| Bad Girls | |
|---|---|
| The Musical | |
 Bad Girls Original Poster | |
| Music | Kath Gotts |
| Lyrics | Kath Gotts |
| Book | Maureen Chadwick Ann McManus |
| Basis | ITV television series Bad Girls |
| Productions | 2006 Leeds 2007 West End 2016 Off-West End 2019 Camden |
Bad Girls: The Musical is a stage musical based on the ITV prison drama series Bad Girls, with a book by Maureen Chadwick and Ann McManus, and music and lyrics by Kath Gotts. [1]
The original production was developed and directed by Maggie Norris. Auditions were at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds in June 2006. The West End production began previews at the Garrick Theatre on August 16, 2007, and officially opened on September 12, 2007. The show closed two months later with the final performance staged on November 17, 2007. Nicole Faraday, who played the role of Shell Dockley in both productions, won the prestigious TMA Award for Best Supporting Role in a Musical in 2006 [2] and was nominated again for the role of Shell at the Whatsonstage.com Awards 2007/8.[ citation needed ]
Professional revivals have been staged at the Union Theatre, London (March 9 – April 2, 2016) and Upstairs At The Gatehouse, London (February 13 – March 3, 2019), again starring Nicole Faraday in the role of Shell Dockley.
An original cast recording was released in 2008. A DVD recording of the original West End production was released in February 2009.
Rachel Hicks arrives at Larkhall Prison. She meets prison officers Sylvia Hollamby and Jim Fenner, wing governor Helen Stewart, and the other women of Larkhall ("I Shouldn't Be Here"). Fenner behaves in a friendly manner to Rachel, who is distraught over having her baby removed from her custody.
Rachel is visited by Shell Dockley and her sidekick Denny Blood, who introduce Rachel to life in prison. Shell offers Rachel her protection ("Guardian Angel"). Rachel tells Fenner about the encounter but is brushed off.
Governor Helen places Nikki Wade, a long-term inmate, on an enhanced regime [lower-alpha 1] as incentive to win an appeal. Fenner and Sylvia disagree with the decision but congratulate themselves on their skills ("Jailcraft"). During the performance, Fenner communicates with Number One, the governor in charge of Larkhall Prison, regarding his lack of faith in Helen's abilities.
During the transportation of Nikki, a fight breaks out between Nikki and Shell. Nikki is blamed and put in segregation where she laments the events that placed her in prison ("One Moment"). Helen visits Nikki and reinstates her enhanced status. Helen relays the bad news to Julie Saunders and Julie Johnston that Saunder's child has been taken into foster care. Johnston is unsurprised ("Life of Grime").
Yvonne Atkins arrives, who Shell perceives as a threat to her standing in the prison. Yvonne has successfully smuggled in alcohol and cigarettes and the inmates have an impromptu party. The alcohol prompts Nikki to flirt with Helen, who rebuffs her.
It is revealed that Fenner is a sexual predator who sneaks into inmate's rooms after hours ("The Key"). He assaults Shell and then forces his way into Rachel's room. The following morning, Rachel is found hanged in her cell. The unsympathetic behaviour of the prison officers prompts a protest ("That's The Way It Is") which escalates into an all-out riot.
After the riot, the inmates are on lockdown, and lament their confinement ("Freedom Road"). Fenner convinces Number One to offer him the job of wing governor ("The Future Is Bright"), but Helen is prepared to fight for her job at tribunal.
The lockdown ends and after a power struggle, Shell and Denny are assigned to the canteen, prompting a hunger strike led by Yvonne. Helen negotiates for Julie to speak to her son, and she confessed to lying about where she is ("Sorry").
Nikki visits Helen in her office. After a tense encounter, interrupted by Justin, they both individually struggle with their feelings for each other ("Every Night"). Justin visits Helen's home, where she rebuffs his advances and confesses that Nikki got under her skin.
Back at the prison, Yvonne befriends Denny and tells the Julies of her attraction to Justin ("All Banged Up"). Drugs are found at the prison in Shell's possession, planted by Fenner in an attempt to discredit Helen. She decides to join Justin and Nikki's attempt to save Helen's career ("The Baddest And The Best").
Shell, Nikki and Justin embark on a sting to catch Fenner where Shell has to seduce him ("First Lady"). It succeeds, but Shell also sets fire to the cell ("The Baddest And The Best (Reprise)").
There's a celebration for Denny's 21st birthday, and Yvonne has arranged a fireworks display. Nikki and Helen confess their feelings for each other ("This Is My Life"). A helicopter appears –Yvonne has arranged for a prison break using her husband's criminal connections. She takes Denny with her to "serve their time" in Spain.
The musical features a mix of adapted television characters and original creations. Helen Stewart, Nikki Wade, Shell Dockley, Denny Blood, Crystal Gordon, Noreen Biggs, the two Julies, and Yvonne Atkins all appear in the television series. Dominic McAllister's name was changed to Justin Mattison for the musical, however the character is exactly the same from throughout the television show.
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Four former cast members of Bad Girls feature in the West End musical, with Helen Fraser as Sylvia "Bodybag" Hollamby and Maria Charles as Noreen Biggs reprising their original roles from the television series. Nicole Faraday, who plays Shell Dockley in the musical, played Snowball Merriman in Series 4 and 5 of Bad Girls and Laura Rogers, who plays the part of Wing Governor Helen Stewart played the role of drug addict inmate, Sheena Williams in Series 7.
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This is the final song list for the production at the Garrick Theatre which differs slightly to the audition at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. For example, the song "P-P-P-Please" that featured in the Leeds run was cut from the West End Production. The second number, "An Angel Like You", in Leeds, was rewritten as "Guardian Angel" for the West End.
A cast album from the West End was recorded for First Night Records and released in 2008. [4]
Bad Girls is a British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1 June 1999 until 20 December 2006. It was created by Maureen Chadwick and Ann McManus of Shed Productions, who initiated the idea of developing a series primarily focusing on the inmates and staff of the fictional women's prison, Larkhall, located in the South London region. Following the success of previous series Within These Walls and the Australian-imported Prisoner: Cell Block H, both of which screened on ITV, Bad Girls was commissioned by the network and was viewed as a realistic, modern portrayal of life in a women's prison. The series featured a large ensemble cast, including Linda Henry, Claire King, Simone Lahbib, Mandana Jones, Debra Stephenson, Jack Ellis, Alicya Eyo, Helen Fraser, Kika Mirylees, Victoria Alcock, James Gaddas, Victoria Bush, Dannielle Brent and Liz May Brice.
Alicya Eyo is an English actress, best known for her roles as Denny Blood in the ITV prison drama series Bad Girls and Ruby Haswell in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.
Deborah Lee Duffield, known professionally as Debra Stephenson, is an English actress, comedian, impressionist and singer, best known for her roles as Diane Powell in Playing the Field (1999–2000), Shell Dockley in Bad Girls and as Frankie Baldwin in Coronation Street (2004–2006).
Helen Fraser is a retired English actress, who has appeared in many television series since the early 1960s. For international audiences, she may be best known for her roles in Billy Liar (1963) and Repulsion (1965). She is also well known in Britain for portraying the role of miserable warder Sylvia Hollamby in the prison drama series Bad Girls. She appeared in the series from the first episode in 1999 until the last in 2006.
Nicole Faraday, is a TMA Award-winning actress, best known for her leading roles on British television series Bad Girls, Casualty and Emmerdale.
Tracey Wilkinson is an English actress primarily known for her role as Di Barker in the series Bad Girls. She joined the prison drama in Series 2 as a caring prison officer new to G-Wing, but by the end of her time on the programme in Series 7 Di was herself behind bars in the prison in which she had served as an officer, accused of murdering her second husband, corrupt Wing Governor, Jim Fenner - though she was in fact innocent of the crime.
James Graham "Jim" Fenner is a fictional character in the British television series Bad Girls, portrayed by Jack Ellis. The character was a prominent feature on the show for seven series, and played the role of a prison officer, temporary prison governor and a villainous figure who schemed and made life for inmates difficult. He was at one point imprisoned for death by dangerous driving but was released when his wife, Di Barker, falsified evidence to clear his name. He returned to his job at Larkhall as G-Wing Governor, and shortly before his death was promoted to Acting Governing Governor. Ellis left Bad Girls at the end of the seventh series when his character was murdered by inmate Julie Johnston.
Helen Modern is an English actress best known for her recurring role as Naomi in British sitcom, Respectable on Five. She trained at the School of Drama at Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University. In 2006 she also starred in the eighth series of ITV1 drama Bad Girls as inmate Stella Gough, the daughter of Governing Governor Joy Masterton. As well as her featured roles in Respectable and Bad Girls, Helen has also had a recurring role in BBC One daytime soap opera, Doctors (2005) as Diane Bishop and various roles in No Angels, Wire in the Blood, The Chase and Messiah - The Harrowing with Ken Stott and Maxine Peake.
Michelle "Shell" Dockley is a fictional character from the award-winning prison drama series Bad Girls. She is portrayed by British actress Debra Stephenson. Shell was one of the lead characters in the series. Shell appeared from the first episode in Series 1 until the last episode of Series 3, and returned for the first four episodes of Series 5. Dockley is the most feared inmate of the prison's ‘G Wing’, and commits several crimes, including smuggling drugs into the prison, stabbing prison officer Jim Fenner, and planning for Denny to set Snowball Merriman's hair on fire.
Sylvia Violet Hollamby is one of the longest-running characters in the award-winning prison drama series Bad Girls. Portrayed by Helen Fraser from the first episode in 1999 until the last in 2006, Hollamby was the longest-serving prison officer on the show with convicts Julie Johnston and Julie Saunders being the only other characters to remain for all eight series.
Yvonne Atkins is a fictional character from the award-winning prison drama series Bad Girls. Portrayed by Linda Henry, Yvonne first appeared in the finale episode of Series 1. She played a prominent role in Series 2, 3, 4 and 5 as Top Dog of G-Wing, until she was murdered by Jim Fenner in the last episode of Series 5.
Natalie Buxton is a fictional character in the prison drama series, Bad Girls, portrayed by Dannielle Brent during the last three series. She mainly featured in an antagonistic role and was killed off towards the end of the final series. She subsequently returned as a ghost in the 2006 Christmas Special, which was also the series finale. The role was originally offered to Danniella Westbrook.
The first series of Bad Girls premiered on ITV on 1 June 1999, and ended on 3 August 1999. It consists of ten episodes. The show was produced by Shed Productions as part of Shed Media. After the first episode aired, the show became an instant hit in the United Kingdom. The show also became successful in several countries including the United States, Australia and Republic of Ireland.
The second series of Bad Girls began on ITV on 4 April 2000. The first episode, "Tug of Love", opened with 9.44 million viewers. The ninth episode of series two, "The Leaving", was the highest-rated episode of the entire run of the series between 1999 and 2006, with 9.49 million viewers. The second series ended on 4 July 2000; it consists of 13 episodes.
Bad Girls returned to ITV with its third series on 20 March 2001 and ended on 3 July 2001. It consists of 16 episodes.
The fourth series of Bad Girls was broadcast on ITV from 28 February 2002, concluded on 13 June 2002 and featured 16 episodes.
The fifth series of Bad Girls was broadcast on ITV from 8 May 2003 and concluded on 21 August 2003, it was the third and final series to feature 16 episodes.
The sixth series of British drama series Bad Girls premiered on 14 April 2004. It consists of twelve episodes. The first four episodes were broadcast on Wednesday nights, with episode five moved to Monday and episodes six to eight broadcast over consecutive nights beginning the following Monday. After a 12-week hiatus, the remaining episodes of the series were screened Monday nights and concluded on 23 August 2004.
The seventh series of British drama series Bad Girls premiered on ITV on 10 May 2005. The series concluded on 19 December 2005 with a Christmas Special. Series Seven consists of thirteen episodes.