West End Wednesday: Calendar Girls
Originally entitled The Girls, Calendar Girls: The Musical is a 2015 musical based on the 2003 film, which itself was based on real life events. The story tells of Annie, who tragically loses her husband to leukaemia. In a search for a way to honour his life and raise money for charity, they come up with the idea of creating a calendar featuring ladies of the local women’s institute posing nude whilst carrying out traditional WI activities. Calendar Girls tells the story of the power of love, bravery and community helping each other to overcome grief.
After a few years of workshops and try outs in the north, The Girls premiered at The Grand Theatre in Leeds, for a month’s run between November and December 2015, before transferring to The Lowry in Salford for a three-week run.
The show had a score by British pop singer Gary Barlow and a book by Tim Firth. The musical starred Joanna Riding as Annie, Claire Moore as Chris, Claire Machin as Cora, Vivien Parry as Celia, Sarah Kestleman as Jessie, Debbie Chazen as Ruth and Harriet Thorpe as Marie. The production’s direction was by Tim Firth and Roger Haines.
Following the success of the out of town try outs, The Girls transferred to London’s West End, opening at The Phoenix Theatre for previews on 28 January 2017. For the transfer, Riding, Moore, Machin and Chazen reprised their roles, with Sophie-Louise Dann, Michele Dotrice and Marian McLoughlin taking over as Celia, Jessie and Marie, respectively. The West End Production featured direction by Tim Firth, set and costume design by Rob Jones, lighting by Tim Lutkin, musical staging by Lizzi Gee, sound design by Terry Jardine and projection design by Alex Uragilo.
Despite opening to positive reviews, the production closed on 15 July 2019 after a run of just five months. It was announced the same year that the show would embark on a UK tour in 2018 under the new name of Calendar Girls: The Musical.
The fifteen-month tour premiered in August 2018 at The Grand Theatre in Leeds where the original production started out. Throughout the tour, various roles were played by; Anna-Jane Casey, Sarah Jane Buckley, Denise Welch, Lisa Maxwell, Ruth Madoc, Lesley Joseph and Judy Holt.
Besties, if you haven’t listened to Calendar Girls: The Musical, you absolutely need to, it’s a gem of British musical theatre.
Cast recording available on Spotify and AppleMusic.
FACTS:
Music: Gary Barlow
Lyrics: Gary Barlow
Book: Tim Firth
Theatre: The Phoenix Theatre
Run: 28 January 2017 – 15 July 2017 (Around 28 previews and 152 regular performances)
OLIVIERS
(NOMINATED) Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical – Ben Hunter, Best Actress in a Musical – Debbie Cahzen, Sophie-Louse Dann, Michele Dotrice, Claire Machin, Claire Moore and Joanna Riding.
