Calendar Girls

The sunflower strewn set with reversible trucks forming the drab WI Hall side of the stage with a rustic fenced flower farm on the other side, set the scene beautifully for the ensuing performance of Calendar Girls by TOPS on stage at the Thameside Theatre. The set had a homemade feel about it and formed a good backdrop to support the moving story of the WI friends creating a calendar to raise funds for a sofa in the Oncology Ward’s family room. The flats were, at times, a little wobbly but the cast managed the scene changes seamlessly without losing anyone.

Tim Firths’s script although poignant, was punctuated by sharp, witty asides and comments throughout, that made the story feel gritty and alive. The score, written by Gary Barlow, was lilting and musical whilst retaining the ‘grounded’ Yorkshire attributes.

It takes very confident actors to deliver that degree of emotion alongside comic interjections, and our six principal ladies had that in spades. The way they switched from practical observational humour to sympathy and deep empathy was wonderful. All of them had terrific voices and were very comfortable in the characters that they were portraying. The whole cast had great mastery of the Yorkshire accent and maintained it all through the show, including the occasional asides

Natalie Hills, as Cora, showed amazing comedic timing both in her vocal delivery and her body language, as well as possessing a great voice. I must say I have seen a different side of Natalie than I have seen before, fortunately from behind whilst playing the piano! Helen Wach played the older lady, Jessie, with humour and compassion. I loved her song ‘What Age Expects’ which was performed with a twinkle in her eye. The girl who had the most ‘reconstruction’, Celia, was played by Hollie Davy, who gave a great performance and Jenny Storey, as the ever compliant and eager to please Ruth, was distinctly recognisable as that person who is always present in close social groups! The way all these ladies gelled into a whole was the backbone of this production and their chemistry when working together was palpable.

Angela Phillips, as Chris, and Lauren Jones, as Annie, played the two friends who started the whole idea of the calendar after the death of Annies husband, John. Lauren has a beautifully soft and rounded tone to her voice which strung out our collective heartstrings during her solo songs, especially Very Slightly Almost and the gorgeous Kilimanjaro. She was so sensitive to the audience and toyed with tone, volume and pace to extract the maximum emotion from these beautiful, witty songs. There were very few dry eyes in the house! Angela’s amazingly powerful voice came into its own in ‘Sunflower’ and, when blended with Lauren’s voice made a wonderfully mellow sound. She really has a great stage presence and made the most of Chris’ very funny scripted lines. I must congratulate her on her courage for her first reveal at the end of the first act.

Congratulations must also go to MD Clare Benson for coaxing some fantastic melodies from the cast as well as leading the band which played in harmony with the actors and didn’t overpower the singers. There were some beautiful melodies underpinning the soloists especially from the keyboard players.

Of course, the ladies were backed up by a great team of supporting actors. I must just mention the two ‘schoolboys’…Max Faulkner as Danny and Michael Southgate as Tommo. They had some great lines and obviously enjoyed the camaraderie. Mia Dean, as the teenaged Jenny, demonstrated the art of flouncing to perfection. Her voice was strong and clear and showed us the domination she had over the schoolboys and her mother!

Angela Davies as Marie, and the tea and coffee ladies, Lianne Alton and Annaliese Day, had some great comedic moments as did the remaining members of the cast.

 I feel I have given short shrift to the male members of the cast, but you were the perfect foils to the six ladies. All of you were comfortable in your support to your stage wives and girlfriends. The squirming entrances and exits achieved by Laurence the porter at the hospital and then the photographer for the calendar, played by George Andelon, were wonderfully funny.

Ian Benson juggled taking the part of John with directing the show, and must be congratulated on a thoughtful performance and an even more thoughtful direction. He has obviously given a lot of time and effort to making the cast feel comfortable in their roles and even more into the clever ‘reveals’ of the ladies having their photos taken with knitting, flowers, books and, of course, the considerably bigger buns!

The pace of the show was good although I’m sure it will become even smoother as the run progresses and confidence increases

There were some minor hiccups in the sound with a mic going down and late pickups, but this is inevitable on a first night, as were a couple of missed lighting cues, but this didn’t detract from the fact that we could hear and see the actors clearly.

The standing ovation was richly deserved and I must thank TOPs for inviting me to such a strong, funny and moving show. I really enjoyed it.

 

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