Calamity Jane: 'It's a role that's got everything'

RTÉ News​

26-07-2025

Oh, the Deadwood Stage is a-rollin' up Misery Hill. Yep, the much-loved musical Calamity Jane is heading to Dublin and John Byrne talks to the show's star, West End legend Carrie Hope Fletcher.
Now you're talkin'! There have been some amazing shows at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin over the years - but few can match the sheer exuberant joy that is Calamity Jane.
No childhood is complete without falling in love with Doris Day in the film about the Wild West's ultimate tomboy. That 1953 musical has been a TV staple for decades, and inspired a stage musical that arrived in 1961 and has enjoyed many revivals ever since.
The latest production of the whip-crackin' Broadway and West End hit musical is out on tour and making its way to Dublin. Starring multi-award-winning West End star Carrie Hope Fletcher, Calamity Jane will run August 19-23 of August 2025 at the Bord Gáis.
This foot-stomping show features all the sure-fire classic songs including The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away), The Black Hills of Dakota, Just Blew in from the Windy City, and the Oscar-winning Secret Love.
Jane is played by Carrie Hope Fletcher, a three-time WhatsOnStage Best Actress in a Musical winner. She most recently originated the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella (Gillian Lynn Theatre, West End).
Her previous credits include Veronica in Heathers, Wednesday in The Addams Family and Eponine in Les Misérables. Carrie is also a 2022 Grammy nominee for two competing albums for Best Musical Theatre Album - Cinderella (Original Concept Album) and Les Misérables: The Staged Concert (Live Album).
Carrie has also enjoyed solo touring, and even found time to write several best-selling novels. She enjoys a huge social media presence with her YouTube channel with over a million views every month.
Now she's playing the fearless, gun slingin' Calamity Jane, the biggest mouth in Dakota territory and someone who's always up for a fight. She's a charmer too, especially when trying to win the heart of the dashing Lieutenant Gilmartin or even when shooting insults at the notorious Wild Bill Hickok.
John Byrne: Carrie Hope Fletcher! How are ya? It must be quite a buzz to be playing a legendary role such as Calamity Jane?
Carrie Hope Fletcher: I know! It's a pretty iconic one.
Straight away, you think of the film starring Doris Day. But the stage version's been around a long time too. How do the stage and film versions compare?
There's a couple of different songs in the stage version that weren't in the movie. And there's a couple of new things for anyone who knows the movie inside-out.
Because Doris Day is so iconic I had to make a very solid decision whether I was going to do a bad impression of Doris Day - because no one can be Doris Day. No one can match up to the magic she created - and in every role that she played.
So either I always fall short doing a bad impression of Doris Day, or I succeed at doing my own version of Calamity Jane. So it was kind of a no-brainer in terms of what I would do.
But it is tough, because I think there are a lot of people who come and watch the show, and expect me to play Doris Day playing Calamity Jane. So I'd hope that I'd win them over by the end.
But Carrie - let's face it. One glance at your CV and it's obvious that you've done a pretty good job at being yourself.
The one thing that the stage show has as an advantage is that the musicians are also the cast. And you are watching the cast members play their instruments live on stage. There is no hidden band.
The only people we have backstage are a pianist and a percussionist. Everything else - all of the trumpets, saxophones, the cellos, the double bass, the clarinets - are all played by the cast live on stage.
It adds a huge layer of magic to the show. Usually the band is hidden in a pit, in the dark. But here you get to see them. Not only see them, but see them playing all the roles that you know and love from Calamity Jane.
For me, the thing about Calamity Jane is that you're going to come out from the show with a smile on your face. Guaranteed.
Yeah! It's a real feelgood show. And while Les Mis will always be my favourite musical, I will always come out of that sobbing my heart out, feeling very sad for the next week, and Calamity Jane is the complete opposite of that.
You come out feeling happy and feeling good about life. And this is a time when we need something like that.
People like yourself have the gift of making people happy. How is the tour going for you guys?
We've had such an incredible response on tour in the UK [the tour's in Plymouth when we spoke - JB], and Calamity Jane has so much nostalgia attached to it. People love that movie and they love the story.
They watched it when they were kids and they've such strong memories attached to it. But I also think that the response that we've had to it is the fact that it's such a feelgood show.
And now you're bringing the show to Dublin. Have you played the Bord Gáis before?
I did, once. In 2017. It was The Addams Family.
Brilliant! So you know what the deal is - you turn up and everybody has a good time.
I'm so excited to come back! It's such a wonderful theatre, but it's also a wonderful area. There's always logistics that a performer thinks about, like where is the nearest coffee shop? Where's the nearest restaurant? Where's the nearest book shop? And that space has it all.
So, yeah, it's just a very comfortable place to be in a touring show. And there's a lot of people on this tour who haven't been to Dublin before. Everyone who has been before is really, really excited for them to experience it.
Looking through the list of famous names who've played Calamity Jane, it's clear that it's a role many would aspire to playing. What is the attraction?
Well, she's got everything. It's a role that has everything. I always say that usually you have to have a whole career behind you in order to play a character role, a love interest, an action hero.
They're all different characters - and here you get to complete the whole set. Calamity Jane is all of them. She gets the love story with Wild Bill Hickok, and the love ballad. She gets to be funny with all the comedic lines. She gets a bit of slapstick with the physical comedy. She's the action hero who gets to do some gunslinging and the stagecoach driving. She gets to dance.
And she gets to wear the buckskins and the pretty pink dress! It's everything in one role. Usually, all of those things are separated into different roles you are lucky to play in your lifetime.
I was going to ask you how you'd rate the role in terms of the parts you played in your career - but that seems unfair. It's almost like ranking your children.
It really is! But I think I would safely be able to say that Calamity is my favourite.
As well as a hugely successful career in musical theatre, you've been writing books, making films, recording albums - and having babies. You really are Miss Busy, aren't you?
It's all sort of slowing down now that I've had my first little girl. She's the priority. It does change your perspective on everything. I used to be, 'Oh, I'll sleep when I'm dead' but can't afford to do that now.
I've got a little girl who relies on me to be alert, have my wits about me, so no more all-nighters writing books for me. I'm still sort of figuring it out. How to juggle it all and where it all fits. I'\ll get there eventually!
While I'm tour, she's with me half-and-half. Sometimes she's with me, sometimes she's not. We have discovered that she does not settle in new environments and therefore doesn't sleep. So I don't sleep. And then Calamity Jane is really tough.
It was a learning curve. We knew it was going to be hard. We knew it would be trial and error. We're figuring it out day by day.