Love is Alive and high-kicking in Deadwood
Many of us remember sitting round the telly as a family watching Doris Day come over the hill on a stagecoach making its way back to Deadwood where she keeps the peace with Wild Bill Hickok – the coolest dude in town, so it is time to now watch the stage version, writes Michael Holland.
On board that Deadwood Stage with Calamity Jane riding shotgun, is the new act for the Golden Garter – Frances Fryer – and all the mining men are keen to see her perform. Alas, Frances is a Francis, so the panicking saloon owner, Henry Miller, gets Francis to drag up. All was going well, with the boozed up miners whooping and a hollering, but then the wig came off and the cheering turned to threats of lynching! A few shots into the ceiling from Calamity calmed the situation but she felt obliged to go back to Chicago and get that city’s best performer – Adelaid Adams.
CJ forces her way into the theatre Adelaid was headlining by way of a Colt 45 aimed at the bouncer’s belly, then bursts into the artiste’s dressing room and convinces her that Deadwood is a far better option than a tour of European capitals. She says yes immediately.
What Jane does not know is that Ms Adams had already left for Europe and that she was talking to her maid, Katie Brown, a music hall hopeful who had seen her chance to get on a stage and took it.
And so it goes on with strangers falling in love while singing a song, misunderstandings, threats, make-up kisses and lots of highfaluting, pistol-shooting, rooting and tooting cowboy antics in the Wild, Wild West.
Katie (Seren Sandham-Davies) falls in love with soldier boy, Danny (Luke Wilson); Francis (Samuel Holmes) is head over heels for Susan (Hollie Cassar) and Wild Bill (Vinny Coyle) admits his feelings for Jane (Carrie Hope Fletcher). So, no matter that renegades were robbing and looting in the area, love was in the air and wedding bells could be heard ringing.
All this with a live band on stage fiddling and a-diddling in true hoedown fashion.
Farcical? Yes. Fun? Absolutely!
Churchill Theatre, Bromley until 20th September.
Booking and full tour dates: https://calamityjanemusical.com/
