Whip crack away for a rip roarin' night out

WHEN leading West End lady Carrie Hope Fletcher was first approached about starring in the new UK tour of Calamity Jane, there was one person who wanted her to take on the role more than anyone else: her mum.

- MATTHEW HEMLEY caught up with Carrie Hope Fletcher, star of a new production of Calamity Jane bound for the Hippodrome

For there was something about the gun-slinging, whip-cracking frontierswoman first immortalised on screen in 1953 by Doris Day that Fletcher's mum knew her daughter was born to play.

So when the offer came through, the 32-year-old performer found she just couldn’t say no.

“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 my playing the part,” Carrie says, taking a break from rehearsals ahead of the tour kicking off in January. “It’s her dream role for me. So I looked into it and listened to the songs and watched the movie starring Doris Day and fell in love with it. Doris is such an icon. Though I did have to prepare my mum not to get her hopes up as things do fall through and you never know what might happen.”

Fortunately for both Carrie and her mum, things did go according to plan, and she is now set to tour the country in the iconic role, which has also seen the likes of Carol Burnett, Barbara Windsor, Toyah Willcox, Jodie Prenger and even novelist Lynda La Plante all have a crack - excuse the pun - of tackling the fearless heroine.

Carrie is a worthy addition to that list, however. As one of theatre's brightest stars, she has appeared in some of the biggest productions of recent years, not least Les Misérables and the lead in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella - a role she originated.

Playing Calamity, however, is a dream of a role because of the way it pushes her as a performer.