we needed a new Julian Ovenden, I think we found one. The vocal tone is just gorgeous. And if the concept of opening with a slow romantic song higher than a hawk at the very top of the second act with, you know, little theatrical intrigue, seems like a strange one, he justifies it with his gorgeous vocal performance. We could listen to that song for twice as long as we do now. There is terrific support among the rest of the cast as well. Worth clarifying again that because this is an actor, musician production, everyone is working twice as hard on stage, not only to play instruments, often without sheet music, as well as performing as well as singing as well as dancing, but also doing so simultaneously in a theatrical context that requires them to really pay attention to each other and really listen. Standout performances in the company include the always hilarious and scene stealing Samuel Holmes, who plays the slightly put upon Francis Friar, who arrives in Deadwood under false circumstances and unfortunately can't satisfy the heavily male crowd in the way that he thought he would, even with a Whig Seren Sandom Davies is also very endearing as Katie Brown. She and Samuel Holmes both have a little bit of a challenge of playing slightly more refined characters, not from Deadwood originally and a product of that era of Hollywood, for whatever strange reason is that they had these Mid Atlantic accents. And so the two of them do occasionally sound a little geographically vague as they are vocally, you know, blown between the two continents from one sentence to the next. Luke Wilson really finds his fortitude as Danny Gilmartin by the end of the show, particularly when he is confronting calamity about her making Katie feel bad for getting in between a relationship that Danny never wanted to have. And Peter Peverley makes a wonderfully terrified Henry Miller, consistently afraid that his theater is about to be the subject of a riot, which, in fairness to him, it almost always is. Now, I hope that's given you a flavor of Calamity Jane. Definitely a show for those classic musical lovers. If you're looking for a warm, romantic story played amongst these slightly cartoonish frontier characters in a setting that feels both aesthetically and tonally familiar of the country Bear Jamboree. While they croon these sweet, familiar songs, then look no further and check it out. If it's visiting a theatre near you, if it already has, you've already had the chance to see the show. As always, let us know what you thought of it in the comments section down below. In the meantime, I hope that you enjoyed this review. Stay tuned for many more coming very soon. Make sure that you are following me on podcast platforms. Make sure you're subscribed right here on YouTube and following me wherever you can find me on the musical theatre Internet. I have been Mickey Joe and I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe.