Calendar Girls the Musical

A fabulous cast and a great storyline are the right ingredients for a grand night out.

The touching story of The Calendar Girls is a familiar one for those of a certain age and after being turned into a film, the musical has followed.

Stopping off on its UK tour, at Glasgow’s King’s Theatre, until Saturday 24^th February, the show is light, colourful and full of joy.

Written by ex-Take That singer, Gary Barlow and dramatist Tim Firth, the strong cast features Laurie Brett, aka Eastender’s Jane Beale as Annie, Maureen Nolan from the world famous sister act, playing Ruth, Lyn Paul of the band New Seekers fame, as Jessie and Foyle’s War star Honeysuckle Weeks starring as Cora.

They are joined by Liz Carney (Marie), Hollyoaks actress Helen Pearson (Celia) and Samantha Seager (Chris), with Colin R Campbell (John) and Andrew Tuton, making his professional debut as Rod. Ensemble Jayne Ashley, Lucas August and Victoria Hay complete the impressive line-up.

Set in an idyllic village hall in the heart of Yorkshire, the story centres on the ladies of the Knapely Women’s Institute, who rally round when Annie’s husband John dies of leukaemia.

Eager to fund raise for the local hospital to buy a replacement sofa in the relative’s room, the women come up with a novel plan.

In a bid to dispel the WI reputation of dusty old women talking about teapots and cake recipes, they hit on the idea of a nude calendar to liven up the tasks.

And so, the fun begins. Using a sunflower to bring sunshine into their fund-raising, the women abandon their daily lives and strip off to produce the calendar, with their stirring song “Yorkshire” at the forefront of the campaign.

The band under the direction of musical director, Jordan Alexander join in the happy mood with a rousing performance to accompany the excellent singing from the star cast.

This feel good show directed by Jonathan O’Boyle has it all, a colourful set, toe-tapping songs and strong acting and is a great way to keep the story, which has raised more than £5million for blood cancer research, going 24 years after it began.

You can check out ticket availability for the nightly performances of Calendar Girls at 7:30pm or the matinee at 2:30pm until Saturday at King’s Theatre, Glasgow via www.atgtickets.com, before the show moves to Aylesbury Waterside Theatre from 19^th to 23^rd March and then rounding off its UK tour at the New Theatre, Woking from 26^th to 30^th March 2024.

Author Bio:

Rebecca Hay is an experienced travel writer and member of The British Guild of Travel Writers. Follow her adventures with her family on Twitter and Instagram @emojiadventurer and on Facebook via EmojiAdventurers2.

Photograph courtesy of Calendar Girls the Musical