Calamity Jane, The Mayflower, Southampton
WHO would have thought, back in the early 1980s when the shock-haired chanteuse made a nation quake in its boots with her threats to "turn this world upside-down", that Toyah Willcox would one day be playing the title role in Calamity Jane?
Punk princess to wholesome family entertainer might have seemed unthinkable then, but it's a perfectly acceptable career trajectory these days, and Toyah has navigated it with success.
Never originally intended for the stage, Fain and Webster's musical, made as a film starring Doris Day in 1953, had the first night audience at The Mayflower humming along to such memorable numbers as The Deadwood Stage and Black Hills of Dakota.
Toyah gives an energetic performance as the gun-toting cowgirl discovering her inner femininity, although her voice is slightly too abrasive for the swooning likes of Secret Love (a number one British hit for Day).
Top tunes notwithstanding, this stage version occasionally came across as static and unimaginative. The set, featuring too much fence-type panelling, was also uninspired.
Gripes aside, it still made for a fairly entertaining night out. One word of warning, though: the gunshots in this show will have you leaping out of your skin. Until April 12.
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