Calendar Girls The Musical

There is little that I can add to the wealth of information written about the show in the splendid programme you’ve produced for this rather special musical. The story is inspirational and the audience leave the theatre filled with admiration, not only for the women from Yorkshire who first thought of the daring idea as a way to raise funds for the Leukaemia/Lymphoma Research, but also for the women today who are prepared to go on stage and ‘bare all’ to retell the story.

The set was terrific. The revolving truck represented three different locations and no detail was spared. The garden was pretty, the flower shop well stocked and the village Hall complete with piano was the epitome of village halls all over the country. The truck appeared to rotate without too much effort on the ladies part.

‘Yorkshire’ was a catchy opening number and the wonderful cross section of characters on stage was established quickly in that first scene.

In the role of John, Michael Wood was perfect and was utterly credible as a man with a strong spirit but who was sadly losing the fight against his illness. His diction was notable.

Lisa Rose Michael, who played his wife Annie, gave an accomplished performance and has a lovely singing voice, but unfortunately from time to time it was not always possible to hear her words because of the volume of the band.

The ladies involved in the Calendar were strong in their respective roles and all had good vocal ability.

Maria Longford was exceptionally good as the strong-minded Cora, and as Celia, Emily was matchless!

Eddie gave a first rate performance as Rod, as did Penny Thatcher playing his wife Chris, and Neil Gibson was a perfect foil for Emily as her rather pompous husband Denis.

Freya Wall had a nice little cameo part as Lady Cravenshire and Zak, Izzy and Charlie all gave confident performances in their respective roles. When Izzy first came on stage her dialogue was inaudible as she was speaking upstage. Zak had a lovely poignant scene when he confronted his mother about the calendar and her part in it.

 I loved the two ladies who appeared to be fully dressed -- until they turned their backs and walked upstage!

The musical has a large cast and whilst I can’t go through every single character those taking part should know that they all gave performances that were commendable.

 

The photography session was especially funny and the Village Hall decked out for Christmas was wonderfully colourful.

Setting the hospital waiting room, with the all-important sofa, in the auditorium worked well as did the super idea of the ladies being positioned in the audience for the WI Conference.

I really enjoyed all of the musical numbers, ‘What Age Expects’ and ‘My Russian Friend and I’, the three men’s ‘Girls’, so many more, and there were some incredibly moving moments in the show.

Properties were spot on and the costumes were appropriate for the time and the diverse characters represented – a wonderful cross section of any female organisation.

The technical team worked well.

Jake led his musicians strongly and, they provided a balanced accompaniment for the soloists. Unfortunately there were moments when the volume was too loud, especially from the percussion section.

Polly’s direction was brilliant and together with the talented cast and terrific set we were transported to the small Yorkshire village for the evening.

The programme is a masterpiece and should definitely be entered into the NODA Poster/Programme competition. I was impressed that absolutely everyone entered into the spirit of the production – well done!

Thank you for inviting me to see ‘Calendar Girls’ which was a most entertaining musical, and also for your kind hospitality on the evening.

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