It is 10 years since theatre audiences last got the chance to see Calamity Jane on stage.
Then Watermill Theatre brought us Coronation Street’s Jodie Prenger as the iconic, gun-toting, sarsaparilla swigging tomboy – a performance that would hard to beat. Weatherfield’s gain has certainly been musical theatre’s loss. Perhaps that is one reason for the decade long delay.
Step forward for this revival, Carrie Hope Fletcher. Following Jodie Prenger on stage and Doris Day on screen is no easy ask. Audiences have high expectations for this musical – a regular Christmas TV favourite with not one tune that isn’t instantly recognisable.
There is no time to build rapport with this role. You’ve got to go full on Calamity style and knock ’em dead. And that is just what she does.

Calamity Jane is a big character, and Fletcher makes her a firecracker. From the moment she comes on stage she plays Calamity as a whirlwind of energy – entertaining with her tall tales, bandaging gun wounds, and mental jousting with Wild Bill Hickok.
This production plays up to the many ironies in this comedy. Bill Hickok may have the tag of Wild, but he has more than met his wild match in Calamity. Here Vinny Coyle takes on the role made famous by Howard Keel in the 1953 film. His on-stage chemistry with Fletcher is real strength of this production. The couple fizz in their interactions as they make these roles their own.

The pair are ably supported by Senen Sandham-Davies as actress Katie Brown and Luke Wilson as Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin. As for the rest of the cast, forget the triple threat – that has just been upstaged to the quadruple threat – sing, dance, act and play a musical instrument. At one-point, assistant musical director Claire Greenway is playing saxophone front stage, while dancing a hoedown and occasionally moving from the mouthpiece to sing.
It feels a lot to ask, merging the chorus with the band. However, this team of actor musicians make it work in Matthew Wright’s compact set, where everything, including our imaginations are forced to work harder, as a quick flip of a chair turns it into a galloping horse.
It’s action-packed fun with crackin’ tunes including ‘Deadwood Stage’, ‘Just Blew in from the Windy City’ and ‘Black Hills of Dakota’. Fletcher’s rendition of ‘Secret Love’ is triumphant and rightly brings the house down leaving us in no doubt that she has more than earned the right to wear the trousers in this show.
Calamity Jane is at the Opera House, Manchester from 21-25 January 2025 before continuing on tour.