View from the Green Room: Calamity Jane is a fun-filled, whip-cracker of a show
Cast and chorus of Calamity Jane.
Calamity Jane is a-busy with a whole parcel of fun on the Mall tonight that she just brung in on the Deadwood stage.
A-singin’ an a-whoopin’ an a whip-crackin’ Deadwood folks into line, protectin’ the stagecoach, fallin’ in and out of love and riddin’ the whole of South Dakota of dem dar pesky injuns. What a gal!
Waterford Musical Society’s live band brings great energy to the theatre, although I miss the strings. No matter. The audience clapped along to the overture. And then sang the tunes and swayed to the Black Hills of Dakota. And all this before curtain up on opening night.
Calamity Jane, written especially for Doris Day in 1953, is one of those rare musicals that first saw the light of day as a film and then, later, as a musical. The delight of this production is that it is utterly faithful to the original film with Doris Day as the gun-tootin’ tomboy that constantly causes calamity for herself and the people around her.
Mistaken identity is the heart of the show. Calamity is mistaken for a man, song and dance man Francis (with one ‘I’) Fryer is mistaken for a woman, Katie Brown is mistaken for a big musical theatre star and everyone mistakes who they are really in love with.
The stagecoach’s arrival is the cue for a rousing, rollickin’ fun-fuelled Deadwood City that sets every toe tappin’ along in the house. All the characters are introduced and the performances of every one brings us into the Golden Garter Saloon where Calam’s gun rules the roost.
Adrian Dower delights as the exasperated, saloon owner Henry Miller and Mary Duggan is a very whip-smart niece.
Kieran Walsh slouches around as Rattlesnake, while Paul Corcoran is a dead-cool, laid-back seen-it-all-before Doc Pierce.
Brian Flynn as Joe, Joe Shanahan as Hank, Kenneth Dixon as Pete and Ultan Hayden as the Colonel all add to the action.
Jennifer White owns the stage as the indestructible Calamity Jane, who believes she can solve all of Deadwood’s problems.
She arrives onstage like a whirlwind and sings, acts and dances her way through a string of iconic numbers that support her indestructible image – ‘Deadwood Stage'...'Men!'...'I can do without you'...Windy City’.
Her transition to vulnerable gal with the sympathetic heart of gold completes an excellent performance with numbers like ‘A Woman’s Touch'…'Black Hills of Dakota'… and the iconic ‘My Secret Love’ that became a gay anthem.
Conor Lyons milks the part of Wild Bill Hickock for all its worth. Killian Delahunty is a very convincing object of two women’s affections, while Nicole O’Rourke brings real character to the wannabee musical theatre star Katie Brown.
Timmy Moloney is the chief scene-stealer with a superb performance as song-and-dance man Frances Fryer, while Anne-Marie Collins brought layers of subtlety to the role of the aloof and haughty Adelaide Adams – a woman who could side-step you in a phone box.
Directors Ray Collins and Margaret Kavanagh play Calamity exactly as it is written and as it should be – complete with dated stereotypes and misogynistic comments that were common in the fifties, and tonight’s largely female audience laugh their way through it.
After all, a feisty woman is at the heart of all the action and the centre of everyone’s affections.
The first half fairly rips along at a gallop, although the sentimental ballads of Sammy Fain (music) and Paul Fain (lyrics) in Act 2 are heavy on romance but short on fun.
Wayne Brown’s tempos are snappy and pacey and the live band is a delight, although I miss the strings.
Ali Reville’s choreography ranges from bawdy burlesque to graceful hand gestures and lines that reinvent themselves throughout. Margaret Kavanagh’s fine set design brought us back to those pioneering Wild West days, although Calam’s cottage needed more of a woman’s touch. It was great to see Aidan McGrath, whose father Denis directed the last Calamity Jane way back in 1980, involved again with a superb lighting design, while Jean Upton’s stage management kept a busy show on the road.
Waterford Musical Society’s Calamity Jane is a fun-filled, whip-cracker of a show that puts a smile on everyone’s face and the nightly standing ovations are well deserved.
