A MUSICAL celebration of life, Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s newly re-imagined Calendar Girls received rapturous applause when it opened at Windsor Theatre Royal.
It tells a story of tragedy and loss that gives way to joy and hope, and leaves its audience with a sunshine yellow glow.
Any woman of a certain age, who has ever doubted herself or her body shape, can feel embraced by it.
But anyone who has loved, lost, and grieved, can also enjoy this heartwarming story of an ordinary group of Yorkshire women whose friendship turns tragedy to triumph.
Annie, Ruth, Jessie, Chris, Marie, Celia and Cora are all members of the Women’s Institute.
The year for them is usually punctuated by a seasonal round of jam-making, crafts and flower arranging, until cancer strikes.
Then, iced buns, fruit scones, and teapot embroidery lose their significance, and the women strive instead to do something to remember and honour their beloved John.
They decide to create a calendar with a difference, and their idea, and the passion behind it, leads the women on a journey they hadn’t expected.
It’s a true story.
The original Yorkshire calendar girls’ heroic response to the death of WI member Angela’s husband John Baker in 1998 is now legendary, and has raised more than £6 million for Blood Cancer UK.
Their revealing efforts led to the making of the film Calendar Girls in 2003, written by Tim Firth, which was followed in 2008 by his stage version.
In 2014 he and Gary Barlow reworked the story into a musical that enjoyed success at the West End’s Phoenix Theatre, followed by a tour of the UK and Ireland in 2018 and 2019.
This is a new production, with a re-imagined book and new music, and it is superb.
Additional score from Dan Keen adds humour and pathos to the story, and the script is funny, sprinkled with Yorkshire dialect, and punctuated with beautifully written music and libretto.
Speech slides effortlessly into song as conversations weave in and around the melodies.
A tour de force, it requires musical excellence from every member of its cast.
Tanya Franks as Annie, Maureen Nolan as Ruth, Lyn Paul as Jessie, Amy Robbins as Chris, Paula Tappenden as Marie, Marti Webb as Celia, and Honeysuckle Weeks as Cora, are all excellent.
As are Colin R Campbell as John and Graham MacDuff as Rod, and support ensemble, Jayne Ashley, Liz Carney, Victoria Hay, and Andrew Tuton.
With easy professionalism, and what looks like a genuinely supportive friendship between the cast, they carry each other through a show that reveals more than emotions.
On the subject of nudity, this is managed with charm and class, and serves to display only the beauty and the courage of its cast.
Jonathan O’Boyle’s direction and movement from Jos Houben are both excellent, with characters intelligently observed, and precise, yet wholly natural movements carefully choreographed.
The production is visually marvellous too.
Nick Richings’ lighting design and Gary McCann’s set both deserve special mention.
Clever use of perspective seems to double the size of the hall where the women meet.
Its big windows open onto the Dales behind, where, with painterly skill, Yorkshire skies are spread out, their colours fading into each other as seasons, times of day, and moods shift.
It’s a beautiful, uplifting production, in which the memory of John Baker definitely lives on.
And royalties from the show continue to support Blood Cancer UK.
See it tonight (Friday) or tomorrow, September 15 or 16 at Windsor Theatre Royal before it begins its national tour.
Doors open at 7.30pm on both nights, with a matinée on Saturday at 2.30pm.
Tickets cost £27 and £35.
For tickets and information, visit: www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk or call the box office on: 01753 853888
