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Calamity Jane - October 2008
At last we can announce that our October show will be Calamity Jane. Not only is this a new show for the society, we are also delighted to welcome a director who is new to us - Yvonne Chadwell. Working with Yvonne will be Beth Bryant, as assistant director and choreographer, and Richard Haslam as musical director.
The show includes many popular songs, including "The Deadwood Stage", "The Black Hills of Dakota" and "Secret Love" and, for those of you who don't know the show, the story is as follows:
Calamity Jane centres around Calamity's effort to
save Deadwood's entertainment venue, The Golden Garter, from ruin by bringing
the singing star, Adelaide Adams, to perform there. Calamity promises the
patrons of the Garter that she will personally bring Miss Adams back from Chicago.
In Chicago, she sees Adelaide Adam's show,
from the back of the theatre, but later mistakes Miss Adams' stage struck maid,
Katie Brown, for the star. Katie, realising the mistake, seizes the opportunity
to make her dreams come true by posing as Adelaide.
After crossing dangerous
terrain, with Indians in hot pursuit, the two arrive in Deadwood to tremendous
fanfare. The men are delighted that Calamity has kept 'her word' and brought
the great Adelaide to perform for them. Especially pleased are Lt. Danny
Gillmartin and Wild Bill Hickock, who both immediately take a liking to 'Miss
Adams'.
On her opening night, Katie
goes onstage and gives a disastrous performance. A disappointed audience boos
her after she confesses that she has deceived them. Calamity comes to her
rescue, imploring the angry crowd to give Katie a chance. Surprisingly, they
agree to let her sing. With renewed confidence, Katie delivers a great show and
Deadwood now has it's own 'Adelaide Adams'.
Katie and Calamity become
close friends and share Jane's cabin. But when Lt. Gillmartin becomes smitten
with Katie, Calamity becomes jealous and orders Katie to get out of town.
Katie, not wanting to come between Calamity and 'the man she loves', leaves
Deadwood.
Meanwhile, 'Calamity'
begins to see Bill in a different way; as the man she has 'secretly' loved all
along. Katie has cultivated Calamity's feminine side since her arrival and she
is starting to turn heads in the town - including Bill's. It is not long before
Calamity and Bill are declaring undying love for each other.
When Calamity discovers that
Katie has actually left Deadwood, she vows to bring her back. She catches up
with the stagecoach to tell Katie the news that she is getting married, but
that she would be 'Mrs. Hickock', not 'Mrs Gilmartin'. A double wedding ensues
with Katie marrying the lieutenant and Bill marrying the now more feminine,
Calamity Jane.
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