Very Revealing – The Calendar Girls at the Garrick!
Calendar Girls the Musical
By the Lichfield Operatic Society (LOS)
Lichfield Garrick main auditorium
Tuesday 2 July 2024
Review by Jono Oates
I’ll let you all into a little secret…on Monday evening I went to the dress rehearsal of Calendar Girls the Musical by the Lichfield Operatic Society…by the end of the first act I shed a few tears. On Tuesday evening I went to the first show of their five-day run at the Garrick. This time I was mentally prepared, I know what to expect, I steeled myself to be unemotional, cool, professional and objective…at the end of the first act…I shed more tears…
Appropriately this production runs 25 years after the original Calendar Girls story. Eleven members of the Rylstone and District Women’s Institute, based in North Yorkshire, raised over £6 million for the Blood Cancer UK charity by all posing in the nude for a raunchy calendar, via the demure auspices of the Women’s Institute. A husband of one of the members had sadly passed away after suffering from cancer and originally the WI ladies had wanted to raise just enough cash to pay for a new sofa in the waiting room of the hospital ward…not only did they raise enough money for a new sofa but also managed to raise a huge amount of money to assist with blood cancer research.
Their story touched the whole of the nation, and a copy of the calendar was even presented to the late Queen, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II! In 2003 a film version of their story was launched with an all-star cast including Dame Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, Penelope Wilton, Annette Crosbie and Celia Imrie. In 2012 Take That’s Gary Barlow and songwriter Tim Firth created the songs for a musical stage show, it premiered in November 2015, at, appropriately, the Grand Theatre in Leeds, Yorkshire.
The story follows the lives of the ladies in the Knapely WI (Knapely is fictional, the ‘real’ village of Kettlewell was used in the film version) after long-standing member Annie loses her husband, John Clarke, to leukaemia at an early age. Hoping to raise enough money for the new sofa, Annie and her best friend Chris decide on the idea of a nude calendar as an unusual means of raising the funds. When they mention the idea to the other WI ladies they are, to put it mildly, horrified and unwilling to take part. As the members start to bicker amongst themselves, and friends, and family loyalties are put to the test, will Annie and Chris be able to persuade them to reveal all?
This is another wonderful production by the Lichfield Operatic Society, and is a compulsive mixture of laughter, tears, tragedy, friendship, loyalty, pain, suffering and life-long friendships. The musical gently parodies the ‘Jerusalem and Jam’ of the WI conventions and if you’ve been a member of the WI (I haven’t obviously but I have been a guest history speaker at many Wis across the region so can definitely empathise!) or are one currently you will definitely giggle at many of the references, and the characterisation of committee members and the chairperson! This light-hearted banter is interspersed with very emotional scenes (hence my tears…) as John (Clarkey) becomes more and more ill from the cancer.
Reviewer’s opinions are divided about the show’s songs, I guess the partnership of Gary Balow and Tim Firth sets the bar of expectation very high, but in my opinion, there is more than enough to satisfy the appreciative, and knowledgeable, Lichfield audiences. The opening ensemble piece of ‘Yorkshire’ is a wonderful opening song, as is the closing ensemble ‘Sunflowers of Yorkshire’, a stirring and joyous singalong anthem, while the haunting ‘Kilimanjaro’ and the melancholy ‘My Russian Friend provide heart-felt ballads.
This is a very experienced LOS cast and their experience, and quality shines through like a beacon. Kate Pilling (who I reviewed first in South Pacific in 2017 – seems like yesterday!!) is excellent as the distraught widow Annie, I really loved the emotion and tenderness of her ‘Kilimanjaro’…guess what…I cried…Kate has an instant rapport with Dawn Welch as the feisty, but loyal best friend Chris. Heather Bustin, Lynne Hill, Natalie Whittlesey and Rebecca Bowley all provide wonderful support as the other Calendar Girls and Rebecca’s rendition of ‘My Russian Friend and I’ is lovely, the story of a lonely housewife’s love affair with a shot of vodka, or two. James Pugh, as terminally-ill husband John Clarke, only appears in Act One, but is another emotionally-charged performance as he moves from wise-cracking, mischievous tough Yorkshireman to a man reaching the final moments of his life. James could have chosen to wear a bald skull cap to represent the results of his character’s chemotherapy but decided to have his hair, and beard, shaved off to raise money for his nominated charity, the Brain Tumour Charity, a very generous gesture. The ensemble cast have a wealth of experience behind them, and a special mention to three of the younger members of the cast, Amy Adams as Jenny, a WI member of the future, Jacob Fear as Tommo and Ethan Bowley as his best mate Danny, lovestruck by Jenny and hoping to become the school’s head boy. Great comedic timing by the three of them and Jacob and Ethan have some of the best lines in the production, very funny! Ethan’s mum is Rebecca Bowley (Ruth) and dad Ian works behind the scenes at LOS – it’s a family affair for certain!
The ’reveals’ as each member of the WI ladies has their photographs taken by highly-embarrassed hospital porter Lawrence (Jon Barakat) is extremely funny, and got some of the biggest laughs of the night, a massive well done to the female cast members who bared all for the cause, heroes all.
Another star of the show is the stage! It is a specially-erected rotating stage, so that characters walk in to the middle of the stage and are ‘twirled’ round by the rotating mechanism. I think it must be quite tricky to manage as an actor (a bit like when you step on to, then off, one of those travelling walkways at an airport!) and it’s great fun watching the actors glide across the stage as if by magic. The set design is very imaginative and the revolving stage means that there are no big scene changes, meaning that the action moves along at a slick pace. Also, look out for the three male actors in the middle of the stage at the Village Fete event – their arms are whirling around, see if you can work out what they are mimicking!
Director Adam Lacey provides the perfect blend between comedy and tragedy, Charlotte Jervis oversees the versatile choreography, and David Easto is the musical director, if you sit near enough the front, you can see the orchestra in full flow, I love watching them too.
The Calendar Girls is a very watchable musical, and you laugh and cry with equal measure (well, I do of course!) and at times, you can hear a pin drop as 400 people fall silent. When Chris rants about her hatred of the dreaded cancer, the actors have to stop for a few moments as there is a spontaneous response of cheering and clapping form the audience. As the final sang closed, I was not at all surprised to hear the sound of seats springing backwards as the entire (full) house rose to their feet. Calendar Girls is truly uplifting and to me, is an unmissable show. Ticket sales are very strong so if you can find a spare seat or two, I would definitely book them while you can.
Calendar Girls by the Lichfield Operatic Society runs at the Lichfield Garrick main auditorium until Saturday 6 July. The show starts at 7.30pm nightly, with a matinee on Saturday 6 July at 2.30pm. Tickets start from £24.00 and can be booked by ringing the Box Office on 01543 412121, by calling in to the Box Office on Castle Dyke, during normal opening hours, or online at:
www.lichfieldgarrick.com/whats-on/all-shows/calendar-girls-lichfield-operatic-society/3300
