CALAMITY JANE | FESTIVAL THEATRE, EDINBURGH
★★
‘It’s the title audiences buy into and the songs that are the stars…’
Doris Day and Howard Keel have a lot to answer for, namely, audiences’ continued love of Calamity Jane, now one of the great staples of amateur theatre companies everywhere. Their performances in the 1953 film as the gender-defying frontierswoman (based on real life sharpshooter and storyteller Martha Jane Canary) and her ‘secret love’, Wild Bill Hickok, set the bar high for those who follow.
In The Watermill Theatre’s production, on press night Carrie Hope Fletcher and understudy Tomas Wolstenholme stepped into the iconic roles but failed to make them their own. It’s not entirely their fault. The piece is old-school musical theatre and try how you might there’s no hiding the blatant misogyny at its heart. That this production also has a budget feel doesn’t help.
Matthew Wright’s set design – a proscenium arch within a proscenium arch within proscenium, may be familiar from every B Movie western of yesteryear, but it’s a claustrophobic affair that even the addition of some gingham dressing fails to transform.
It’s against this backdrop that Hillbilly Buck and his banjo open the show, encouraging the audience to sing along to his ‘overture’ rendition of The Black Hills of Dakota – a bizarre decision by directors Nikolai Forster and Nick Winston that openly encourages the curse of modern day musical-going, audience participation. As a result, Carrie Hope Fletcher’s beautiful rendition of Secret Love, the highlight of the production, is ruined by the incessant, tuneless warbling of two ageing, would-be Calamitys in the dress circle.
That’s not the only issue musically. Many songs are delivered in a perfunctory fashion while direction is pedestrian – too often the cast of actor/musicians end up sitting, nursing their instruments as one of the principals takes centre-stage to deliver another of Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster’s ever-green numbers.
The usual disconnect caused by encumbering the ensemble with instruments also leaves some of the cast struggling to be heard when it’s their turn to sing – Just Blew In From The Windy City gets cheers as expected, but is underwhelming, lyrics lost in the musical melee. Thankfully, there are stand out moments too. The lively Hoedown gets the biggest roar of approval of the evening. A Woman’s Touch is nicely executed, Fletcher and Seren Sandham-Davies sharing good chemistry as rivals in love, Calamity and Katie Brown. Sandham-Davies is outstanding as Brown throughout.
Samuel Holmes is always a delight to see on stage and he doesn’t disappoint as Francis Fryer, bringing a great sense of fun to the Golden Garter Saloon. As Adelaid Adams, Molly-Grace Cutler is nicely waspish in what is little more than a cameo, while Luke Wilson boasts the best vocals of the night as he delivers Love You Dearly, with which the production finally comes to life.
That said, the warning signs are there from the start with the Deadwood Stage was left to the imagination; Calamity’s entrance on a piano doesn’t quite have the same dramatic impact. It’s a lowkey arrival that heralds a portrayal that’s more sulky than sassy, while Wolstenholme’s Wild Bill might be better renamed Mumbling Bill, much of his delivery being unintelligible.
But then, as a myriad of am-dram productions have proved in the past, where Calamity Jane is concerned it doesn’t always matter what you put on the stage, it’s the title that audiences buy into and it’s the songs they’ve come to hear, especially if it means they get a chance to sing along.
Run ends 19 April. Tickets here.
Tour details and tickets here.
