Calamity Jane (From Wiltshire Times)

Calamity Jane

4:45pm Wednesday 7th November 2007

• Print
• Email
• Share

Tuesday, November 13 until Saturday, November 17, Theatre Royal Bath.

BATH Light Operatic Group presents the rip-roaring, musical extravaganza Calamity Jane at the Theatre Royal Bath next week.

With music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, Calamity Jane combines hilarious comedy with many tender moments and famous numbers including Secret Love, The Black Hills Of Dakota, The Deadwood Stage and Windy City.

One of the legendary figures of the Old West, female sharpshooter Calamity Jane, dresses like a man, totes a gun and drives the Deadwood City stagecoach. Well-meaning, but disaster-prone, the famous tom-boy, cowgirl puts her reputation on the line when she tries to help the local saloon proprietor out of a jam by promising to fetch a music-hall star from Chicago, Adelaide Adams.

Determined to keep her word and to impress her love interest Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin and her rival Wild Bill Hickock, the only things which stand in Calamity's way are cases of mistaken identity, feminine rivalry and secret love.

There was a "real" Calamity Jane, born Martha Jane Cannary in Missouri in 1852. This musical Western version of her life is adapted from the celebrated stage-play and the famous 1953 film which starred Doris Day and Howard Keel.

Bath Light Operatic Group makes a welcome return to the Theatre Royal with a 40-strong company who started their rehearsals for Calamity Jane in June. Last year, Bath Light Operatic Group celebrated 50 years of performance at the Theatre Royal. The company's many acclaimed visits include, most recently, Carousel, Anything Goes, The Pirates of Penzance, Crazy for You, and The Sound of Music. Bath Light Operatic Group draws its members from across the local region and the cast for Calamity Jane hail from Bath, Bristol, Keynsham, Bradford on Avon, and Trowbridge.

Helen Feirabend plays the role of Calamity Jane. Helen learnt to dance at the Morphew School of Dancing, Trowbridge, and played several principal roles as a member of BODLETS.

Since joining BLOG, her roles have included Julie Jordan in Carousel; and Maria in The Sound of Music, for which she received a nomination for Best Actress in a Musical in the Evening Post Rosebowl Awards.

Wild Bill Hickock is played by Nick Feirabend. As well as performances in the annual showcase Songs from the Shows, Nick has performed in many of BLOG's productions including Carousel, Crazy for You, Me and My Girl, and Anything Goes.

The cast for Calamity Jane also includes Helen Avent as Katie Brown, Jacqui Buck as Adelaide Adams, includes Steve Bean as Lt Danny Gilmartin, Geoff White as Francis Fryer, Richard Newman as Henry Miller, Rebecca Hinds as Susan and Paul Dyson as Rattlesnake.

Box office (01225) 448844

• Remember to look out for a review of Legal Fictions, which stars Edward Fox and appears at the Theatre Royal Bath until Saturday November 10.

• Print
• Email
• Share