Calamity Jane at The Regent – Review
Calamity Jane cracks her whips and starts off this much anticipated tour at the Regent theatre this week – Review by Mel Osborne
Based on the much-loved Doris Day film, with timeless songs, musical theatre superstar Carrie Hope Fletcher leads this high powered and fast moving comedy.
The watermill theatres production is directed by Nikoli Foster and co-directed and choreographed by Nick Winston and musically supervised by award winning Catherine Jayes.
Calamity Jane (Carrie Hope Fletcher) is a fearless gun slinger with a mouth to match living in Deadwood, Daktota, after trying to bring back a world famous actress to the town’s saloon and she accidently brings back her maid who aspires to be as famous as her boss Adelaid Adams, however as Kate Brown (Seren Sandham-Davies) charms Deadwood and the local men, the sharp shooting tomboy fights to control her raging jealously.
(Images by Mark Senior. And supplied via The Regent Theatre)
Set in 1876 with the original film produced in 1953 it was in danger of being a show that could come across dated with old fashioned attitudes.
However, Carrie Hope Fletcher has succeeded in putting her own stamp on Calamity Jane and brings a modern touch to the role without tainting the original concept.
This is a tour that has been eagerly awaited by musical theatre fans this year and it does not fail to disappoint.
The show kicks of with toe-tapping energy as the ensemble break into Deadwood Stage and with a multi-talented cast of musicians and dancers the music sweeps you away into another era.
The songs are catchy and even if you haven’t watched the original film, they will certainly be familiar to you.
The stage setting stays the same throughout with the odd edition of extra props, but mainly it is the saloon we are based in.
This simple set up only adds to the effectiveness of the performance as it is a busy show with 21 songs in total.
A wonderful element of examining female friendship was explored in a way you may not have seen in other stories of the time. It also nicely swerves the Tomboy to pretty girl cliché and although Calamity Jane does go on a journey of managing her temper and jealously it certainly doesn’t take away her identity of who she truly is.
Other notable performances in the show go to Seren-Sandham- Davies as Kate and Vinny Coyle as Wild Bill Hichkok. Samuel Holmes as Francis is a fun edition particularly his hilarious rendition of Hive full of honey.
This is a whip cracking, triumph of a show which is suitable for all the family.
Musical theatre fans will be delighted by this amazing rendition, with the excellent casting choice of Carrie Hope Fletcher as lead. The songs are infectious, playing around in your head the next day.
This is certainly a show not to be missed as it offers escapism from a busy world back into simpler times.
5 Stars
