Calamity Jane

Settling into their new home at The New Cast Theatre in Doncaster, Phoenix certainly put their first show on with a rip roaring success, the cast was energetic and enthusiastic all the way through this first class performance.

Chorus, dancers and principals did the show justice and it must have been great to be able to work on this new stage and be able to show off their talents.

From the word go Mary Kingsnorth made the part of Calamity Jane her own, she belted out the well known numbers such as Deadwood Stage, Men and Windy City with exactly the right raucous voice you would expect for this part which was made so well know by Doris Day, she was also able to keep this up throughout her dialogue with her fellow actors on stage but then when she sang Secret Love, Mary showed another side to her singing and was able to sing this as sweetly as anyone would have hoped, a truly great performance for a leading lady to give.

Other parts were also played well, such as Donald McInnes as Bill Hickock, Mark Lyons as Danny Gilmartin, Amanda Alderson as Katie Brown and Lisa Drury as Susan, all adding to the professionalism of this show.

I particularly enjoyed the performances of Danny Glover as Francis Fryer, he was brilliant and was able to bring out the humour in this part other than the cross dressing, which is sometimes lost, his facial expressions were a delight to see.

Also giving an enjoyable performance was Graeme Barrie as Henry Miller, I have to admit when I saw his photo in the programme I did think "Oh no, he looks far too young to be playing this part", but with his make-up, his mannerisms and gait he was able to pull it off and give the impression of being a much older gentleman than his years. Well done Graeme.

Many congratulations Phoenix, here’s to a long and happy relationship with Cast Theatre.

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