MUSICAL REVIEW: Calamity Jane ★★★

Calamity Jane

4th October 2014

Everyman Theatre

Starting with song, Calamity Jane got off to roaring start, getting the audience all excited for the action that was to unfold onto the stage for the next two and a bit hours. For what was to come was mistaken identity and gender in a single letter of a name, as the case was with Deadwood anticipating the arrival of Frances Fryers, a female dancer, to soon get the turnout of Francis Fryers, a male gentleman actor and entertainer. Calamity Jane, played wonderfully by Jodie Prenger, then boldly states that to make up for the mishap, Adelaide Adams, a female american singer, would entertain the town of Deadwood.

This bold claim is because Adelaide is a major star, and would soon to be touring Europe, so when Calamity takes a train and horse carriage ride across the country to see Adelaide and convince her to perform in Deadwood, she soon books in actual fact Katie Brown, Adelaide's maid. 

Its to say at this point in that the audience are gripped on the action, and the addition of having actor musicians on stage really hypes the feel of the audience energy, clapping along to every song possible, and the lighting and design effects, on stage and even the sequences, like the train and horse carriage ride, are flawless, with minimal set making the carriage as imaginable as possible for the audiences eyes.

Katie arrives in Deadwood and is soon quietly outed by Francis, who performed with the real Adelaide a year previous, but then is outed by the whole town when it because clear that Katie has nerves singing in front of the crowd, but then after Calamity starts backing up Katie, the town gives her a chance on stage, and with the locals then behind her, Katie gets rid of her nerves and entertains the town.

Katie soon moves into Calamity's cabin, and after a transition in song, we see Calamity now dress more in Woman's clothes, and we soon start to see Bill fall for Calamity, as Danny, the lieutenant, falls for Katie, but with Katie believing that Danny and Calamity are in love, she soon leaves the town and heads back to Chicago, and as soon as Calamity realizes, she chases after Katie and convinces her to come back to Deadwood, and so with this not only one, but two weddings soon happen, with Danny and Katie, and Bill and Calamity.

The whole show had a wonderful, nature feel to it all, with the live music on stage by the musicians having an organic tone to it, seeing it being played live and in front of your eyes. The other thing that's brilliant with the show is the backdrops and the way they use the set to dictate different settings and scenes, for instance Calamity's Cabin Barn, The Dakota Mountains, and The Wedding reception.

Overall, Calamity Jane felt like a proper west end show brought to the stage, and had the actors and musicians give as much energy as you would hope, never giving off tiredness, and finally having the audience up on their feet, singing along, and a standing ovation, bringing the production to a finish!