Calendar Girls - The Musical
The tears and the laughter are still there, collectively delivered with true Yorkshire grit, and stoic Northern wit.
Norwich Theatre
Twenty five years after the ladies of the Women's Institute in Rylestone, Yorkshire, first made headlines around the world with their cheeky charity fundraising idea, their story arrives at Norwich Theatre Royal this week in the form of Gary Barlow and Tim Firth‘s 'Calendar Girls – The Musical'. And it is still an uplifting and life-affirming ride from start to finish.
Now set in the fictional town of Knapely, this production, directed by Jonathan O’Boyle, is approaching the end of its 13 venue journey across the UK, but the ensemble cast have developed a wonderful chemistry and cheeky sense of fun that is truly infectious. It includes experienced singers, in the form of Lyn Paul (of The New Seekers) and Maureen Nolan (of The Nolan Sisters), as well as familiar faces off the television in the form of Laurie Brett (Eastenders), Liz Carney (Emmerdale), Helen Pearson (Hollyoaks), Samantha Seager (Coronation Street), and Honeysuckle Weeks (Foyle's War). Together, they deliver Gary Barlow's songs in a timely, and sometimes revelatory, order, reflecting both the poignancy of the story and the slightly anarchic manner in which the Yorkshire ladies set about their eyebrow-raising scheme - to create a tasteful, but nude, calendar that celebrated their Yorkshire village's finest home-made produce.
With Gary McCann’s set design imparting a tremendous sense of village hall reality, yet able to be turned into a hospital waiting room or a motorway car journey with just a subtle change of lighting and props, the story of the ladies’ fundraising efforts does not really gather pace until Act 2, leaving us plenty of time to get to know the key characters - Marie, played by Liz Carney, as the slightly starchy chairwoman of the Knapely WI; Annie (played by Laurie Brett), whose husband John (Colin R. Campbell) is being treated for leukaemia; Cora (Honeysuckle Weeks), the divorced single mother, and pianist; Jessie (Lyn Paul), the retired teacher; Celia (Helen Pearson), the former model and air hostess; Ruth (Maureen Nolan), housewife - sensible and slightly reserved; and Chris (Samantha Seager), who dreams up the whole idea of a fundraising calendar in order to buy a sofa for the hospital waiting room.
Each of the ladies has a wonderful story to tell in song , whether it be Celia’s obsession with her looks (“So I’ve Had A Little Work Done”); Jessie’s acceptance of growing old (“What Age Expects”), or Ruth’s fondness for a drink (“My Russian Friend and I”), but it is as an ensemble that the closing “Sunflower of Yorkshire” cements this show as a joyous tribute to the sisterhood of friendship that ‘Calendar Girls’ is really all about.
Twenty five years on, and the tears and the laughter are still there, collectively delivered with true Yorkshire grit, and stoic Northern wit.
