Calendar Girls the Musical

Potentially this could be one of the shortest reviews ever written ,simply summed up by a few words .

Brilliant .. Powerful .. Poignant, emotional ..touching .. moving ...

Those few words whilst being true could not cover the quality of this production alone. The well known story of the ladies of the WI in a Yorkshire Village having suffered  the dreadful loss of the husband of one the members. John in this production ,who was also a life long friend to many of the group, set out to simply purchase a new settee for the hospital. The events and outcomes of the next few months and years  could never have been predicted .  

I was very impressed by the whole audience being asked to stand whilst the Ukrainian national Anthem was played prior to the start . 

This musical whilst offering many cameo roles relies on a group of ladies being prepared to go the extra mile, to have the confidence in their personal performances ,the undivided trust of their fellow actors and to gain a total understanding within the whole production and performing team of the requirements of such a musical . These attributes shone through the whole performance .  Leah Rhodes -Burch as Chris , Caroline Fojut  as Annie , Christine Shoesmith as Cora , Ruth White as Jessie, Helen Green as Celia and Clair Stokes as Ruth as the Calendar Girls all gave performances of the highest order . The quality of the singing was a joy to behold from them all , but this musical tells such a powerfully poignant story that singing alone was not enough . All six of the ladies showed such talent in portraying their various and very diverse characters . From the powerful, change the world Chris , to the emotionally torn Annie , to the alternative Xmas singalong Cora , the ever steady knitter

  Jessie along with , yes I have had  a little work done Celia  and of course the epitome of the WI , do everything , bake till you drop  Ruth . I can't emphasise enough how much talent these ladies showed throughout their performances giving the audience times of sadness ,emotion , elation, laugh out loud moments ,tears and much more .

All the supporting roles were played to the highest standard  .Debbie Mather as Marie ,the strong new broom to the group , oh no we can't possibly do that ...  we must  maintain the highest principles , great character acting ,John played by Steve Mather ,started the show with the  heart warming rendering of Yorkshire being joined by the villages of Knapely Village with quality acting and singing , portraying a true friend of the whole village, a  difficult part as illness took its toll but performed to the highest order.John Crowther as Rod the husband of Chris , showing so many supportive emotions as the plot unfolded . Along with Richard Bevan as Colin and Andy Hibbert as Denis , two more of the Calendar girls' husbands ,portraying such varied parts adding both life and comic dryness to the story . .Matt Bevan as Lawrence the photographer , a really well performed  character portrayal , the nervous , I'm not sure if I should be doing this  ...to the confident ,.. ok let's make this something special . well done . How could we forget the twins Miss Wilson and Miss Wilson , beautifully played by Francine Philips and Sarah Barnes ,anyone for tea or coffee ?? finally surprising the audience towards the end with their alternative use of their respective tea and coffee jugs , great fun . Melodie Cole as Brenda Hulse and Rosie Choppin as Lady Cravenshire , two really well executed cameo roles .The obsessive Broccoli speech along with the leader of the WI annual conference , great performances . 

Then we have the three youngsters, or maybe not so young  . !! Joe White as Danny , Alice McKenzie as Jenny and Dan Romano as Tommo,  really great performances showing their combined singing and character acting skills. The remaining ensemble all performed really well , maintaining their characters throughout . 

The vision and skill of Claire Harriot as not only Director but Choreographer also ,  was truly performed to the highest standard . Not only with the smaller group settings but also during full ensemble scenes  the shaping along with excellent characterisation was outstanding . David Burgess as Musical Director along with rehearsal and assistant pianists took the quality of the singing to the highest order , along with maintaining an excellent sound balance through the show . The set was so simplistic but worked really well , and I particularly enjoyed the changes being carried out so seamlessly by the cast . The lighting was excellent , so clever to make so many visual options out of effectively  two stage settings .Credit must go to the whole off stage team led by Paul Minott and Helen Fidler ensuring such a seamless production . 

The props were excellent and of course used so tactfully throughout . This production has everything , great songs sung to the highest standard , character acting ,the many highs and lows culminating in recreating this true life story .So many comic lines -' I have many Russian friends'  'Join the WI for fun friendship and enjoyment ' ' I don't think you recognised your old school teacher '. I thoroughly enjoyed the use of the boxes at the conference and the totally blank expressions of the men  when they realised their ladies were to create a calendar .. nude .. the M & S cake reference and so many more.. John's hope that his sunflowers would bloom before his death sadly didn't happen but remain the flower of hope within the Calendar girls musical and currently worldwide during these dreadful times . 

I could say more  but I will leave that for your audience to see and say ,except thank you to one and all  for a most excellent evening performed under an Amateur banner to the highest professional standards. 

On behalf of both Sylvia and myself  thank you again for inviting us and your very generous hospitality 

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