Calamity Jane

It’s been over 40 years since SODS last performed Calamity Jane and has been a favourite of the director, Jo’s, as she loved Doris Day musicals. It was also the SODS 1971 production in which her Dad,  Ray Haslam, had  played  Wild Bill Hickock. Ray had been a stalwart of SODS for over 50 years, and sadly he passed away in January and then Doris Day also passed away soon after. It is very poignant for many old SODS remembering Ray and all he did with the Society  and also film buffs remembering their beloved Doris Day.  There were  many SODS involved in the original production that are still involved today, including David Dodson who played Francis Fryer and was in the male chorus for this show.    

This musical, taken from the 1953 film of the same name, is loosely based  on the  real life story of Calamity Jane,  the Wild West heroine. It tells of a sharpshooting tomboy who goes to Chicago to try to persuade Adelaide Adams, a glamorous actress, to return with her to Deadwood City to entertain the locals at the Golden Garter. However she returns with Katie Brown, who she believes to be Adelaide. Back in Deadwood, Katie is unfortunately exposed as a fraud and she and Calamity become good friends. Katie tries to persuade her to lose her cowboy image and at a ball at the local fort she looks more like a real lady, much to the amazement of Wild Bill Hickock and Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin, her potential suitors, as the story progresses.

Calamity is played by  Sarah Roberts, with Craig Fisher as Bill, and Mark Littlewood as Gilmartin  and were well portrayed as their entangled romance is revealed.  Katie Brown (Sharon Preece)  and Henry Miller (Jon Wray) were energetic in their performances, while Susan (Jess Ellis) and Francis Fryer (Joseph Marsh) worked well together and were well suited as their romance also unfolded as part of a sub-plot.  Meryl Bunce was perfectly cast as  the raunchy  Adelaide Adams, a good cameo for her. 

Carrie Chadwick, (Jo’s daughter) did a lovely job  in her choreography debut, for a main production,  whilst still studying Musical Theatre at college.  All the dancers gave  enthusiastic and energetic performances.   The ‘Black Hills of Dakota’ and ‘The Windy City’  were the stand out songs and excellently performed by the full company.  This was Sue Ogden’s first time as MD with SODS, and she is to be congratulated on the results. Especially to be noted was the good control of volume from the orchestra, never overwhelming the singing in the quieter numbers. This is crucial as SODS have yet to go down the route of individual mic’s  for the principals. Suffice it to say they usually succeed very well, without this technology. 

The costumes were well suited to their characters and I particularly liked the background set in the scene through the Black Hills; all of which were produced in-house. 

All credit must be given to Jo for all her hard work and expertise in  both directing and producing this  show at a very difficult time for her. Well done to all her cast and crew for a very entertaining and enjoyable evening. Thank you for inviting us.

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