When leading West End lady Carrie Hope Fletcher was first approached about starring in the new UK tour of Calamity Jane, there was one person who wanted her to take on the role more than anyone else: her mum.
For there was something about the gun-slinging, whip-cracking frontierswoman first immortalised on screen in 1953 by Doris Day that Fletcher’s mum knew her daughter was born to play.
‘My mum had always said I would be a good Calamity Jane and through the entirety of my adult career she has always said she would love to see me playing the part,’ Fletcher says, taking a break from rehearsals. ‘It’s her dream role for me. So I looked into it and listened to the songs and watched the movie starring Doris Day and fell in love with it. Doris is such an icon.’
She is now set to tour the country in the iconic role, which has also seen the likes of Carol Burnett, Barbara Windsor, Toyah Willcox, Jodie Prenger and even novelist Lynda La Plante all have a crack – excuse the pun – of tackling the fearless heroine.
Fletcher is a worthy addition to that list, however. As one of theatre’s brightest stars, she has appeared in some of the biggest productions of recent years, not least Les Misérables and the lead in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella – a role she originated.
Playing Calamity, however, is a dream of a role because of the way it pushes her as a performer.
‘I am relatively new to the whole world of Calamity Jane, but it’s a dream role in terms of her as a character,’ Fletcher explains. ‘She is romantic lead, gets a great love story, has an amazing female friendship with Katie Brown and gets all the cracking, belty numbers. She ticks all of those boxes and it’s so wonderful she’s not just an ingenue or the soppy romantic or just a comedy character, she is all of it. Parts like that are really rare and she has been great fun to get to know.’ Fletcher says that Calamity Jane is a ‘gun-slinging, whip-cracking woman prone to making a few blunders and mistakes’.
The show is also about femininity, she adds, particularly around her relationship with Wild Bill Hickok, portrayed on stage in this production by Vinny Coyle, but made famous on screen by Howard Keel.
‘There are conversations between her and Wild Bill where he says ‘Why can’t you be more feminine?” Fletcher explains. ‘She goes through a Cinderella story finding it, but ultimately ends up going back to who she is comfortable as, and being loved and accepted for it. And it’s all hidden within this funny, farcical story.’
The musical features songs such as The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away) and Secret Love, all of which Fletcher is relishing getting to learn and sing.
To many, the score will be best known for being sung by Day, and there may well be fans of the musical who can’t imagine the role being played by anyone else.
For some performers, that could be a daunting prospect, but Fletcher is not afraid of the task ahead.
‘I have a good mindset about the pressure that comes with that,’ she explains. ‘You can’t please everyone as everyone has different versions of what they want the character to be. If you tried to please people, you would come up with this warped version that isn’t anyone’s dream version.’
She adds: ‘I feel like I have been entrusted with the role and I need to be the one to decide who this version of Calamity Jane is. And if people don’t like it, they don’t like it. But if they do, it means all the more.’
Fletcher has also mastered a new skill while working on Calamity Jane.
Her cast mates in the show are actor-musicians, and – not one to be left out – Fletcher will also be picking up an instrument. Albeit, a slightly unusual one.
‘I got the coconuts to play,’ she laughs. ‘I am the horse. So while everyone else is incredibly talented with the saxophone and the trumpet and cello, I will be focusing on the coconuts.’
She adds: ‘They’re only used once so far, but I reckon they will make a reappearance.’
Calamity Jane
3 – 7 June 2025 | Mayflower Theatre
Gosh almighty! Grab a posse because the whip crackin’ musical comedy classic is a rollin’ on over the plains to Southampton for one week only. What are you waiting for, you wild coyotes? Whip-crack-away and book now!
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