A Pirate Productions production.
By Charles K. Freeman.
Directed by Neil Johnson.
Musical Direction Philip Dutton.

Performed 20th to 24th October 2010 at the Maison Syndicale, Dudelange.

We are in the wild, lusty, warm and humorous Old West of Deadwood City, Dakota Territory, 1876. Our story tells of famed Calamity Jane who dresses, rides and shoots like a man, but given the proper chance can be a beautiful girl who hankers for love. The man of her life may be the dashing Lt. Danny Gilmartin or the justly famous Wild Bill Hickock.

Henry Miller (“Millie”), owner of Deadwood’s hotel-bar-theatre, nervously awaits the arrival of the lovely actress, Frances Fryer, to embellish his show. His niece, Susan, assures him that Calamity will bring the stagecoach to town on time. And so Calamity does to the sharp and singable beat of Deadwood Stage.  But the “actress‟ turns out to be a young man, “Francis” and not “Frances” of the hoped-for opposite sex.

The show must go on, and Millie contrives to dress Fryer as a woman, but when the latter’s wig falls off during the show, the local characters rise in noisy anger. Only Calam’s trusty pistol restores order; also her promise that Millie, to make amends, will import to Deadwood the east’s most glamorous star, Adelaide Adams herself. The men are overjoyed, but Wild Bill, Lt. Gilmartin and Millie know full well that Adelaide Adams wouldn’t be caught dead in Deadwood. Calam, after a rip-roaring song-battle with Wild Bill (expressed in I Can Do Without You), storms out headed for Chicago.

Calam mistakes Adelaide’s maid, Katie Brown, for the great actress herself. Before she is aware of it, she is stage-coaching Katie back to Deadwood where Katie is greeted in high excitement as the famed Adelaide Adams.

Unnerved by Fryer when he becomes aware of her true identity, Katie breaks down at the opening show, and only Calam’s masterful control of the audience saves the day. Bucked up by Calam, Katie gives a show-stopping performance. All of Deadwood’s hearts are won, not the least being the hearts of Danny and Wild Bill. Believing she needs chaperoning, Calam moves Katie into her cabin.

After a ball given in honour of the new commander at Fort Scully, Calam, dressed in Katie’s finery, is the belle of the event. Her hour of triumph explodes when she finds Katie with Danny. In a fit of jealous anger she orders Katie to leave town, but Wild Bill corners her and reveals to the inner Calam that she is a real woman, despite the fact she professes to act like a man. She learns that it was Bill all the time (not Danny) she loved. Her realisation is expressed in the hauntingly lovely Secret Love (which won the film an Academy Award).

The show closes joyously, with all of Deadwood’s citizens attending a triple wedding, that of Calam to Wild Bill, Katie to Lt. Gilmartin and Susan to Francis Fryer.