If you had the good fortune of seeing theatremaker and all-out triple-threat Virginia Gay kick down the saloon doors and tear up the stage as Calamity Jane, then you’ll immediately understand two things. Firstly, why Gay’s gender-bending turn as the iconic frontierswoman is so joyously unforgettable. And secondly, you’ll get why we’re losing our minds over the announcement that Calamity Jane is coming back this October.
That’s right, Gay is teaming back up with director Richard Carroll (co-artistic director of the much-loved Hayes Theatre Co) for an all-new immersive staging of Calamity Jane in The Studio at the Sydney Opera House, no less.
“I love the show, and I love what it does to people,” said Gay, speaking exclusively with Time Out about this exciting announcement.
Audiences never stop asking for it – and sometimes, apparently, you should give an audience what they want!?
Packed with spontaneity and joy (and a load more queer subtext than you might expect from a show based on a real-life person who lived in America’s Wild West era) this witty show sold out multiple seasons in Sydney, Melbourne and on tour after opening in 2017. The role also earned Gay the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Actress, enchanting audiences and critics alike – but stepping back into Calamity’s cowboy boots is not something that she ever expected to do again.
However, it was last year, when she was rehearsing a special one-off reprisal of the character for a fundraiser to celebrate ten years of the Hayes, that the spirit of “Calam” was brought back to life. “I said to Richard, god, you know, if I thought my knees could take it, I'd do this show again,” she said. “And a week later, the Opera House called.”
“When we were doing the original seasons of Calam, the dream was always [to stage it in] The Studio at the Opera House, because we could convert the entire space into the Golden Garter… So when this call came a week after I said those immortal words, I was like, okay, I truly did not imagine going back to this character, but okay – one last go in the saddle,” continued Gay.
Adapted from the beloved film starring Doris Day, this raucous yet intimate show should certainly scratch an itch for any theatregoers who fell in love with Gay’s Boomkak Panto, which took over Belvoir St Theatre in the summer of 2021, as well as those of us holding out hope for a Sydney staging of Cyrano – Gay’s gender-flipped take on the literary classic Cyrano de Bergerac, which has delighted audiences in Melbourne, Perth and abroad in London and Toronto. Collectively, Gay describes “the lo-fi joy explosion” of these shows as “the confetti cannon trilogy”.
“I think both Boomkak and Cyrano were both hugely impacted by what I learned through Calamity. Like, what you can ask of an audience, and the way that you can be in liminal space. But at no point are you sacrificing the emotional truth of the characters or the weight of the twist, even while you are peppering people with jokes,” says Gay. “That's, you know, one of the functions of laughter, to get people to take off their armor.”
“This is such a weird thing to say about a Wild West show, but I think our version of Calamity Jane is so uniquely Australian. It's got such an Australian sense of humor in it. It's got such irreverence, such mischief, it snubs its nose to authority.”
This new staging of Calamity Jane will also feature an all-new cast, and Gay is excited to see what a new batch of actors will bring – but also, she’s excited for the joy that an all new audience will get out of it.
“I think that joy is really important. Sometimes people think of it as as frippery, but I think actually, when the world is scary, joy is really fucking powerful, and joy that connects all sorts of audiences to a story like this is powerful. I think that is so wonderful, that a show can bring disparate generations and disparate world views together through joy. Nothing feels important in the show, but the act of joy, especially queer joy, is so valuable.”
Calamity Jane will play exclusively at the Sydney Opera House from October 14 – November 16. Tickets start at $89+bf. Insiders presale starts 9am, Tuesday May 13; What's On presale starts 9am, Wednesday May 14; and General Public tickets are on sale from 9am on Friday, May 19. Find more info & book here.
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