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Calendar Girls The Musical

Author: Helen Abraham

Information

Date
22nd September 2023
Society
In Your Face Theatre (Seaham)
Venue
Seaham Town Hall
Type of Production
Musical
Director
Jade-Leigh Hewitt
Musical Director
Jenni Watson

To start I must clarify there are simply not enough adjectives to describe how good this show was as a whole.  It was truly on a different level that isn’t as often seen in amateur theatre.  Every cast member contributed to what was a visually stunning performance, truly moving sentiment and some of the best theatre the region can offer. For the avoidance of doubt, I loved it!

First of all, Calander Girls the musical is a brave choice for any group and IYFTS have never been ones to shy away from shows which are potentially difficult.  The songs, penned by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth aren’t necessarily the catchiest, although the true story of the ladies of the WI raising money for a fantastic cause by posing for a nude calendar is incredible, then of course the obvious.  The cast going nude on stage is incredibly brave, takes delicate and careful handling and choreography to preserve the dignity of the cast whilst delivering the performance.  Jade -Leigh Hewitt as director did an utterly sterling job in delivering all of these.  She managed to really lift the script from the page and provide to the audience a believable cast of characters, whom you felt you knew and could empathise with their lives, trials and tribulations.  Rather than simply having the cast playing their parts she made them your friends, your colleagues, your family and you travelled their journey as the show went on.  incredible job Jade, well done.

Musically, the direction was lead by Jenni Watson, one of the most busy people on this planet!  Always dependable, the somewhat difficult score was very well rehearsed, with a well-controlled band who never once overpowered the performers on stage.  Kudos also goes to Duncan Baxter on sound who did an excellent job of levelling and managing the sound throughout.

It’s a tough venue at Seaham Town Hall at the best of times.  Poorly designed open area, a stage and rigging which has to be physically constructed each and every time, a low ceiling meaning lighting angles are tough, but IYFTS as always thought outside of the box in their staging.  A simple fixed set was used with a bright Yorkshire backdrop, clean smooth scene changing by the cast, lots of carefully placed props (!) and only utilising what’s necessary was perfect to bring this to life.

The casting was perfect.  It’s sometimes easy to become fixated on the real people being portrayed and although it’s tempting to strictly cast them in mirror images of the original inspiring women, it’s not necessary to bring a real believable production to life.  Every one of these performers were perfect in their roles with an excellent ensemble to support them.

It was lovely to see Alexandra Cox making her stage comeback as Chris.  Her humour, delivery and timing were superb, her vocal performance was gorgeous, and she’s been a big miss to the stage in the area.  Welcome back and excellent placement of those gardening gloves!  The consistently brilliant Norma Ord played Jessie, entertaining us all with her solid performance, humour and I was tickled by her knitting attempts on stage!  Charlie Younger performed as Annie, and Kilimanjaro was absolutely beautifully executed with wonderful storytelling through song.  Wendy Hindmarch always dazzles consistently, but her take on Cora was really quite beautifully performed, and her timing was superb.  Janet Brown, an incredible character actor played Ruth and her rendition of My Russian Friend and I really resonated with the audience bringing on fresh bouts of tears.  Utterly gorgeous Janet.  Josephine Allen played a beautiful Celia with a supporting delicate vulnerability and Shirley Spoors as Marie gave just the right level of contrast needed to bring the core group to life, blooming marvellous job all of you!

The youth at IYFTS are incredible and three of them joined the adult cast playing the school children and they were utterly marvellous.  Nathan Johnson, always incredible in what he applies himself to played Danny, Emily Kerr, one of the strongest youth performers in the region played Jenny and the versatile and hilarious Harris Miller played Tommo.  All of them gave a wonderful amount of light and support to the main cast, delivering the scenes they were in and had the audiences in the palm of their hands.  Fabulous young performers and I suspect we will see great things from all three of them.

Supporting named cast members were David Hardy as John who even shaved his head for the role and had a beautiful voice in the opening song, Paul Pearson as Rod, Steven Norman as Dennis, Peter Baker as Lawrence and Bill Pickard as Colin all of whom did a sterling job.  I loved the busy Christmas scene, and the tug of war was hilarious.  John’s death was beautifully done, without cliché and audiences were in the palm of the cast’s hands.

All in all this show was second to none.  Truly exceptional.  I could go on and on about it and suspect I will be for some time!  Well done every one of you.  it was a joyous uplifting production and I’m proud of you all.

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