Calendar Girls

Many thanks to St Anne's Parish Operatic Society for inviting me to Calendar Girls the Musical at the Lowther Pavillion on Saturday 23rd July 2022.

Direction was provided by Rosie Withers. From briefly meeting Rosie before the show, she stated that to her, this script is a love story; of all types of love. To portray this Rosie  pulled together a seamless production, which ebbed and flowed, as love often does. There was a nice cohesive feel to the cast, all of whom delivered well and amplified this sentiment, through friendship, familiarship, parentship, the excitement of new flames igniting, as well as the love of self (and vodka). There were some strong interesting uses of staging, some stylised moments and use of levels throughout. Most of the production was performed using the full breadth of the stage, I did prefer the stylised stagings where the stage was segmented, as it produced more intimacy to the show, and did feel this could have been explored further within the production. 

Choreography, provided by Elaine Morrison, was simple yet effective. Most numbers emphasised the strong characterisations created. I loved the movement created for ‘Protect Me a Little Bit Less’, a simple duet, splitting centre, and emphasising the story line and excitement of young love. There were a couple of numbers which stood out as inconsistent though as characterisations were forsaken for the use of unison, such as ‘Who Wants a Silent Night’. I  think these numbers would have been more strong with the cast retaining their characters, and perhaps reconnecting to the themes of love, rather than the big dance number feel created.

Musical Direction was undertaken by Cath Stevenson, who delivered against a cracking and complex score with a strong blend between vocal and orchestrated performance. There were times when diction was dropped in some musical numbers, and I couldn’t tell if this was due to the amount of reverb added to the vocal, or if it was clarity of diction. 

Set design and lighting were particularly strong. The show is set in the Yorkshire Dales. To portray this there was a hillscape created through flats which  fronted steps to create the visual effect of walking over the Dales. The detail of these hills were phenomenal. Other aspects of the set were equally as detailed and this was consistent throughout. The lighting amplified this notion. Throughout there was a whitebackdrop upstage which was lit to detail the skyscapes; sunsets, blue skies, twilight. The backdrop was also used as a projection screen. There were 2 notable moments this was used. This show is particularly great as part of the royalties are given to cancer charities. To add to the donation, the society sold actual calendars. When the photoshoot occurred onstage, the images from the Calendar were projected onto the stage. This was a lovely touch. The other was at the very end of the show, Sunflowers were projected, again, giving a nice sentiment and cohesive feel to the production. One of the more poignant moments in the show was missed due to lighting though. When John sadly passed away from cancer, the stage was flooded from above with blue light. Unfortunately, this created shadow over the cast’s eyes, so the emotions of the reaction to his death unfortunately did not fully translate. This moment would have been so beautiful if their eyes were lit. Costumes were selected well by Paula Curtis, emphasised the characters well and looked authentic throughout. 

All of the cast and chorus of Calendar Girls provided a solid performance throughout this production. There was great honesty to most of the performances and the cast produced a really humble feel to their roles and the production. 

Pauline Hardie played Annie and took this character through a strong journey, although I feel there could have been more rapport created between Annie and John, played by Bryan Wood, perhaps with a little more tactility. Pauline delivered solidly with vulnerability and sensitivity. She provided good vocals throughout, very well done indeed.  Bryan had a strong presence throughout his performance, although did feel segregated in his relationships.

Geraldine Brown and Paula Curtis’ performances were strong as Cora and Celia. They gave strong solo numbers and gelled well with the rest of the cast they interacted with. Aiden Williams did well playing Tommo, Cora’s son. 

The young love interests were played by Theo Heavyside as Danny and Ciara Curtis as Jenny. They both blended well together. Theo’s  ‘Hello Yorkshire I’m a Virgin’ used good dynamics and tone, and was really funny. I thought ‘Protect Me a Little Less’ was excellently delivered by both of the pair. 

Mandy Laird-Hall played Ruth. I thought this performance was brilliant. Her solo, ‘My Russian Friend and I’ gave me chills. She took this number through such a journey, it was honest and raw, yet lightened the tone of it with humour when appropriate. 

Sarah Jane Stone gave a very strong performance as Chris. She created a dynamic and entirely relatable characterisation, and provided light and shade throughout the show  Her solo, Sunflower, was a great piece of storytelling and delivered with such energy and kept growing until the final held belt at the end of the number. This was one of the highlights of the show for me. Andrew Would played her partner, Rod. This was well delivered and some nice humour was brought to the role. 

I adored Joan Aitchisons's characterisation of Jessie. She delivered some witty one liners flawlessly. Her rendition of ‘What Age Expects’ was stunningly delivered and used a blend of her chest and head voices . Am not sure which it was,  or where Joan pulled it from, but the last soprano note at the end of this number nearly had the windows smashing. Excellent execution, well done Joan. Her counterpart, Colin,was played by Ian Edmonson, who again, gave a nice solo number. These two had real chemistry and it was a great reflection of the love theme aforementioned. 

The unsung hero of the show for me was Suzi McQuiggan, who truly made the most of a cameo role as Miss Wilson (tea). She had such a presence throughout the show and my focus was drawn to her reactions everytime she was on. Never overstated or hammy, just delivered humbley and entirely en pointe to the character. Great work Suzi, well done. 

Overall, this was a very strong production, and that sentiment was shared with all of the audience, evidenced by the full standing ovation received. Thank you once again from my guest and I and am very much looking forward to seeing more from St Anne’s Parish Operatic Society.

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