Calendar Girls | |
---|---|
The Musical | |
![]() Original West End promotional art | |
Music | Gary Barlow |
Lyrics | Gary Barlow Tim Firth |
Book | Tim Firth |
Basis | 2003 film Calendar Girls |
Premiere | 14 November 2015: Grand Theatre, Leeds |
Productions | 2015 Leeds 2016 Salford 2017 West End 2018 UK Tour |
Awards | 2017 Best Regional Production WhatsOnStage Awards |
Calendar Girls The Musical (previously titled The Girls) is a musical by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth, based on the 2003 film Calendar Girls , which is in turn based on a true story, and the original 2008 play adaptation by Firth.
Annie's husband John dies from leukaemia at an early age. Her close friend, Chris, wants to purchase a comfortable sofa for the visitors' lounge in the hospital where John was treated. She hits upon the idea of printing a calendar featuring some of the members of the Knapely branch of the Women's Institute, discreetly posing nude while engaged in traditional WI activities, such as baking and knitting, in order to raise funds. Her proposal is initially met with great scepticism, but she eventually convinces ten women to participate in the project with her. They enlist one of the hospital workers, an amateur photographer named Lawrence, to help them with the calendar.
The musical is based on the 2003 film Calendar Girls . The film itself was produced on a budget of $10 million, earning over $96 million in global box office receipts. [1] A stage play adaptation was launched in 2008 at the Chichester Festival Theatre, [2] before embarking on a national tour and transferring to the West End's Noël Coward Theatre in 2009. [3]
The musical originally made its world premiere under its original title The Girls at the Grand Theatre, Leeds running from 14 November to 12 December 2015, [4] followed by a transfer to The Lowry, Salford from 13 to 30 January 2016. The production was directed by Roger Haines and Tim Firth. [5]
Following the Leeds and Salford tryouts, the production transferred to London's West End at the Phoenix Theatre with an official opening night on 21 February 2017, with previews from 28 January 2017. [6] The production was directed by Tim Firth, with sets and costume design by Rob Jones, lighting by Tim Lutkin, musical staging by Lizzi Gee, comedy staging by Jos Houben, sound design by Terry Jardine and Nick Lidster for Autograph Design, assistant direction by Jack Ryder and James Robert Moore and projection design by Alex Uragllo, [7] [6] The production closed on 15 July 2017. [8]
In 2017 it was announced that the musical would embark a UK tour under a new title; Calendar Girls The Musical. [9] The tour opened on 16 August 2018 with a return visit to the Grand Theatre, Leeds and toured for 15 months until 23 November 2019, ending at the Chichester Festival Theatre (the originating theatre of the original play adaptation). [10] [11]
A new production, with revised score and book and produced by Bill Kenwright, is to begin a UK tour at the Theatre Royal, Windsor in August 2023. [12] The cast includes Tayna Franks, Maureen Nolan, Lyn Paul, Amy Robbins, Paula Tappenden, Marti Webb and Honeysuckle Weeks. [13]
|
|
The London Cast Recording was released on 9 March 2018. [14]
Character | Leeds and Salford | West End [15] [16] | UK tour [17] [18] | UK tour [13] |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | 2017 | 2018 | 2023 | |
Annie | Joanna Riding | Anna-Jane Casey Sarah Jane Buckley | Tanya Franks | |
Chris | Claire Moore | Rebecca Storm | Amy Robbins | |
Cora | Claire Machin | Karen Dunbar Lorraine Bruce Sue Devaney | Honeysuckle Weeks | |
Celia | Vivien Parry | Sophie-Louise Dann | Denise Welch Lisa Maxwell | Marti Webb |
Jessie | Sarah Kestelman | Michele Dotrice | Ruth Madoc Lesley Joseph | Lyn Paul |
Ruth | Debbie Chazen | Sara Crowe Julia Hills | Maureen Nolan | |
Marie | Harriet Thorpe | Marian McLoughlin | Fern Britton Judy Holt | Paula Tappenden Liz Carney |
John | James Gaddas | Phil Corbitt | Colin R Campbell | |
Rod | Joe Caffrey | Ian Mercer | ||
Dennis | Jeremy Clyde | Alan Stocks | ||
Doctor | John Davitt | |||
Brenda | Susan Fay | Soo Drouet | ||
Miss Wilson (coffee) | Karen West | Jenny Gayner | Ellie Leah | |
Miss Wilson (tea) | Shirley Jameson | Catherine Digges | ||
Lawrence | Steve Giles | |||
Colin | Stephen Boswell | Maxwell Hutcheon | Sebastian Aberneri | |
Lady Cravenshire | Judith Street | Pauline Daniels | ||
Tommo | Josh Benson | Tyler Dobbs | ||
Danny | Ben Hunter | Danny Howker | ||
Jenny | Chloe May Jackson | Isabel Caswell | ||
Ensemble | David Breeds | Frazer Hadfield | ||
Ensemble | Sarah Day | Jane Lambert | ||
Ensemble | Rebecca Louis |
Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | WhatsOnStage Awards [19] | Best Regional Production | Won | |
Laurence Olivier Award [20] | Best New Musical | Nominated | ||
Best Actress in a Musical | "The Girls" - Debbie Chazen, Sophie-Louise Dann, Michele Dotrice, Claire Machin, Claire Moore and Joanna Riding | Nominated | ||
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical | Ben Hunter | Nominated |
Me and My Girl is a musical with music by Noel Gay and its original book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose. The story, set in the late 1930s, tells of an unapologetically unrefined Cockney gentleman named Bill Snibson, who learns that he is the 14th heir to the Earl of Hareford. The action is set in Hampshire, and in Mayfair and Lambeth in London.
Gary Barlow is an English songwriter, singer, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the pop group Take That.
James Gaddas is an English actor best known for his roles in Coronation Street, Bad Girls, Doctors, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks.
Michele Dotrice is an English actress. She played Betty Spencer, the long-suffering wife of Frank Spencer, portrayed by Michael Crawford, in the BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, which ran from 1973 to 1978, and returned in 2016 for a special.
Jack Siegfried Ryder is an English actor, best known for playing Jamie Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders from 1998 to 2002. He has subsequently established himself as a film and theatre director.
The Phoenix Theatre is a West End theatre in the London Borough of Camden, located in Charing Cross Road. The entrances are on Phoenix Street and Charing Cross Road. The Phoenix Theatre was built on the site of a former factory and then music hall Alcazar before.
Tim Firth is an English dramatist, screenwriter and songwriter.
Joanna Riding is an English actress. For her work in West End musicals, she has won two Laurence Olivier Awards, and has been nominated for three others.
Calendar Girls is a stage play based on the 2003 film of the same name.
David Pugh is a West End and Broadway theatre producer.
Anna-Jane Casey is an English singer, dancer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre.
Evelyn Hoskins is an English actress best known for her role as Shona Wark in the British BBC1 hospital drama series Casualty.
Top Hat the Musical is a 2011 stage musical based on the 1935 film of the same name, featuring music & lyrics by Irving Berlin with additional orchestration by Chris Walker. The show opened on 16 August 2011 at the Milton Keynes Theatre, touring the United Kingdom before transferring to the Aldwych Theatre in London's West End. Top Hat won multiple 2013 Laurence Olivier Awards after receiving seven nominations. The musical closed in London on 26 October 2013, with a UK and Ireland tour commencing in August 2014.
Strictly Ballroom the Musical is a musical theatre adaptation of the 1992 film Strictly Ballroom. It is credited as being created by Baz Luhrmann with book by Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce adapted by Terry Johnson.
Greatest Days is a jukebox musical with music and lyrics by Take That and a book by Tim Firth. It received its world premiere under its original title The Band at the Manchester Opera House, in September 2017, before embarking on a UK and Ireland tour and opened at the Theatre Royal Haymarket at London's West End in December 2018. The band was cast through the 2017 BBC reality television show Let It Shine.
Jenny Gayner is an English actress, dancer and singer, who has played lead roles in a number of West End and touring theatre productions, including Chicago, The Rocky Horror Show, Spamalot, Singin' in the Rain, Legally Blonde and Relatively Speaking as well as performing in her own one-woman cabaret show, and starring in and producing horror film, The Addicted. She appeared with the cast of Chicago at the 2012 Summer Olympic countdown in London.
Claire Machin is a British actress, best known for her work in musical theatre.
Dan Burton is a British actor best known for his work in musical theatre. He trained at Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom, Surrey, England, and received an MA degree from Middlesex University, London.
Neil Hurst is an actor and presenter born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England best known for his television and stage theatre career.
A Different Stage is a one-man show with music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and a book by Tim Firth. The show received its world premiere, close to Barlow's home town of Frodsham, in Runcorn at The Brindley in February 2022 before embarking on a tour around the UK.