Catch ‘Calamity Jane’ while you can. This superb touring production plays at the Bromley Churchill Theatre until Saturday. The show, based on the 1950s musical film starring Doris Day, is a fun celebration of Wild West folklore with a raft of country and western musical numbers that stick in your head for hours afterwards.
Set in South Dakota during the 1870s, ‘Calamity Jane’ plays out against the tumultuous backdrop of the Gold Rush and wars against Native American tribes during the presidency of Ulysses S Grant. The story revolves around the ordinary residents of Deadwood, a new mining town. The protagonists, Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok, were real people, though the events of ‘Calamity Jane’ don’t aim for biographical realism. But look them up!
Having met the residents of Deadwood, the story then follows Calamity Jane as she helps out local theatrical impresario Henry Miller. He has landed in trouble after booking a male actor he mistakenly thought to be one of the female leading lights. Calamity Jane travels to Chicago to meet Adelaid Adams, hoping to persuade the sought-after performer to travel to the remote small town to entertain the good folks there. Returning in triumph with the young lady in tow, Calamity Jane is the toast of Deadwood – at least until everything unravels… When Calamity's about, things just don't seem to go smoothly.
Thrown in to the mix of this amusing farce is a romantic tangle. Calamity Jane is in love with dashing army Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin. But he only has eyes for Calamity’s glamorous roommate Katie Brown. His rival for her affections is Wild Bill Hickok, local keeper of the peace, who has given up on his attempts to woo the decidedly unfeminine, beer-swilling Calamity Jane.
This production of ‘Calamity Jane’ comes together perfectly. It has stunning sets and effective lighting as well as authentic costumes, so it looks fantastic throughout. Thankfully, the people who bring this charming story to life are universally superb. Not only are all of the actors great in their respective roles, but they complement one another. This is a cast with excellent chemistry. Directed with much pace and flair, bringing the humour to the foreground, it’s impossible not to love this energetic and endlessly inventive production as the actors feed off one another's creativity.
All four leads deserve enormous credit. Vinny Coyle treads the right balance with the enigmatic Wild Bill Hickok, a man it’s possible to imagine on both sides of the law. Where he provides grit and a rough edge, Luke Wilson is the epitome of smooth as Danny Gilmartin, though he’s equally convincing when castigating Calamity Jane. Seren Sandham-Davies is immensely likeable as Katie Brown, whose little white lie lands her in a whole heap of trouble – and opportunity! But the show undoubtedly centres around Carrie Hope Fletcher, whose embodiment of Calamity Jane is impressively all-encompassing. Not only does she have a fantastic singing voice but, goodness me, she portrays the character with stunning conviction. At the same time she brings out Calamity Jane’s fun and frivolous side. Her lead performance is the best we’ve seen for some time.
The old adage there’s no such thing as a small part, just small actors is ably proven. The supporting actors are memorable, often for their comic timing. Richard Lock’s eccentric hillbilly Rattlesnake is great fun every time he’s on stage. Peter Peverley hits the right blustery notes as theatrical impresario Henry Miller – with plenty of neuroticism and pomposity. There’s a fine comic turn from Samuel Holmes that we loved. His routines around the piano with Hollie Cassar’s Susan in the first act were among the stand-out moments of the show. So too were Holmes' renditions of ‘Everyone Complains About the Weather', and later, his hilarious abashed ‘Hive Full of Honey’ that had us in stitches. If anything, we wanted more Francis Fryer after the interval!
The songs from the film version are all present, plus some new numbers too that fit seamlessly into the musical style of the Wild West. ‘Careless With the Truth' is a strong new number in which Bill ribs Calamity for her tall stories that she sells with such conviction. In ‘Just Blew in from the Windy City', Calamity gives the time-honoured musical tradition of persuading audiences that, after a fun trip to the big city, there ain't no place like home. The unmistakable sounds of Americana are at their richest in ‘Black Hills of Dakota'. The music is played live, and much of it on the stage, creating a sense of authenticity that goes a long way to keeping the audience spellbound by the world of the story.
The cast quite rightly were rewarded with a standing ovation and thunderous applause at the end of the show. They left the audience joining in a hoedown with a reprise of ‘Black Hills of Dakota’. This production of ‘Calamity Jane’ is theatrical magic from start to finish. Catch it when it’s playing nearby.
Cast: Carrie Hope Fletcher, Vinny Coyle, Luke Wilson, Seren Sandham-Davies, Samuel Holmes, Peter Peverley, Holly Cassar, Molly-Grace Cutler, Richard Lock, Ben Mabberley Writers: Charles K Freeman, James O’Hanlon Director: Nikolai Foster Theatre: Bromley Churchill Theatre Running time: 130 mins (including interval) Performance dates: 16th to 20th September 2025 Buy tickets for ‘Calamity Jane’
