CALAMITY JANE, Toyah Wilcox on tour
CALAMITY JANE: Adapted for stage, Charles K Freeman; Screenplay, James O'Hanlon; Music, Sammy Fain; Lyrics, Paul Francis Webster
Touring till 3rd May 2003
Runs: 2h 35m, one interval
Review: Rod Dungate, Alexandra B'ham, 13 November 2002
Brighten up your life with a visit to CALAMITY JANE: breath-takingly energetic Toyah Wilcox.
Fed up with the wet weather? Tired as the dark evenings close in? Suffering from SAD? Then time to brighten up your life with a visit to Calamity Jane. If this sounds a bit like advertising copy, then so be it! But this has to be the feel-good show to end feel-good shows.
A great ensemble performance but a huge portion of success has to be owed to the breath-takingly energetic performance from Toyah Wilcox as Jane: frankly I don't know how she sustains the pace. And whether she's jumping on a bar counter, being tossed in a blanket or swinging upside-down from rafters Wilcox's Jane is so engaging she charms you out of your seat. This Jane seems to take a naïve joy in the world around her from which her extravagant story-telling stems quite naturally. Importantly this vivacious character is not subjugated into a girly, mawkish marriage at the end. Wilcox appears in an extremely elegant trouser suit: you sense her marriage to Bill Hickok will be a partnership. Full marks to Wilcox and director Ed Curtis for offering this more acceptable ending to us.
Alasdair Harvey's Hickok is a good pairing for this Jane. He's tough, no doubt about it, but not ridiculously macho: we never lose sight of a real person. Harvey has a warm and friendly singing voice, too, specially in his lower registers. Jane's and Bill's revelation about their mutual love is a danger area, a potential trap of clockwork plotting and comedic convenience. But the pair pull it off superbly letting us believe it's the most natural thing in the world.
It's a pleasure to hear so many famous songs in context, none more so than BLACK HILLS OF DACOTA, a welcome quiet moment before the final run, Dustin Dubreuil's (Lt Gilmartin) dark, rich voice suiting it perfectly.
The whole is directed with welcome wit by Ed Curtis who has cleansed the show of sentimental overload (I love the scene where Jane tends Gilmartin's wound). A great partnership with designer Simon Higlett who has created a flexible set with humour (little houses to sit on lovely.)
Calamity Jane: Toyah Wilcox
Wild Bill Hickok: Alasdair Harvey
Katie Brown: Kellie Ryan
Lt Danny Gilmartin: Dustin Dubreuil
Henry Miller: Tony Stansfield
Susan: Helen Harper
Francis Fryer: Phil Ormerod
Prospector/ Ensemble: Ahmet Ahmet
Swing: Caroline Aslett
Doc/ Ensemble: Alan Bradshaw
Ensemble: Lynsey Britton
Hank/ Ensemble/ Dance Captain: Michael Broughton
Rattlesnake/ Ensemble: John Coates
Pete/ Ensemble: John Coates
Pete/ Ensemble: Gareth Derrick
Adelaid/ Ensemble: Emma Dodd
Ensemble: Carly Hainsby
Swing: Paul Hemming
Joe/Doorman/ Ensemble: Ian Gareth Jones
Ensemble: Cameron Leigh
Director: Ed Curtis
Designer: Simon Higlett
Choreographer: Craig Revel Horwood
Lighting: James Whiteside
Sound: Simon Whitehorn for Orbital
Musical Director: Adam Goodman
2002-11-13 13:48:47