Review: CALAMITY JANE (UK Tour)

 

From the golden age of Hollywood musicals, Calamity Jane has been a firm favourite with the public since it was first released in 1953, a star vehicle for box office favourites Doris Day and Howard Keel. This is a rare example of a movie musical that became a stage show, rather than the other way around, with its breezy earworms courtesy of Sammy Fain (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics).

 

If you haven't seen the movie, we'll tell you the action centres on the remote gold rush town of Deadwood in the American West where Calamity Jane, a tomboy who commands a gun, is secretly in love with army Lieutenant, handsome Danny Gilmartin. However, she is bated at every turn by cowboy Wild Bill Hickok, in what seems to be a love-hate relationship. Excitement brews when owner of the local bar and showroom has booked the actress Frances Fryer to perform for the town. However, the townsfolk are demayed when due to a communication error, a Francis Fryer does turn up. A male comic, not the sexy singer they were expecting. As all hell breaks loose, Calamity enters the fray by promising to bring to the the town the most famous of all vaudeville stars and 'the toast of Broadway',  Adelaid Adams. So off she goes to 'Chicagee' to bag her prey.  When she encounters Adelaid's maid backstage, she mistakes her for the star and Katie Brown, who aspires to be like her employer, encourages the deception and heads to Deadwood with Calam to make her debut as 'Adelaid Adams'...

 

 

And so begins one of the greatest romantic-comedy musicals in Hollywood history.  But with such firm expectations from the theatre audience, it would be easy to mis-step and deliver a dud.  But thankfully this Jamie Wilson Production (which has its roots back in 2014) has found gold in the hills above Dakota, with an actor-musician version which delights from the off.  So skilled are the onstage ensemble, that its easy to forget that most of them are multi-tasking throughout.  Director Nikolai Foster makes sure the pace is fast and the show zips along like the Deadwood Stage, as the performers play out Calamity's story for the faithful.

 

The pivotal role of Calamity Jane was originally played onstage in the UK by Lynda Marchal, later to become the best selling novelist Lynda La Plante. Subsequently (Dame) Barbara Windsor, Toyah Willcox and Jodie Prenger have all had a crack of Calamity's whip.  For this latest tour,  social media darling and musical theatre veteran Carrie Hope Fletcher embodies CJ with a bold attack. Fletcher's voice is her strongest armour, her clear tones reach their zenith with a beautiful rendition of 'Secret Love', and she also manages to carry off the comedic aspects to the role with aplomb too.  Vinny Coyle matches her with wild machismo as Bill Hickock, his own voice causing some swooning among the older ladies as he performs 'Higher Than A Hawk' accompanying himself on the guitar. Seren Sandham-Davies delivers a masterclass of conflicted emotions as Katie Brown, aspiring vaudevillian and rival for the heart of Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin (a lovely performance from Luke Wilson in an underwritten role). A word too for Samuel Holmes, whose disappointing arrival in Deadwood sets off the chain of events,  his discomfort when trying to hoodwink the Deadwoodians whilst in drag is a memorable moment from the show.  The show is opened by the bushy bearded Rattlesnake (Richard Lock), strumming his banjo leading an audience singalong, his light hearted moments help us bond with the characters on stage and he's a wonderful entry into the romp that follows.

 

 

Despite the quality of the leads, this is very much an ensemble show,  where the versatility of the performers is a joy to watch, as they act, sing, dance and play their instruments throughout the show.  Britain clearly has got talent!  Matthew Wright's set and costumes conjur up the Amercian west perfectly, and with a few simple prop changes we can go from the bar in Deadwood to backstage in Chicago to Calam's shack on the edge of town via the famous Deadwood stagecoach.

 

The stage version contains six songs (added in 1961) not included in the movie but it is those classic songs that the audience are so familiar with that the audience have come to hear, including 'Whip Crack Away', 'Tis Harry I'm Planning To Marry',  'Just Blew In From The Windy City', the aforementioned 'Secret Love' and perhaps most endearingly 'The Black Hills Of Dakota' which had the audience singing happily along.

 

 

This latest tour of this classic has refreshed the legend of Calamity Jane for a new generation,  and judging by the audience reaction on the night we went, Calam will be a-shootin' and a-whippin' for a long time to come. Its our new secret love.

 

Rob & Ian

 

Further information on the tour can be found at the CALAMITY JANE TOUR OFFICIAL WEBSITE. 

Further listening:  

We can only be very predictable and ask you to check out the original film soundtrack.  It may be over 70 years old, but by gosh it stands the test of time. 

Review: SPITFIRE GIRLS (UK Tour) @ Birmingham Rep

 

It is very fitting in this 80th anniversary year for the end of World War Two that slices of history continue being shared to recognise the contribution of so many extraordinarily brave people. As the veterans actually involved in the most devestating time in world history get fewer, it is ever more important to keep telling their stories. Spitfire Girls, a new play by Katherine Senior, delves into the Air Transport Auxillary,  a group of women who braved the skies to deliver Spitfires to military units around the country under the most difficult conditions.

During the play we meet sisters Bett and Dot who, on New Years Eve 1959,  seemingly get together and reminise about their time in the ATA. A time when women were mocked for daring to step into the territory usually occupied by men. Battling weather,  unreliable planes and other forces in an attempt to supply the military with the hardware that was badly needed in Britain's war against the Nazi menace.  The play is the story of loyalties, secrets, oppression, love and of daring to step into the fast lane.

Director Seán Aydon makes sure the personal stories amid the giant war machine resonate,  helped by the lighting of Peter Small and the sound design and compositions of Eamonn O'Dwyer which really help to convey the atmosphere of the 1940s and the experience of flying which must have been both frightening and exhilerating for these women.

Katherine Senior (the author of the piece) takes the role of cautious and slightly neurotic older sister Bett, whilst Laura Matthews is Dotty, fun loving and gung ho. It is very much against their farmer father's wishes that they apply together to join the Air Transport Auxillary.  When they do, its something of a release from life on the farm for the girls, despite the hardships of the job they train to fly the massive planes to destinations throughout the UK, ready for them to go to war.  Both Senior and Matthews are captivating in their roles, bringing out both the bond between the sisters and then the divisions, as Dotty clearly has a natural talent for flying the bombers and is prepared to take risks to get them there.  

This is not a two person show, the remaining three cast members have important parts to play, and each does so adopting dual roles. Samuel Tracy is RAF pilot Tom, who becomes the beau of Dotty and in turn Jimmy, an aircraft ground technician. Jack Hullard brings weight to bare as the girls' stern father, forever disapproving and demanding they return to the farm, along with old soak Frank, barfly at the pub. Kirsty Cox has the pivotal role of ATA C.O. trying to keep order so the planes can fly and also keep the girls in check, she also plays Joy, one of the girls who needs keeping in check!  All five cast members are superb throughout, however it is Senior and Matthews who leave a lingering memory of sacrifice.

Naturally, this is war time and fairytale stories often end in tragedy, and we are not going to spoil the twists of the narrative here. Suffice to say the play has plenty of laughs and some tear jerking moments.  The play spotlights a time when women were allowed to step out of the gender norms, and meet the men on their own terms. They even championed equal pay, unheard of at the time. Lives were changed for so many, and so it is here with these characters that none of them finish the play untarnished.

We were totally engrossed in Spitfire Girls from the off,  it works as both a history lesson and a stand alone piece of drama.  The camaraderie and the fears are both demonstrated to great effect, and this production from Tilted Wig personifies what theatre should be about: strong characters, strong stories and a great production.  In this anniversary year,  it is good to know that the ATA girls are flying once more. They deserve this lap of honour.

Rob and Ian

Photos courtesy of Ant Jobling 

A further tour of Spitfire Girls is planned for 2026, visit the TILTED WIG website.

Information on further productions at BIRMINGHAM REP can be found HERE.

Further listening:

The Air Transport Auxillary are also the subject of this full cast drama from Big Finish Productions,  worth a listen if you have enjoyed Spitfire Girls!  Click on the cover for further details.

Review: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (UK Tour)

 

 

It takes us right back to our school days where we first read the book which was originally published in 1950 by author C.S. Lewis and the starting point for the seven novels that have collectively become known as The Chronicles Of Narnia.  Over the years television and the movies have had fair stabs at recreating the magical land, but our obessesion with the stage means we have been drawn to this production which has been doing the rounds on tour, as well as stints in the West End since 2017.

For those unfamiliar with this now classic tale,  we follow four of the Pevensie children (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) as they leave war torn London as evacuees headed for safety in the countryside. In the large house owned by Professor Digory Kirke, Lucy discovers a wardrobe which is a portal to a different world, the snow covered landscape of Narnia. Here she meets Mr. Tumnus, a faun who invites her to tea.  He tells me he is duty bound to report her to the White Witch, who has kept Narnia in perpetual winter.  But he likes Lucy, so decides he will not.  Lucy's brothers and sister refuse to believe her fantastical tale, but Edward subsequently follows her into Narnia and meets the White Witch herself, she promises Edward he will be a Prince if he brings his siblings to her.  This he duly does, and the children learn that the White Witch's rule will end when "two sons of Adam, and two daughters of Eve sit on the four thrones of Cair Paravel".  From here it is a perilous adventure of betrayal and loss and the arrival of the mighty lion Aslan, rightful King of Narnia, with his army...

This adaptation by Mike Peck and directed by Mike Fentiman, is a play with music, there are a few isolated songs but it cannot be classed as a musical.  The music is very much in a pagan folk style when we enter Narnia, and the talented cast of actor-musicans (yes they can do both at the same time) provide much of the atmosphere of the storytelling with their incidental music and soundscapes.  It is matched by the costumes and stage designs of Tom Paris,  choosing to portray Narnia as a land of dark with flashes of white using banners of material wafted about and morphing into dwellings and storms. It sounds odd written down, but really works in reminding us of the dark forces at work in Narnia and the battle raging between light and dark. Full marks to the puppeters who create a myriad of beings including the formidable presence of Aslan, the mightiest of Lions, who is also portrayed as a man (Stanton Wright) standing beside in furs,  thus during Aslan's death it is the man who is prostrate on the stone slab. Again, it works.

The cast all deliver solid performances throughout. Bunmi Osadolor, Kudzai Mangombe, Jesse Dunbar and Joanna Adaran give us a believeable Pevensie family drawn into a world which is at war, both in the reality and in Narnia. Alfie Richards' Mr Tumnus shows the gentler side of Narnians, making it all the more shocking when he is turned to stone. So too, Ed Thorpe and Anya De Villiers as Mr and Mrs Beaver, victims of the cruel reign of the White Witch (a powerful presence in Katy Stephens) whose icy cold heart matches the landscape. Kraig Thornber offers wise counsel as The Professor in the real world, a solid connection for the children who are thrown by being parted from their mother back in London.  

 

Presenting such an all encompassing fantasy novel on the stage is wrought with difficulties,  but these are overcome wonderfully in this daring production which thrills and moves in turn. Its swathed in gothic atmosphere, and the final showdown and fall of the witch is pure theatre. We were not sure what to expect as we took our seats but thankfully we opened our minds (on the advice of the Professor) and were rewarded by a visit to Narnia that we will long remember.  

Rob & Ian 

Further details on the UK Tour can be found at the THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Review: JOCK NIGHT @ Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester

 

The world of chem-sex among the nocturnals of Canal Street might seem an unlikely subject for a play, but writer / and director Adam Zane has crafted a surprisingly enjoyable piece of theatre.

The scenes take place in 'Daddy' Ben's flat over the course of six months, where a group of addicts attend weekly Jock Nights at JOCK nightclub in Manchester.  Jock Nights are an actual thing, where guys dress down in just jock straps to dance, cruise and have random sexual encounters with each other,  many fuelled by an entire alphabet of recreational drugs, some of which we have never even heard of frankly. It's here we discover under the duvet covers that Ben is having a great night with self confessed twink 'AJ' and sharp tongued Kam, chem-sex addict who reserves his awe for reports of Coronation Street's Barbara Knox seen shopping in Sainsburys! Into the fray come Russell, who is quietly in love with Kam and latterly porn star Hunter alias Simon from Sydney. As the rotating door of players and their physical and emotional connections with each other intensify,  the play becomes a melting pot for secrets and behavioral excess.

The cast are uniformly excellent in selling this morality tale to the audience.  David Paisley is the bear, an older Daddy figure making up for lost time spent in the closet. Eddie Ahrens summarises the slightly annoying bitch who railroads everyone into more extremes and is obsessed with seedy dating apps,  James Colebrook gives Russell a more reserved and quietly troubled demeanor. Gabriel Clark sparkles as young 'AJ',  new to the chem-sex scene and on the cusp of an alternative lifestyle and finally real life Australian gold meal Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham, having swapped careers and is now quite at home as the porn star Hunter, perhaps ready to settle down with his Daddy, but still craving the highs of Jock Night. Kudos to the guys for performing much of the play dressed in little but underwear, and sometimes less, and being able to convey the highly charged sexual atmosphere with choreographed moments, which never overwhelm the disturbing nature of the substances that fuel them.  

 

Naturally, there has to be a price to pay for extremeism, and there is. But we won't spoil it here.  The effects and dangers of the drugs are spelt out in various scenes, but thankfully it is done with wit and sharp dialogue which provide many laughs throughout the piece, a scene involving the painful removal of a metal cock ring for example had a few of us wincing!  

 

 

The play walks a fine line between educating and entertaining, with the balance just about right, at the end of the play we don't know whether world weary Ben is walking away from Jock Night or is resolved to carry on,  but I guess that is the dilemma for many involved in the scene, particularly as the ageing process becomes involved. These snapshots into the dark and the light of five men, all using Jock Night to mask real life neuroses, is sobering and joyous. The play deserves a wider audience and hopefully will get one. Bravo to Hive North, Hope Mill and Seven Dials Playhouse for bringing this brave new work to a sold out theatre.

 

Rob & Ian 

More information can be found at the HIVE NORTH website

 

Review: THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (UK Tour) @ Regent, Stoke

 

 

It was great when it all began,  I was a regular Franky fan...

Our combined history with The Rocky Horror Show stretches back in Rob's case to his first live experience in 1983 (when Frank was the peerless Peter Straker) and Ian experienced his first Floor Show sometime around 2008..  Both of us devoted to Richard O'Brien's cult classic which had its first performance in 1973 at the tiny Royal Court Upstairs and a couple of years later was made into a movie which has since gone on to become one of the biggest cult movie franchises ever. 

If there is anyone out there unaware of the story,  the strange events take place in the 1950s when an all-American teenage couple Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, set out to visit their science tutor Dr. Everett Scott.  However, on the way their car gets a flat tyre and they are forced to seek help at a nearby castle.  That is the start of their undoing, for it is here they meet creepy servants Riff Raff, Columbia and Magenta.  They are under the spell of the Master of the house, Dr. Frank N. Furter,  alien transvestite and scientist. Brad and Janet have arrived on the night the Master is set to birth his new genetic experiment, the ultimate man - Rocky Horror.  But things take a grisly turn when biker Eddie escapes from the freezer where he has been made captive by Frank...

This homage to 1950s B-movies has captured the imagination of the world, there has been no major city where this incredible showcase of eccentrics has not played. Richard O'Brien's songs remain as fresh as the day they were minted,  and as an usherette begins proceedings proclaiming the greatness of the  "Science Fiction, Double Feature" we are taken into the recesses of O'Brien's mind where gender and sexuality are fluid and a jump to the left can alter time itself...  

                            The originals:  Tim Curry as Frank with Richard O'Brien (show creator) as Riff Raff, 1975

 

 Rose Tint My World

Over the years we have sporadically popped into productions of Rocky Horror, and in that time we have seen the show in many different productions and guises, until it fell into the hands of the Rocky Horror Company, set up by O'Brien and accolytes to licence and protect the brand.  This latest tour directed by Christopher Luscombe has been doing the rounds with a few touch ups, for about twenty years now.  It styles itself as 'a guaranteed party' and so the unique Rocky Horror experience begins...

The 2024/25 tour cast are a curates egg. Each playing their respective roles, but with little symmetry to those opposite.  Adam Strong's Frank leads the way, he's trying not to be Tim Curry but never really finds the genius degenerate core of the character, he does shine momentarily giving his 'I'm Going Home' though.  Lauren Chia and Connor Carson as Janet and Brad respectively look suitably bemused by the goings on most of the time,  I'm not sure if this is due to Brad and Janet's situation or the fact they are coming to terms with the contract they have signed. Job Greuter's Riff Raff is strangely passive,  no sense of the simmering resentment of O'Brien's original. Natasha Hoeberigs and Jayme-Lee Zanoncelli are more spirited as Frank's groupies Magenta and Columbia,  Zanoncelli particularly spits out fire to Frank when she has had enough of his excessive control. Guest narrator Jackie Clune shows her mettle as a stand up comic and writer delivering the Narrator's speeches with added adlib flourishes which had the audience warming to her from the off.  Kudos also to the pint sized Rocky, Morgan Jackson, who backflips, sings wonderfully and looks very pretty.  At the performance we saw, understudy Ryan Carter-Wilson stepped into dual roles, giving us a rock 'n' roll Eddie and for some reason a Glaswegian Dr. Scott.  But the production is such a hotpotch of performances, by that stage pretty much anything was accepted.

 

Rocky Horror has an identity crisis.  It's most unique feature - the growth of the audience participation - has become its biggest setback.  There is no doubt  O'Brien's script remains genius,  but the current production feels like a tired re-tread of a good idea two decades ago. And whilst the Rocky Horror Company might like to think it is looking after the shows interests, what it is really doing is making sure it generates money which is not quite the same thing. Director Christopher Luscombe has given his all in making this version of Rocky Horror, but it is done. Time to move on.  Back in 1973 as Britain emerged from the swinging Sixties into an ever greater social freedom, the events in The Rocky Horror Show had the power to thrill and shock.  We are in a much bleaker era now, and after a good long rest the show needs to be re-imagined as a darker, more dangerous creature, where Dr. Frank is not just a campy figure trotting out phrases for the audience to respond to, but a dangerous and intoxicating presence who is a genuine threat to our society. Its time for its audience to give it back to creativity, and let the show re-invent itself for the next fifty years.  

We'll be back in a few years to re-connect with something we love so much, in the hope that it has renewed itself enough to be a proud addition to the long legacy that Rocky Horror has earned.

Rob & Ian 

Tour details can be found at the ROCKY HORROR UK TOUR WEBSITE

Further listening:

The sky is the limit with recordings of Rocky Horror, albums are available in many different languages. We find ourselves listening to the 2001 Broadway cast recording rather a lot.  Its a great singalong on car journeys

although for a wild card you might like to check out the 2018 Icelandic production, which has a great energy to it.