Within two minutes of the plush curtain raising at the Hull New Theatre, on Tuesday evening, I was singing away to the song, Black Hills of Dakota.
Calamity Jane was in town and the guilty party making me join in was Theo Diedrick who, playing the banjo, purposely made a hash of the above song until getting the hang of the well-known ditty.
In fact, Diedrick kept us entertained all night long with his amusing mannerisms and facial expressions. I’m sure I spotted him playing the violin as well at one point in this rip-roaring production.
In the 1953 film of the same name, on which this production is based, Calamity was played by Doris Day, and it’s her singing voice that musical lovers will associate with many of the songs in this stage version.
Fast forward 72 years and it’s the multi-award-winning West End actress and singer Carrie Hope Fletcher who is (brilliantly) belting out classics such as Just Blew in From The Windy City and, my favourite, Secret Love, to name just two of the 20 or so songs featured.
Coming to Hull as part of a UK and Ireland tour, Calamity Jane centres around the inhabitants’ shenanigans in the town of Deadwood, South Dakota – with Calamity causing the most disruption.
She is a gun-totin’, fearless, loud mouth, who exaggerates her experiences (much like the real Calamity, Martha Jane Canary, born in 1852).
Fletcher’s version was just as riotous, but in a fun-loving way. Dressed in buckskins every day, she would rather shoot her own foot off than wear a dress, but when love comes a-callin’ we see her more vulnerable side.
The two men in her life (one she pines for and one she trades insults with) are Wild Bill Hickok (Vinny Coyle) and Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin (Luke Wilson). Both dashing in their own way, but which one will win Calamity’s heart?
When Calamity brags about bringing Chicago stage star, Adelaid Adams (Molly-Grace Cutler), to perform at Deadwood’s saloon bar owned and run by Henry Miller (Peter Peverley) and his niece Susan (Hollie Cassar), all hell is let loose when she returns (unknowingly) with an imposter.
The imposter, Katie Brown (Seren Sandham-Davies) finds love herself, but her choice has our tetchy cowgirl not only shooting off her mouth, but also her gun.
Sandham-Davies’ wonderful all-singing, all-dancing performance elicits mockery and anger, then eventually sympathy, from the Deadwood crowd, while also revealing Calamity’s shameful side.
All the above is played out on a stage enclosed within a huge, lit-up picture frame, with most of the action taking place inside a wooden, barn-type building.
Scenes changed before our very eyes and one of many highlights was when the Deadwood Stagecoach was put to use. A piano and its player were surrounded by huge cart wheels, while passengers bumped up and down aloft, with the coach driver holding the reins of a musician-turned-horse; everyone singing the Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away) at the tops of their voices. Brilliant stuff.
In another memorable scene, several instrument-playing musicians, and Calamity, sat astride chairs, “galloping” as if on horseback.
Having various musicians, singing and dancing while playing their different instruments was a stroke of genius and a huge part of proceedings. They were all incredible.
Comedic moments were never far away, the main instigator being Samuel Holmes as Francis Fryer, an actor booked by saloon owner, Miller, who mistakenly thought he’d booked a female Frances.
Holmes’ was relentlessly funny, in actions and words. He could sing, too, and had legs to die for when dressed as a woman. The scene where his wig comes off, revealing his true identity, was a scream.
Back in his own clothing, Susan has him in her sights and Hollie Cassar’s boundless energy in the role has her singing, dancing and flirting her way into his affections.
Everyone on stage that night had star quality, but Calamity and Wild Bill Hickok, obviously, get the most attention.
Coyle as the tall, dark figure of Hickok created an on-stage presence that couldn’t be ignored. I loved his deep singing voice; he also played the guitar and danced.
His American drawl, amusingly overdone at times, added to his persona.
Fletcher’s Calamity was everything we expected of a West End star. She certainly looked the part in her tasselled buckskins, sang beautifully, danced energetically, cheered us and really did justice to the role made famous by Doris Day. Her aforementioned rendition of Secret Love was a definite showstopper.
I can’t find enough words to praise any of the performers on the night, who all gave 100% to keep us in the packed theatre entertained.
And as we in the audience stood as one to cheer them at the show’s end, how they found the energy to sing and dosey-doe for us one more time, is beyond me.
Calamity Jane runs until 26th July at Hull New Theatre with tickets available at www.hulltheatres.co.uk or (01482) 300306.
Reviewer: Jackie Foottit
Reviewed: 22nd July 2025
North West End UK Rating: