The new additions,a radar-ish  'I Want To Be Free' and psychedelic  'Minx' era pics, are both stunning. Great artwork.

Imagemeister's Toyah pages have recently been updated too. Some of the amazing Toyah picture constructs at his site really must be seen to be believed - truly beautiful! Imagemeister will also be adding a Toyah Wallpapers section soon too.

Last, but certainly not least, Suzy's 'Neon Room' has been redesigned and renamed 'Neon Womb - The Toyah Scrapbook'. This page includes a great Toyah collage and personal thoughts on TW from an Australian fan.

Click the pics to visit each website.

"Rabbits also have fans among the famous. Suggs, Toyah Willcox and the head of design at Habitat, Tom Dixon, have all publicly praised their house bunnies. Petplan introduced rabbit insurance policies in 1998, in response to public demand, and there have been significant improvements in the veterinary treatment available to them." 

No Calamity For Toyah

Review: Calamity Jane at Derngate, Northampton

Yeee-Ha! - Book a seat on the Deadwood stage and head wild, wild west for a colourful cowboy classic.

Calamity Jane (Toyah Willcox) is a rough and ready tomboy who enjoys shooting, fighting and a fiery relationship with wise-cracking gambler Wild Bill Hickock (Alasdair Harvey).

While Bill despairs of his friend's unladylike behaviour, Clamity sees no reason to change her ways - until her old sparring partner teaches her an important lesson in love and friendship.

Fans of the classic film version won't be disappointed in this latest adaptation, which combines high-energy performances with toe-tapping tunes and dazzling dance routines.

Willcox and Harvey are excellent, with the comic interplay and true friendship of their characters cleverly highlighted in the hugely enjoyable duet, I Can Do Without You, while amongst a superb supportng cast, Kellie Ryan and Phil Ormerod are also worthy of special mention.

The only slight dsappointment is in Calamity's rendition of Secret Love. As one used to the famous Doris Day version, I found Miss Willcox's voice wasn't quite powerful enough to do full justice to the Oscar-winning song.

However, this is a minor quibble, as this stunning production effortlessly captures the warmth, vibrancy and 'feel-good-factor' of the movie, ensuring that, like me, you'll be leaving the theatre singing.

A rottin' tootin' delight!

By Trudi Buck.

Huge THANKS to Alec Kelly for providing this.

Toyah will be a fast draw - Pop legend Toyah Willcox will be whip cracking her way into the Regent Theatre, Hanley as the star of a new production of the classic comedy musical Calamity Jane.

She will be returning to the stage to play the role immortalised on screen by Doris Day.She has revealed that she is going to put a different spin on the hugely energetic role.

Toyah has enjoyed a highly successful and diverse career, with major hit records, frequent TV appearances and many stage and screen roles to her credit that have made her one of Britain's biggest household names. She became the face of the eighties achieving critical success with hits such as 'It's a Mystery' and 'I Wanna Be Free' from the 'Anthem' album. She continued to gain ever-stronger acing roles, appearing in 'The Tempest', 'Quadrophenia' 'The Taming of the Shrew' and 'Cabaret'. She has also become well-known to a younger audience through voicing the hugely successful 'Teletubbies' and 'Brum'.

As Calamity, Toyah will be delivering some of the best known screen songs , including 'Secret Love', 'The Deadwood Stage' and 'Black Hills of Dakota'. She plays the Indian scout who is as hard-riding, gun-toting and boastful, as any man on the prairie. The tough talker puts her reputation on the line when she promises to bring a famous singing star all the way from Chicago to Deadwood's Golden Garter Saloon. After a small matter of mistaken identity, the pair become the best of friends - until Calamity realises she may have a rival for the affections of the town's two most eligible cowboys, the dashing Lt Danny Gilmartin and the fast drawing Wild Bill Hickcock.

'Calamity Jane' is at The Regent from Tuesday, October 1 to Saturday 5th.

1. Madonna, 10. Kate Bush, 14. Annie Lennox, 15. Bjork, 16. Debbie Harry, 18. Alanis Morissette, 25. PJ Harvey, 30. Dusty Springfield, 34. Tori Amos, 39. Cyndi Lauper, 40. Karen Carpenter, 43. Siouxsie Sioux, 57. Belinda Carlisle, 61. Chrissie Hynde, 65. Patti Smith, 70. Kim Wilde, 74. Kirsty MacColl, 75. Suzanne Vega, 77. Alison Moyet, 91. Bette Midler, 95. Bananarama

• 'The Stage' published a review of Calamity Jane, from the run at the Derngate Theatre in Northampton, last week in the issue dated 19th September 2002.

Next Monday the production rides into Stoke-On-Trent for a week at the Regent Theatre in Hanley. 'This Is Staffordshire', in association with 'The Sentinel', the Regent Theatre and Victoria Hall, feature Calamity Jane this week.

Calamity Jane - Toyah Willcox stars in Calamity Jane, a whip-crackin’, toe-tappin’ musical extravaganza at the Regent Theatre. 

The Black hills of Dakota and the West at its wildest is the setting for this action packed, rip-roaring comedy adventure full of colourful characters, dazzling dance and toe-tapping tunes starring international pop star and acclaimed actress Toyah Willcox. 

When Pistol packing tomboy Calamity Jane brings a showgirl to entertain the female starved Deadwood locals, chaos ensues with mistaken identities, feminine rivalries and secret assignations. The showgirl is not quite what she appears. 

Riotous and romantic this wonderful production features sensational dance routines superb sets and one of the most witty and hummable scores ever written. With classic songs including Just Flew in from the Windy City, The Deadwood Stage, Whip-Crack Away, The Black Hills of Dakota and the Oscar winning Secret Love. 

Life Class, a celebration of the art of figure drawing, is presented by actress and singer Toyah Willcox.

Source - This Is Bristol

Another "blast from the past" Toyahtastic retro televisual wonder! Sky Movies is, yet again, showing Urgh! A Music War from 1980, in which, of course, Toyah, Joel et al perform possibly the definitive live version of the legendary 'Danced'.

NB. Apparently there is a bunch of people who are trying to get Urgh! A Music War issued on DVD. Not sure who or where but most probably in America so if it was to happen it would be a region 1 release.

I Love 1979 : UK Horizons - Friday 4th October : 9.00pm
Urgh! A Music War : Sky Movies 2 - Tuesday 8th October : 3.00am
Personal Passions : BBC Prime - Wednesday 9th October : 3.45am
Toyah talks about lovingly recreating the gardens once owned by celebrated photographer Cecil Beaton.

YEEHA! Calamity Jane

Toyah Willcox is Calamity Jane - Toyah Willcox has come a long way since the days of Punk Rock (remember "It's a Mystery?")...and her latest role is a million miles away from the era of safety pins, torn clothing and spiky hair.

She takes the lead role of Calamity Jane - made famous of course, by Doris Day.

The musical, which is coming to Torquay's Princess Theatre, features the songs Whip-Crack-Away, Windy City and Secret Love.

For those too young to remember the film version, it's a Wild West comedy adventure about Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock (played by Alasdair Harvey). 

Calamity Jane - Princess Theatre, Torquay
Tuesday, 5th - Saturday 9th November, various times
Tickets: £25 - £9.50 - Box Office: 08702 41 41 20 - Group Sales: 01803 380842 

Calamity Jane also gets a mention this week in the Banbury Guardian

Calamity Jane hits the stage as an action packed rip-roaring comedy adventure round the Wild West with one of the most witty and hummable scores ever written for a musical.
Classic songs include The Deadwood Stage (whip-crack-away), Windy City and the Black Hills of Dakota.

Toyah Willcox stars as Calamity Jane with Alasdair Harvey as Wild Bill Hickock. Toyah’s career spans pop-stardom, film, TV and stage. Calamity Jane is brought to the Apollo by Tristan Baker Productions in association with Northampton Theatres.

BBC Oxford : Going Out - Tue Sep 17 - Sat Sep 21
Oxford Apollo : Calamity Jane

Toyah Willcox in Calamity Jane - A damsel trying to save an entertainment venue from ruin is the enchanting story behind Oxford Apollo's Calamity Jane.

In this well known play, Calamity promises the patrons of the Golden Garter in Deadwood that she will personally bring Miss Adams back from Chicago to saved their beloved Golden Garter. Calamity travels to Chicago to see Adelaide Adam's show. From the back of the theatre she mistakes Miss Adam's stage struck maid, Katie Brown, for the star.

Katie seizes the opportunity to make her dreams come true by posing as Adelaide and leaving for Deadwood. After crossing dangerous terrain with Indians in hot pursuit, Katie and Calamity arrive in Deadwood to a tremendous fanfare. The men are delighted that Calamity has kept her word and brought the beautiful Adelaide to perform for them.

Without spoiling the story for you, the playwright weaves their magic throughout the play to ensure a gloriously happy ending. Don't miss it!

"Kaye Adams presents a serious look at the issue of death, in which people in the public eye share their beliefs and convictions and talk about how they would like to be sent off. In this edition, actress and presenter Toyah Willcox talks about her ambition to have a Tibetan sky burial on top of the Malvern Hills."

Cabaret, the classic film starring Liza Minnelli, has just been re-released on deluxe DVD, digitally remastered and packed with special features, to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Toyah, of course, starred in the ill-fated West End production of Cabaret, and recorded an album (also reissued with new packaging earlier this year) of songs from the show in 1997 with Nigel Planer.

Toyah was mentioned in 'The Sun' on Monday (16th Sep), in a news article about Martine McCutcheon of all people!

Thanks to Alec.

"In 1997, Q asked you to vote for your favourite album ever. You voted in your thousands, enabling us to compile the definitive list of the 100 Best Albums Of All Time, provoking discussion, argument and astonishment. Now, five years later, do we still think that OK Computer is the greatest album ever made? Should we still include Kula Shaker's K and the first Placebo album?Q wants your votes, so that we can compile the first Top 100 all time greatest albums poll of the 21st century. Nominate your ten favourite LPs using the form below and one lucky person will be picked at random to win the 100 albums."

VH1's Greatest Women Poll - The votes Are In!

On the week beginning Monday 30th September VH1 UK are counting down the top 100 female musicians and singers as voted by the public. Denise Van Outen is set to present the show running from the 30th through to the 6th October. 

After a successful first week in Northampton, Toyah, and the cast, are now 'keeping it under their hat's' at the Apollo Theatre in Oxford. By all accounts the show is nothing less than spectacular and Toyah is wonderful as Jane, with a splendid supporting cast. The show's choreography, use of space and levels within the set, and the musical direction, are all said to be stunning. It certainly looks amazing judging by the pictures released so far.

BBC Northampton have a review of one of the performances from the Derngate Theatre. Click the fantastic stage show picture to go read.

Calamity Jane, this week at the Apollo Theatre in Oxford, is again Critic's Choice in 'The Times' (September 14). 

Toyah tells all about life at Mayhem in the late '70s and very early '80s. Click the Times logo to read the interview.

“Toyah Willcox, who must be one of the finest Aladdins of her generation, displayed tremendous energy and an impish sense of fun that made her the ideal boy". (Encore Magazine) 

The Anvil, Churchil Way, 
Basingstoke
Hants RG21 7QR 
Box Office: 01256 844244 

Originally broadcast on BBC1 in 2000 Toyah plays Marcy Preston, a single mother with a troublesome son. A role she had to "glam down" for!

"Mum's the Word - Drama series set in a busy Midlands medical practice. Dr Helen Thompson pays a home visit to Stella Darwin and discovers that Stella's nine-year-old daughter knows why her mother is so badly bruised. Marcy Preston takes her tearaway son, Danny, to see Dr Steve Rawlings in the hope that his behaviour can be improved. Starring: Christopher Timothy, Jacqueline Leonard, Mark Frost, Corrine Wicks, Akbar Kurtha, Toyah Willcox."

Doctors : UK Gold
Wednesday 25th September : 7.20am & 3.25pm
Thursday 26th September : 1.45am & 2.45am (UK Gold Plus 1)

The magazine contains a three page feature/interview on Toyah's Worcestershire garden and includes some excellent pictures. 

I ventured to my local Sainsburys the other evening and endured the trauma of buying a copy of 'Good Housekeeping' in order to add this to the Article Archive:)

But seriously, I would recommend purchasing this magazine as it is a good article. particulary if you like gardening and horticulture (or even just Toyah)!

Toyah is also included in the mag's opening 'Editorial Board 2002' pages. The bio (see Sep 7 News, below) is headed "Still singing - but now she's gardening too."

Click the picture above to read the article and see those garden pictures.

TOYAH APPEAL IS NO MYSTERY

Toyah Willcox is never one to shy away from a challenge. In a career that has spanned 25 years she has had several top 10 hits, wrestled live on stage, starred opposite Sir Laurence Olivier and has narrated one of the most successful children’s programmes ever. Now she is set to tackle the role of Calamity Jane, the Wild West heroine made famous on the big screen by Doris Day.

"I had fond memories of the film because I had seen it as a child," said Toyah. "The film was a vehicle for Doris Day, but the script was written afterwards and is interesting because it is so much darker. Doris Day’s performance was wonderful but things have moved on and women are perceived as much stronger than in the ’50s."

Toyah, who started her acting career at the Old Rep Drama School in her home town of Birmingham, has some very definite ideas about the eponymous heroine.

"I wanted Calamity to have surrendered her femininity to survive in the environment that she lived in," she said. "This is a small town in middle America that could easily starve to death and people who made it there were very tough. Women are not that common so in order to feel safe she has taken on this masculine persona."

In this action packed, rip-roaring show, Calamity puts her reputation on the line when she promises to bring a famous singing star all the way from Chicago to Deadwood’s Golden Garter Saloon. 

Toyah said: "You must never lose sight that this is a lovely fun love story with a man who has always loved this woman but can’t bear her masculinity. Wild Bill Hickock expects women to be in petticoats and smell nice but she never smells nice.

"I wanted to have the effect that the character hasn’t bathed for three months so when the change comes it is stunning."

Toyah’s first notable acting role came in 1977 when director Derek Jarman cast her as Mad in the punk epic, Jubilee. Her latest role is one of her most physical but she intends to take it in her stride.

"I will need stamina and mental agility to get round the dance steps but I have always been fit,” she said. "I love physical theatre that is bombastic and robust. In Calamity Jane there should be scenes where she is thrown through bar windows because they treat her as if she were a man."

Toyah had a successful pop career with hit singles including It’s A Mystery, I Want To Be Free and Thunder In The Mountains. She is still making music and releases a new album, Little Tears of Love in November. 

"The music has a whole different feel," she said. "It is stripped down and real. I work with a three-piece band and it is quite naked."

The 44-year-old spent the 1990s adding another string to her bow by becoming a television presenter of programmes such as Heaven and Earth and Holiday. In recent years Toyah has also been the narrator of Teletubbies.

"I am best friends with the creator Ann Wood and when I read it I said ‘This is the new Magic Roundabout’."

Toyah, who still lives in the Midlands with her husband of 16 years musician Robert Fripp, has been performing in pantomime since 1984, but still gets nervous before a stage performance. 

"I get physically sick. Don’t come near me half and hour before the show because I turn into a rabid monster."

Calamity Jane will be at Derngate until September 14. Tickets on Northampton 624811.

TOYAH TAKES THE DEADWOOD STAGE

Actress, singer and TV presenter Toyah Willcox adds another string to her bow when she plays the title role in a new stage version of the hit musical Calamity Jane.
It will be the first time in 20 years that the spectacular show, which premieres at Northampton’s Derngate next week, has toured the UK and the 44-year-old star hopes it will transfer to the West End after its ten-month run.

"I was flattered when they sent me the script because it’s quite a young role and I may never get the chance to do it again," she said. “I was a big fan of the film version and Doris Day was remarkably clever in the way she took this character, who dressed like a man and didn’t bath, and made her attractive.

"Most people don’t realise Jane was a real person, who lived in the 1860s and won medals for her shooting, and this new interpretation of the story gets closer to the reality of those times. In those days gunfights and ambushes were the norm and people didn’t know if they would live till the next day. For women, it must have been frightening but also exhilarating."

Toyah’s only previous musical experience was playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret at London’s Strand Theatre. In a diverse acting career she has tackled everything from panto to Shakespeare, learning the ropes at the Birmingham Old Repertory Theatre School and becoming, at the age of 18, the youngest member of the National Theatre.
On the big screen, she appeared alongside Katharine Hepburn in The Corn Is Green, played ‘Monkey’ in Quadrophenia and won a nomination for Best Newcomer at the Evening Standard Awards for her role as Miranda in Derek Jarman’s film The Tempest. On TV she starred opposite Sir Laurence Olivier and Greta Scaachi in Granada’s The Ebony Tower.

She said: "I was always told to diversify with the roles I accept so you don’t get pigeonholed. I feel very privileged to have worked with such great names as Hepburn and Olivier, who came from that lost generation of stars who were so extraordinary in their eloquence. I wasn’t looking to learn from them – I just enjoyed being in their company, listening to all these stories about such legends as James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Vivien Leigh."

In more recent years Toyah has carved out a career in television, from appear-ing in Kavanagh QC to being guest presenter on The Heaven And Earth Show, Fasten Your Seatbelts and Holiday. She also presented an epic series on alternative medicine for the Discovery Channel and on children’s TV she voiced Brum and the Teletubbies and played the title role in two series of the BBC’s Barmy Aunt Boomerang!

"I’m very close to Ann Wood, the creator of Teletubbies and did just five minutes of narration on the first episode. But it’s probably the most important five minutes of my career as within three months it was a worldwide hit! 

"Barmy Aunt Boomerang! is about a ghost from Australia living with a boy in Glasgow – it was all good experience and great fun to do."

Theatre - Calamity Jane : Derngate, Northampton (01604 624 811)
Toyah Willcox stars in Tristan Baker Productions’ touring revival of this musical. Almost half a century has gone by since the movie won an Oscar for Best Original Song with Secret Love but this is not a one-hit musical; other hummable hits include The Black Hills of Dakota and Deadwood Stage. September 9-14

There surely hasn't been this much anticipation surrounding Toyah in a stage role since Trafford Tanzi 19 years ago in the Summer of 1983?

Already, in the build up to tonight's opening, there has been lots of newspaper, magazine and internet articles and interviews with Toyah about Calamity. Not surprising as this is the first time in over two decades that a major tour of this production has played in the UK, Calamity Jane, and it's famous soundtrack, is a favourite of many people from various generations, and with the added ingredient of Toyah taking on the lead role, this was a combination guaranteed to garner huge interest in the show. I'm sure many more articles and reviews will appear in the press over the coming months as the tour progresses and makes its way around the UK.

Tonight, the months of preparation, speculation and anticipation will be over. This is a mammoth project for Toyah to undertake and it has to be said that, as the star of the show, I'm sure she must be feeling excited and perhaps a little apprehensive that Calamity Jane is a success. If anyone can do justice to such a famous role it has to be Toyah, ever the consumate professional, workaholic and perfectionist.

Good luck for tonight and the next eight months Toyah from me and everyone who visits Dreamscape:)

The Times - September 07, 2002 - This week with Toyah Willcox

Will you be watching Martin Clunes in the new ITV1 drama A is for Acid?
I’m a big fan of Martin Clunes. I worked with him on a radio show about ten years ago and he is a great actor, so I think he is going to be brilliant. 
 

Will you be spinning the latest CD by the Music?
I’m into a lot of contemporary bands and I love the Led Zeppelin sound, so I would probably enjoy it. And the new one by Ooberman — I definitely want that in the car. 
 

Will you be reading the new biography of Mary Shelley by Muriel Spark?
Oh yes. I’m very interested in how women are portrayed in history, so that would grab me. 

Are you planning a trip to the cinema to see Kathy Burke, Ricky Tomlinson and Rhys Ifans in Once upon a Time in the Midlands?
Definitely. What a fabulous cast. I would like to see The Importance of Being Earnest with Colin Firth, too. You can imagine lots of smouldering going on. 

Toyah Willcox stars in Calamity Jane at the Derngate Theatre, Northampton, Sep 7-14, and then on nationwide tour (0207-395 2606) 

It's A Mystery! - Toyah tight lipped over new role

EIGHTIES pop star Toyah Willcox is busy rehearsing for a rip-roaring roller coaster production of Calamity Jane.

And after spending the past 25 years either on stage, in a television studio or recording hit songs, she will feel at home at Manchester's Opera House and The Regent Theatre in Stoke.

The musical is loosely based on the life of Martha Jane Cannary, who was born in 1852 in Missouri, and stars Toyah in the title role.

Featuring songs such as Windy City, The Deadwood Stage and the Oscar winning Secret Love, Calamity Jane is a typical western set in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, where men are cowboys and women are clean-living housewives.

Toyah will be stepping into Calamity's shoes, previously worn by Carry On star Barbara Windsor and film star Doris Day, but anyone who is expecting a production like the 1953 film is in for a surprise. 

Toyah said: "Calamity Jane is a great production - it's buzzing and very lively.

"Most people who will be coming to see the musical will be expecting something schmaltzy because they'll have seen the film starring Doris Day.

"I've seen this version many times and I remember watching the film as a child. But we've done something different with the story, which is quite unusual."

Toyah has been performing on stage for the past 25 years in productions such as Cabaret and Peter Pan as well as Shakespeare classics.

Her role in Calamity Jane is as a hard-riding, gun-toting and boastful woman who is involved in a love-triangle with the dashing Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin and fast drawing Wild Bill Hickock.

The musical is a fast-paced, action-packed story of gunfights, passion and saloon life and is set in the highly charged atmosphere of the Wild West in 1876.

The 30-strong cast, which has been rehearsing for the past four weeks, will be appearing in Stoke between September 30 and October 5 and in Manchester between October 7 and 12.

Cast members are hoping the 10-month national tour will end up in London's West End next summer.

"...an extraordinary piece of comic writing combined with the ability to make a short paperback book travel over a period of a thousand years tracing the life of Pan, the god of nature. It's amazing." - Toyah Wilcox in The Guardian Online.

Good Housekeeping - Meet the women who helped us put together this very special 80th birthday issue...

In a career spanning nearly 20 years, Toyah Willcox, 44, has had 13 top 40 singles, made 16 solo albums, appeared in over 25 stage plays and made 11 feature films. She joins us as Gardening Editor for this special birthday issue (see her garden on page 228). Toyah’s role as a TV presenter began in 1992; highlights include Carlton TV’s Good Sex Guide Late in 1996, the BBC’s Holiday programme, Watchdog, Face Value and a Songs Of Praise special in 1999. In 2001 she fronted a series of alternative health programmes. Earlier this year Toyah went back on the road with her band for an Eighties revival tour. She’s currently writing her first novel and performing the title role in Calamity Jane, which is touring the UK prior to its West End opening. She lives with her husband Robert Fripp in Worcestershire. Toyah is donating her fee to Inspire, a charity pioneering microchip transplant surgery to give movement back to victims with spinal injuries.

"Whip-cracking start to some stage classics - A feast of spectacular stage shows and musicals forms the backbone of a busy autumn season just announced by the Derngate in Northampton. The exciting new programme gets off to a whip-cracking start when singer and actress Toyah Willcox plays the title role in an action-packed new production of the classic comedy adventure Calamity Jane, which runs for a week beginning on September 9th

Howdy Toyah, chaotic cowgirl - Toyah Willcox appears as Calamity Jane in a new production of the classic comedy musical which starts a national tour in Northampton this September..

The story is based (very loosely) on a real person, Martha Jane Cannary, who was born in 1852 and dressed, drank and fought like a man though, like her fictional counterpart, she was prone to exaggerate her exploits.
Whether she was romantically involved with “Wild Bill” Hickock is unknown, but the story goes that she made a deathbed request to be buried beside him.
The movie Calamity Jane was released in 1953 to cash in on the popularity of Western musicals such as the 1950 hit Annie Get Your Gun. The film soon became a classic and made a star of its leading lady, Doris Day.

The film received three Oscar nominations and Secret Love, a ballad from the soundtrack, won an Oscar for the best song. Other hit songs include The Black Hills of Dakota, Windy City and The Deadwood Stage (Whip-crack-away!). Calamity Jane first came to the stage in England in 1979 with Barbara Windsor in the title role but although it toured it never made it to the West End."

Calamity is also featured at Mouse UK this week...

A MAJOR NEW NATIONAL TOUR Toyah Willcox is CALAMITY JANE 

Starring the legendary TOYAH WILLCOX, a brand new production of the classic comedy musical CALAMITY JANE whip cracks its way onto a nationwide tour in Autumn 2002, opening at DERNGATE, NORTHAMPTON on 9 September 

CALAMITY JANE is an action packed, rip-roaring rollercoaster of a show with one of the most witty and memorable musical scores ever written and featuring many classic songs including The Deadwood Stage, Windy City, The Black Hills of Dakota and Secret Love, which won the Oscar for Best Original Song. 

HOW THE WEST WAS SUNG! 

Deadwood, Dakota Territory, is a typical wild west town where men are cowboys and women are clean-living, wholesome gals. That is apart from Indian scout Calamity Jane, who is as hard-riding, gun-toting and boastful as any man on the prairie. Tough talking Calamity puts her reputation on the line when she promises to bring a famous singing star all the way from Chicago to Dakota's Golden Garter Saloon. After a small matter of mistaken identity, the dainty chanteuse and our eponymous hero (along with the rest of Deadwood) become the best of friends - until Calamity realises she may have a rival for the affections of the towns two most eligible cowboys, the dashing Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin and fast drawing Wild Bill Hickock. 

TOYAH WILCOX returns to the stage to play Calamity, a role immortalised on the Hollywood screen by Doris Day. Toyah, one of Britain's biggest household names, has a highly successful and varied career, with major hit records, frequent television appearances and many prestigious stage and screen roles in productions as diverse as The Taming of The Shrew, Cabaret and Peter Pan. 

The cast for CALAMITY JANE includes ALASDAIR HARVEY as Wild Bill Hickock, KELLIE RYAN as Katie Brown, DUSTIN DUBREUIL as Lt. Danny Gilmartin, TONY STANSFIELD as Henry Miller, PHIL ORMEROD as Francis Fryer with AHMET AHMET, CAROLINE ASLETT, LYNSEY BRITTON, MICHAEL BROUGHTON, JOHN COATES, GARETH DERRICK, EMMA DODD, CARLY HAINSBY, PAUL HEMMING, IAN GARETH JONES and CAMERON LEIGH. 

CALAMITY JANE is adapted for the stage by Charles K.Freeman, with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. This new production is directed by Ed Curtis, designed by Simon Higlett, choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood with lighting designed by James Whiteside, sound designed by Autograph and musical direction by Peter White. 

"Toyah Willcox plays the gun-toting, lasso-hurling title role in musical comedy Calamity Jane, which launches a new UK-wide tour in September. Ten pairs of tickets for venues across the country must be won by 19 September 2002."

Click the pic to go and win (hopefully - I'm crossing my fingers for ya as I type:))

Safari did tell me though that they are releasing a commemorative album in October, which will include two Toyah tracks. 

This is the letter I received:

Dear David,

Thank you for your letter.  At the moment there are no plans to re-release
this album.

However you might be interested to know that in October Safari Records are
releasing a 25 Years commemorative album which includes two tracks by Toyah.

The catalogue number is VOORCD7702.

Best wishes
Lynda

"Calamity Jane: It's nearly 50 years since Doris Day played one of her best loved roles, Calamity Jane, the wild west tom boy. 

Calamity Jane did exist, although the film is a highly fictionalised account of her life. In the movie the gun toting Indian scout discovers her softer feminine side in a quest to try and get her man. 

Toyah Willcox, who is about to start a nationwide theatre tour of the musical playing Calamity and lecturer in Film Studies at Warwick University, Tamar Jeffers joined Jenni Murray to discuss the appeal of playing this wild woman of the west."

NB I didn't catch this so haven't a clue what Toyah actually said!

Calamity Jane : Derngate, Northampton September 9-14 (01604 624811) 

Because Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate is ending its London run earlier than planned, some people have predicted the end of musical revivals as we know them. Sorry, Cole. Bye-bye, Lorenz, Richard, Oscar. Don’t want to see you no more. 

But a better way of looking at success and failure is to see them as a matter of timing, the difficult art of catching the mood of the moment. In addition, that is, to the vast cost of staging a musical in London. Outside the capital, recent revivals of Pal Joey and Guys and Dolls have done very nicely, thank you, and the newish, youngish company Tristan Baker Productions seems to be following that route with its touring revival of Calamity Jane, starring Toyah Willcox in the title role. 

Almost half a century has gone by since the Doris Day/ Howard Keel movie won an Oscar for Best Original Song with Secret Love. And this was not just a one-hit musical: Sammy Fain’s score also included Windy City, The Black Hills of Dakota and Deadwood Stage. 

The love rivalries of the plot toy with the real-life figures of the gun-toting Indian scout, Jane (born Martha Jane Canary), and Wild Bill Hickock, played here by Alasdair Harvey, recently the Beast in Beauty and the Beast. 

Toyah’s own stage experience began at the National in London and led, by way of punk movies and Trafford Tanzi, to the role of Sally Bowles in the Strand revival of Cabaret. 

After Northampton the show sets off on a national tour that continues, with a break for the panto season, into next spring.
 

The classic comedy musical Calamity Jane is coming to Northampton's Derngate. It stars TV's Toyah Willcox.

BBCi have five pairs of tickets to give away for the musical's opening night. (Mon 9th September - 7.30pm).

Click the pic to go enter this cool comp!

Please take a few seconds to vote for Toyah in the poll. VH1 will dedicate an entire weekend announcing the poll results and could result in a few of Toyah's classic videos being broadcast.

Are they ageing gracefully?

They were teenage pin-ups with thousands of adoring fans beating a path to their doors. But two decades on would you give your favourite 80s pop god a second glance?

At one end of the scale is Morten Harket, who at 42 doesn't look a day older than the times when A-ha were on every TV show and billboard going. The Norwegian singer has lost none of the chiselled features that helped shoot him and his band to number one in the popularity stakes during the 80s. 

Then there's Toyah Willcox, who, if anything, looks better at 44 than she did during the height of her fame. The original wild child has dumped her punk, in-your-face look in favour of a softer, prettier image, reflecting her more sedate lifestyle as a TV presenter and campaigner. 

At the other end of the scale are the likes of Simon Le Bon and Adam Ant . We hate to say it, but fatherhood had definitely taken its toll on Simon - especially his stomach. And Adam Ant couldn't be further away from the fine and dandy image he cultivated in his younger days. 

Picture caption reads: It's a mystery how Toyah, 44, looks so good. Or maybe her outdoor lifestyle and less hectic career as a Teletubby voice is the reason. Verdict: Gracefully.