Calamity Jane (musical)
Calamity Jane is a stage musical based on the historical figure of frontierswoman Calamity Jane. The non-historical, somewhat farcical plot involves the authentic Calamity Jane's professional associate Wild Bill Hickok, and presents the two as having a contentious relationship that ultimately proves to be a facade for mutually amorous feelings. The Calamity Jane stage musical was an adaption of a 1953 Warner Bros. movie musical of the same name that starred Doris Day. First produced in 1961, the stage musical Calamity Jane features six songs not heard in the movie. According to Jodie Prenger, star of the Calamity Jane 2014–15 UK tour, the songs added for the stage musical had been written for but not included in the Calamity Jane movie.
Credits
Adapted by Ronald Hanmer and Phil Park from the stage play by Charles K. Freeman, after the Warner Bros. film, written by James O'HanlonSongs by Paul Francis Webster and Sammy Fain
Synopsis
Deadwood City's two most famous peace officers, Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok, get involved in saving the neck of Henry Miller, the local saloon operator. It seems that "Millie" has been promoting a beautiful actress named Frances Fryer, but Frances turns out to be a male, Francis. Millie's attempt to cover up is soon unmasked by the angry miners, and only Calamity can cool the crowd with her trusty pistols. To keep the peace, Calamity sets out for Chicago to bring back the miner's real heart-throb, Adelaide Adams. In Chicago Calamity mistakes Adelaide's maid, Katie Brown, for the actress and hauls her back to Deadwood. Onstage Katie is greeted warmly, but breaks down and confesses that she is not the famous star. Calamity once more has to restore order and persuades the audience to give Katie a chance. They do, and she wins the heart of every male in town including Calamity's dashing love hope, Lt. Danny Gilmartin. Calamity reluctantly overcomes her jealousy over losing Danny and discovers her true love for Wild Bill.Musical numbers
Act I: * indicates a song not featured in the 1953 film- Overture
- The Deadwood Stage
- Careless With the Truth *
- Adelaide*
- Everyone Complains About the Weather *
- Men! *
- Can-Can *
- A Hive Full of Honey
- I Can Do Without You
- It's Harry I'm Planning to Marry
- Windy City
- Keep it Under Your Hat
- Careless With the Truth *
- Entr'acte
- A Woman's Touch
- Higher Than a Hawk
- The Black Hills of Dakota
- Love You Dearly *
- Secret Love
- Finale Ultimo
Production history
In the US
The world premiere production of the stage musical version of Calamity Jane ran 27 May - 17 June 1961 at the Casa Mañana in Fort Worth TX: Casa Mañana stock actress Betty O'Neill led this production, touted as "the first try-out of a musical ever staged outside the East or in-the round."The play then ran from 21 June - 18 July 1961 at the Muny in St Louis with Edie Adams in the title role while Allyn Ann McLerie played Katie - a role she had originated in the 1953 film Calamity Jane - and George Gaynes - McLerie's husband - starred as Wild Bill Hickok. The role of Danny Gilmartin was played by Nolan Van Way.
| Excerpted review Pittsburgh CLO performance 1 July 1961 |
| Please note: Abridgements are shown in italics |
| "'Calamity Jane' is a loud, rollicking show" which "aside from the comedy of Martha Raye...contains a number of attractive & talented people who sing & dance the evening away"; "No one could accuse Martha Raye of being a great actress, & certainly there were more than a few in the audience who must have winced inwardly over her rendering of 'Secret Love'. But she is a natural slapstick comedienne"..."this singer without a voice & heroine without glamour whacked & wailed her energetic, boisterous & fun-filled way through 'Calamity Jane'...Sometimes she is mugging & ad-libbing so furiously that the performance becomes more of a nightclub act than a book show. But after all, the audience has presumably come to see Martha Raye, & that is what it sees." - Michael Holmberg |
On 3 – 8 July 1961 the Pittsburgh CLO production of Calamity Jane with Martha Raye in the title role played the Civic Arena : this production featured George Gaynes as Wild Bill and Allyn Ann McLerie, Gaynes and McLerie transferring from the Muny production to that of the Pittsburgh CLO for the duration of the latter's engagement.
| Excerpted review CBS-TV special 12 November 1963 |
| Please note: Abridgements are shown in italics |
| "As a musical comedy 'Calamity Jane'...was nothing to shoot up the town about. But as a vehicle tailored to Carol Burnett's special talents - & they are certainly special - it served very nicely indeed. The 90 minute comedy was taped last summer after playing at State Fair Music Theater & therefore had a polish which is all too often lacking in television productions of this type. This was especially evident in the song-&-dance sequences which were as smooth as a Broadway stage production. The plot was corny enough to afford light-hearted amusement, & Miss Burnett gave it all the hell-bent-for-leather whoop it up treatment which it required. In fact Carol's enthusiasm in the role was at times a bit too much. But never mind. She mugged & yelled & pranced about like a mad woman while giving the broad comedy lines & rowdy songs the merry Dickens as only she can. Then, as a welcome relief, she sang the lovely 'My Secret Love' straight in a surprisingly enchanting voice...All in all a jolly good show. And it was really good to have Miss Burnett back with us again". - Win Fanning |
Carol Burnett played the title role in a Starlight Theatre production of Calamity Jane that ran 17 – 30 July 1961. On Burnett's signing an exclusive contract with CBS-TV in the summer of 1962, the network announced that she would headline a televised broadcast of Calamity Jane over the 1962-3 television season. Burnett's Calamity Jane special in fact did not air until the autumn of 1963 after taping that summer. This schedule let Burnett reprise the title role onstage in a State Fair Music Theater production whose two-week run commenced 24 June 1963.. On 10 July 1963 Burnett and her castmates from the Dallas stage production - including Art Lund as Wild Bill - performed Calamity Jane at CBS Studio 50, with the play performed non-stop three times before a live audience: CBS-TV taped all three run-throughs, one of which was broadcast as Burnett's debut television special 12 November 1963.
| Extra Info |
| Betty Hutton had starred in the 1950 MGM film version of Annie Get Your Gun. Warner Bros. had hoped to acquire that stage musical as a Doris Day vehicle, but losing the film rights to Annie Get Your Gun led Warner Bros. to develop the 1953 musical film Calamity Jane for Day. Ginger Rogers, who'd campaigned for the Annie Get Your Gun film lead, had led a summer stock production of that musical that played five New England venues - including the Oakdale, the Carousel, and at WMT - in 1960. |
| Excerpted review Carousel Theater performance July 1962 |
| Please note: Abridgements are shown in italics |
| "Ginger Rogers with her vivacious charms stomps, boasts & shoots her six-gun with her usual rapport. Her enthusiasm & engaging wry humor both in song & dance affords the audience a delightful evening in which 'Secret Love' is sweetly rendered". |
Betty Hutton see Extra Info was scheduled to lead a 1962 summer stock production of Calamity Jane but canceled beforehand due to a protracted pregnancy, and was replaced by Ginger Rogers. see Extra Info Rogers verifiably headlined three engagements of this production: at the Melody Fair in North Tonawanda NY 19–24 June 1962, the Carousel Theater in Framingham MA 2–8 July 1962, and the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford CT 25–28 July 1962. The same production also played at WMT 9–14 July 1962 but Rogers' own participation is not verifiable.
in the TV production of Calamity Jane, 1963
At the time of the premiere of the stage musical of Calamity Jane, Warner Bros. was considering mounting a Broadway production of the play, but US performances of the stage musical of Calamity Jane have remained essentially confined to the repertory and amateur theater scene. A Broadway production announced in 2005, using a revised book by Randy Skinner, who would also direct and choreograph, failed to materialize—though the prospective production held readings in New York City with C&W singer Louise Mandrell as Calamity Jane and veteran musical actor Brent Barrett as Wild Bill. Louise Mandrell eventually headlined a repertory production of Calamity Jane by the Good Company Players, Featuring: Dan and Emily Pessano, Teddy Maldonado, Brian Pecheau, Tami Cowger, and Jacob Carrillo whose production ran 19 July - 16 September 2012 at Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater in Fresno: Mandrell has since reprised the role in one-off performances of Calamity Jane firstly on 11 September at the Folly Theater in Kansas City MO as an event in the Arts Midwest 2015 Conference, and subsequently on 11 October 2015 at the CMA Theatre as an event in the International Entertainment Buyers Association 2015 Conference. Mandrell is scheduled to again star as Calamity Jane when the Good Company Players remount the musical in the summer of 2019.
On 29 January 2018 two evening performances of what is billed as a concert presentation of Calamity Jane are scheduled for Manhattan supper club Feinstein's/54 Below: the announced performers are Sara Jean Ford as Calamity Jane, Jenn Gambatese as Adelaid Adams, Christopher Gurr as a narrator, Tyler Hanes as Danny Gilmartin, Kara Lindsay as Katie Brown, Michael Park as Henry Miller, Tally Sessions as Wild Bill, and Brandon Uranowitz as Francis Freyer. Also Calamity Jane is scheduled to make its New York City area debut as a full production in a 13–25 March 2018 engagement at the Lion Theatre an off-off-Broadway venue in the Theatre Row complex in Manhattan.
In the UK
The stage musical version of Calamity Jane has enjoyed a prolific professional production history in the UK, a Sheffield Crucible production which previewed 27 July 1974 and opened 28 July 1974 being billed as "the British professional premiere of 'Calamity Jane'". The Crucible production's title role was played by future screenwriter/ novelist Lynda La Plante billed as Lynda Marchal, and LaPlante/ Marchal reprised the role in a 1974 engagement at the Belgrade Theatre that also featured Brenda Blethyn and - as an ensemble member - Graham Cole.| Excerpted review 1979 tour engagement |
| "It was a real metamorphosis to see the eternally effervescent Barbara Windsor as a slightly raucous rootin’ tootin’ Calamity Jane. Hers is a wonderful portrayal of a gun toting female who had little time for men…she brought to her part a panache, a great deal of well directed energy". - The Stage' |
In 1979, Barbara Windsor headlined the first UK tour of Calamity Jane. After its premiere engagement at the Billingham Forum, which opened 27 August 1979, this production toured for twelve weeks to conclude with a November 1979 date at the Sunderland Empire. Windsor's co-star as Wild Bill was Eric Flynn, and Norman Vaughan was featured as Francis Fryer: at the tour's premiere engagement in Billingham the role of Henry Miller was played by Jeffrey Holland filling in for the ailing Dudley Owen who evidently played out the remaining engagements. Toyah Willcox, while promoting her own headlining Calamity Jane tour in 2002, told Terry Grimley of the Birmingham Post: "Barbara Windsor did this show twenty years ago and it was due to go into the West End, but there were some problems with her private life." The touring production of Calamity Jane with Barbara Windsor did occasion the musical's London-area premiere, as the production played the Ashcroft Theatre 18–29 September 1979.
Louise Gold starred in a production of Calamity Jane at the Leicester Haymarket 22 November 1994 - 28 January 1995 with Ricco Ross as Wild Bill, while the play's premiere central London production played 9 December 1994 - 21 January 1995 at the Battersea Arts Centre, with Leigh McDonald in the title role.
| Excerpted review Sadler's Wells performance June 1996 |
| "These days few actors relish the rigours of touring but the cast of 'Calamity Jane'...at Sadler's Wells...seem as fresh as the flowers of spring. Not least Gemma Craven in the title role...The story...is an excuse for singing & dancing, as admirers of Doris Day will remember. Ms Day was of course incomparable, but Ms Craven survives the inevitable comparison extremely well, acting, singing & dancing beautifully. She haunts us with the declaration of her 'Secret Love' & the whole cast combine to send us away serenading 'The Black Hills of Dakota'. The sets are surprisingly good for a touring production & the show is as jolly as a pantomime — but with better songs." - Roy Shaw |
Gemma Craven starred in a production of Calamity Jane at Sadler's Wells 21 May - 15 June 1996 as the seventh engagement of an eleven engagement national tour that launched with a 29 February - 16 March 1996 Belgrade Theatre engagement. Stephen McGann played Wild Bill and Stuart Pendred was Danny Gilmartin in this production. Its final engagement was in Newcastle.
| Excerpted review Shaftesbury Theatre performance July 2003 |
| Please note: Abridgements are shown in italics |
| "This hyperactive, 'Annie Get Your Gun'-type Wild West songfest stars Toyah Willcox...who fairly batters you into admiring her irredeemably perky performance : she's constantly moving, singing, dances like an irritating leprechaun, & expends more energy in one evening than I have in the past twenty years"; "Under the steady hand of director Ed Curtis, the young & inexperienced cast members are well drilled. Craig Revel Horwoods choreography, though at first sub-Agnes de Mille, blossoms outwards to remind the audience of what was so special about his work for 'My One and Only'"; The simple wooden sets are more than serviceable, & James Whiteside's lighting is suitably lurid for the Black Hills of Dakota"; "The memorable score by Sammy Fain...helps to overcome the feeling that this cheerful, hard-working production does not really belong on the West End stage." - Sheridan Morley |
In 2002 and 2003 Toyah Willcox led a production of Calamity Jane that toured throughout Great Britain with the first leg of the tour playing nine cities, the inaugural engagement being at the Derngate Theatre 9 – 14 September 2002 with the ninth venue played being the Alexandra Theatre whose engagement ran 11 – 16 November 2002. The second leg of the Calamity Jane tour led by Willcox had an inaugural 20–25 January 2003 engagement at the King's Theatre then played fifteen subsequent engagements to conclude with a 26 June - 20 September 2003 engagement - previewed from 12 June 2003 - at the Shaftesbury Theatre in Holborn, it having been announced in April 2003 that this production of Calamity Jane would have a limited-run summer engagement at the Shaftesbury thus marking the West End debut of any production of the Calamity Jane stage musical. Interviewed at the time of the opening of Calamity Jane at the Shaftesbury, Toyah Willcox stated: "We've kind of revamped it so it's more 'West End' and we've put big dance numbers in. We've added a bit more b******t to it!" although she maintained: "Our production is not saccharine sweet, it's really very ballsy. There are no sequins in our production whatsoever!" corroborating statements she'd made earlier in the tour's run as "This isn't a sequinned production. We've tried to make it gritty."
Thom Southerland directed an off-West End revival of Calamity Jane at Upstairs at the Gatehouse 8 June 8–3 July 2010: Phyllida Crowley Smith choreographed this production, which featured Katherine Eames in the title role.
| Excerpted review Milton Keynes Theatre performance 25 November 2014 |
| Please note: Abridgements are shown in italics |
| "Jodie Prenger is magnificent in the title role. Not only can she sing & act: she has the ability to light up any stage...I could feel that the entire audience had fallen in love with her"; "The supporting cast are all incredibly strong"; "The best numbers are those which see the cast playing instruments whilst singing & dancing...their energy is infectious whilst their talents are hugely impressive"; "Providing just over two hours of joyous fun...Nikolai Foster's production of 'Calamity Jane' bursts with irresistible charm. It's impossible not to clap along with the finale & leave with a spring in your step." - Andrew Tomlins 25 November 2014 |
| Excerpted review New Wimbledon Theatre performance February 2015 |
| Please note': Abridgements are shown in italics |
| "Now touring the UK is Charles K Freeman’s adaptation of the 'Calamity Jane' film, a production that began life at the resourceful Watermill Theatre under the direction of Nikolai Foster. It's another of their musicians-as-performers productions, which see the traditional pit orchestra replaced by onstage performers who play various instruments. More than that, the entire production adopts a make-do philosophy which sees the orchestral accompaniment as just another of the clever something-from-nothing design imperatives"; "Prenger, though wildly miscast since she is unmistakably all woman...has an easy, broad comic style...Vocally, she is in good form although 'Secret Love' is not the peak musical moment it could be, the long brilliant notes that make that song wonderful don't get proper attention, but that is not to say Prenger does not get away with it"; "This production is a theatrical treat: a good, old fashioned musical done in a new fangled way. It's great to hear such good songs so well sung by a cast that basically accompanies itself. Prenger’s crowd pleasing turn as Calamity, together with first class support...ensures an evening that moves along at 'Whip Crack Away' pace & makes you long for those 'Black Hills of Dakota'." - Stephen Collins 23 March 2015 |
Jodie Prenger starred in a production of Calamity Jane whose 17 July - 6 September 2014 engagement at the Watermill Theatre inaugurated a national tour of intended six months duration: however interest in booking this production was sufficiently high as to allow for its playing constant engagements for more than twelve months, with venues played throughout Great Britain - plus a 19 – 23 May 2015 engagement at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin - with two London-area engagements: 17–21 March 2015 at the New Wimbledon Theatre and - as the tour's final engagement - 4 – 8 August 2015 at the Richmond Theatre. This production of Calamity Jane - which co-starred Tom Lister as Wild Bill - - had its 1 July 2015 matinée performance at the Curve recorded as a 360-degree video made available for complementary online viewing 22–24 July 2015.
| Jodie Prenger on the role of Calamity Jane |
| She ie. the historical Calamity Jane was obviously quite a gal, & there are so many stories about her, both for her & against her. Her own account of her life is, as you’d suspect, very positive & very colourful. Other people who knew her were less enthusiastic. She was certainly feisty & very gutsy. But in the end all I can do is play her as she’s been written for the show, larger than life but with a vulnerable side. And I rather like those two contrasts. |
The earliest known theatrical credit of star mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins was in a school production of Calamity Jane at Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive when she was a student there circa 1994, Jenkins playing the role of Katie.