The gun-slingin’, whip-crackin’, pistol-shootin’ Calamity Jane is back on tour, bringing the wild, wild West to theatres all over the country.

Starring West End favourite Carrie Hope Fletcher, the comedy musical is storming into Canterbury for five nights as part of its nationwide tour.

It’s been a decade since the show was on the road, with the latest revival being directed by Nikolai Foster who is known for his work on musicals such as An Officer and a Gentleman and Kinky Boots.

The cast, which includes Vinny Coyle as Wild Bill Hickock, Luke Wilson as Danny and Seren Sandham-Davies as Katie Brown, is led by three-time WhatsOnStage award winner Carrie Hope Fletcher in the titular role.

The singer has appeared in numerous musicals, including Les Misérables, Heathers, the Addams Family and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella.

"My mum had always said I would be a good Calamity Jane and, through the entirety of my adult career, she has always said she would love to see me playing the part," says the actress, who welcomed her own daughter, Mabel, in 2024. "It's her dream role for me. So, I looked into it and listened to the songs and watched the movie and fell in love with it."

Carrie, who also made her panto debut in the Marlowe Theatre production of Sleeping Beauty in 2022, sold out the London Palladium on her first solo tour and returned to the stage with her second show, Love Letters, last year.

In her latest role, the 32-year-old performer will be stepping into the shoes of Doris Day who played the Western heroine in the 1953 film.

"I have a good mindset about the pressure that comes with that," she explains. "You can’t please everyone, as everyone has different versions of what they want the character to be. If you tried to please people, you would come up with this warped version that isn’t anyone’s dream version.

"I feel like I have been entrusted with the role and I need to be the one to decide who this version of Calamity Jane is. And if people don’t like it, they don’t like it. But if they do, it means all the more."

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The musical follows sharpshooter Calamity Jane who falls in love with Lt. Danny Gilmartin but, when a seductive singer from Chicago turns up in Calamity’s lonely town of Deadwood, she turns his head and Calamity is left heartbroken.

It’s loosely based on the real life of Martha Jane Canary, better known as Calamity Jane, who was a frontierswoman that joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West show in the 1800s to perform her shooting skills.

The film and stage adaptations both feature well-known numbers such as the Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away), the Black Hills of Dakota and Secret Love.

Calamity Jane is at the Marlowe Theatre from Tuesday, May 27 to Saturday, May 31. You can book tickets here or by calling 01227 787787.

The show is also at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley from Tuesday, September 16 to Saturday, September 20. You can book tickets here.

You can also book tickets by calling 03433 100020.