Calendar Girls, The Musical

Since it’s conception as a musical by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth, amateur societies around Yorkshire have flocked to tell the story of a group of Knapeley WI ladies raising money for Skipton Hospital’s relatives’ room and this week Crigglestone Community Theatre Company did it with pathos and humour in abundance.

The story centres around the sensitive subject of cancer which is not an easy thing to deal with but under the direction of Dean Patrick, the whole cast created characters that were believable and portrayed a real sense of a community pulling together in a time of need.

Friend’s since childhood, when Annie loses her husband John to cancer, her childhood friend Chris has the idea to make a nude calendar to raise money. Nicola Duval (Annie) and Emma Jeffreys (Chris) conveyed a whole range of emotions on their character’s journeys in this production. Nicola commanded the stage without being overpowering and had perfect relationships with everyone else, especially Emma, a very believable dynamic duo.

Emma delivered her lines with excellent comic timing when needed and showed that everyone has a little rebellious side in them somewhere, especially when stripping on the Yorkshire moors and shouting “can anyone see my nipples?”!

Annie’s husband was played by CCTC newcomer Steve Anderson (although not new to performing!) and he was the perfect partner for Nicola. He created a character who showed a husband’s love and devotion to his wife in abundance. I hope it’s not the last thing I see him in.

Cora, a single mum and daughter of a Vicar was played by Nikki Carter and her rendition of different Christmas Carols was extremely funny and the audience loved her rocking out to “Who Wants A Silent Night?”

Alison Warren was perfect in the role of the former air hostess Celia, she oozed sex appeal and delivered her flirtatious lines with lots of humour. Her voice suited her song “So I’ve Had A Little Work Done” was a treat to watch.

Prim and proper Ruth was brilliantly played by Claire Adams, who suffers with a philandering husband but has her own relationship with her Russian Friend, the Vodka bottle that enables her to discover her true identity. What a talented actress Ruth is.

Sylvia Taylor as retired teacher Jessie delivered her poignant song What Age Expects with grace and I’m sure it resonated with a lot of the audience. Well Done Sylvia.

Donna Turner was expertly prim and proper as the leader of the WI who is more concerned with her own and the group’s reputation and is not afraid to alienate herself or her teenage daughter Jenny played by Ana Taylor. Ana took on the role of a moody, rebellious teenager who feels controlled by her mum. She has a lovely singing voice and shows great potential for the future.

The cameo role of Lady Cravenshire was regally delivered by Jo Sykes whose looked every inch the Lady of the Manor and with clear and precise diction at all times would not be out of place in a period drama.

I can’t forget Nikki Leonard and Cath Brown as sisters Miss Wilson Tea and Miss Wilson Coffee who surprised everyone with their strategically covered bottoms to rapturous applause.

They say that behind every great female team are the men and they did not disappoint in this production. All of them were totally supportive of the women and each one brought a different dynamic to their character. Congratulations to Tim Guest, John Hewitt, Graeme Hemmingway, Macauley Welburn and Robert Gordon. I was particularly impressed to hear that Robert had built the stone wall set that added a different dimension of height to the stage. A special mention must go to Tyler Warren as Danny, who is a total natural on the stage. He showed a huge range of emotions and characters throughout and has a wonderful singing voice.

The ensemble worked hard in this show as members of the village and also doubling as stage crew, moving things on and off as needed. Well Done to all concerned.

Dean Patrick’s use of symbolism at the funeral of John is something that I will remember for a long time. Using the Maypole from the previous scene and lowering it into the orchestra pit as a coffin was inspired. Of course, the culmination of the hard work is the photo shoot for the calendar and this Dean directed this tastefully and elegantly. Every single woman on that stage should be commended and feel proud for what they achieved. The audience’s reaction to each of them said more than I ever could.

Under the musical direction of Wil Jones, the cast acted through song and the live band complimented them well. If I were to be picky, on occasions, the sound quality was too quiet which resulted in some lines being missed or parts of songs not heard fully over the band.

As the cast sang the final song, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. Congratulations to everyone involved in this superb production.

 

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