CALENDAR GIRLS - THE MUSICAL
Fantastic photos courtesy of Ian Lawson Photography
Reviewed by: Jim Briscoe on 6 July 2023
Venue: Little Theatre - Southport
Date: 5 - 8 July 2023
Type of Production: Musical
A Musical by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth
Originally Produced by David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers and The Shubert Organisation
Based on the play CALENDAR GIRLS written by Tim Firth and on the motion picture CALENDAR GIRLS written by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi.
Directed by Rob MacGregor & Dom Tolley
Musical Directors: Adam Dutch & Chris Seery
Calendar Girls’ a musical performed by Southport Spotlights Musical Theatre Society on Thursday 6th July, 2023 at The Little Theatre, Hoghton Street, Southport.
‘ONE MORE YEAR IN YORKSHIRE’ is the opening lyrics sung in Calendar Girls and I don’t think there are many people around the world who haven’t heard of the phenomenon that is the ‘Calendar Girls’ story! Based on a true story and a 2003 film of the same name, with music by Gary Barlow… lyrics by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth, and from a book penned by Tim Firth this is true story about a group of WI members from the Rylstone and District Branch in the Yorkshire Dales, who come together, after the death of one of their husbands John… who died at any early age from leukaemia. They want to raise money to replace a run-down, worn-out couch in the Airedale Hospital Waiting Room in John’s memory. These were women living ordinary lives who, like many other people, were suddenly confronted by the battle that happens when cancer strikes!
The Production Team… Rob MacGregor (Director) assisted by Dom Tolley, were the guys tasked with bringing this true, heart-felt story to the Little Theatre stage and what a job they made of it! It was obvious from the off that Rob and Dom knew exactly what they wanted from this production and with a wonderfully well-rehearsed cast at their disposal, every aspect was well thought out and delivered to perfection! A little bird told me that Rob had personal reasons for wanting to direct this production… all I can say Rob is that you ‘nailed it’ sir, be ever so proud of what you helped achieve here…. a fitting tribute! Adam Dutch (Musical Director) also had an assistant in the form of Chris Seery… between them, they did a fabulous job with the orchestration, which supported the singers ever so well ... well done guys, be ever so proud!
The Cast… the production opens with the song ‘YORKSHIRE’ led by ‘John’ – by the end of this number ‘every cast member’ was on stage and you just knew from the energy, enthusiasm, commitment that we were in for an amazing evening and we were not to be disappointed! This musical offers the cast the chance to create and develop so many identifiable characters, but what stood out and made this production ‘special’ wasn’t so much an individual character, all of whom were awesome by the way, but ‘the whole’… which was greater, in my opinion, than the individual… this was a great ensemble performance with everyone supporting each other, being on top of their game and creating great theatre as a result! But, having said all that, I do think it would be remiss of me not to give some individual ‘shout-outs’! There is no doubt that this production requires ‘six strong female leads’ and ‘Spotlights’ had chosen well… Janine Burrows took on the role of ‘Annie’ the devoted wife of John who dies. Emma Wells-Hall took on the role of ‘Chris’ the extrovert Florist. Toni Spofforth played ‘Cora’, the single parent, pianist, daughter of a clergyman and mum to ‘Tommo’. Dyan Ensenat played ‘Jessie’ the cheeky, strong lady, a retired teacher. Deborah Bloom played ‘Celia’ an ex-Air Hostess, bored trophy wife, who also plays a bit of golf and Jacqui Lewis who took on the role of ‘Ruth’ a ‘scone baker’ with ‘Russian friend’! What a ‘super six’ they were… all oozed stage presence and created six wonderfully interesting characters… individually great, together brilliant! On top of all that, they delivered or were involved in so many great numbers, with great vocals and some amazing harmonies…
I particularly enjoyed Janine’s rendition of ‘Kilimanjaro’ (if you’ve a minute, just check out the lyrics to this song… Gary Barlow excels), so emotional, one or two tears and an awful lot of goose bumps! Follow that with Emma’s version of ‘Sunflower’ which was up there with as good as it gets and then, Toni’s rendition of ‘Who Wants a Silent Night’ ‘polar opposite’ of ‘Sunflower’… again, listen to the lyrics… had me howling… congrats ladies, amazing work! The ‘six’ were supported ever so well by an enthusiastic ensemble that included Dom Tolley as ‘John’ … knocked it out the park Dom, be ever so proud sir! Karen Parkinson took on the role of ‘Marie’ the single mum and chair of the WI Group who has a daughter, ‘Jenny’, a ‘rebel’ schoolgirl who sees the light and joins the WI played ever so well by Helena Fletcher-Hill. Peter Forshaw smashed the role of ‘Rod’, the florist married to ‘Chris’ who between them produced a son in the form of ‘Danny’ played really well by Harry Corcoran, ‘Head Boy’ who never puts a foot wrong at school until he meets ‘the rebel’ that is Jenny! ‘Miss Tea’ and ‘Miss Coffee’… get themselves a ‘month’ in the calendar and were played really well by Amanda Shaw and Mia Seery respectively. ‘Denis’ married to ‘Celia’, the golf playing husband was played well be Brendan Gillow. Laura-Jane Palmer-Farrar took on the role of the boring WI Guest Speaker ‘Brenda Hulse’… a cameo role, which she made her own. Helen Pritchard played ‘Lady Cravenshire’ … the very posh, very wealthy, very upper-class presenter of prizes at the local fete, be proud Helen! ‘Tommo’, is the schoolboy, mentioned above, son of single parent ‘Cora’, played wonderfully well by Orlando Campolucci-Bordi… thinks ‘Celia’ is making a play for him, big mistake! Ricki Spofforth took on the role of ‘Lawrence’ the hospital porter who looks John in hospital… the freelance photographer who takes the Calendar photos! Making up this great cast we had Steve Pritchard who took on the role of ‘Colin’. Folks be ever so proud of what you all helped achieve… awesome job!
The Band… led with great aplomb by Adam Dutch (Musical Director) assisted by Chris Seery… they included David Wall (Keyboard1), Daniel Rankin (Keyboard2/guitar), Luke Percy (Bass), Mike McKay (Drums), Cliff Ray (Trumpet) and John Connolly (Trombone)… well done guys, great sound, accompanied the singers really well! Staging/Set/Tech… we entered the theatre to an ‘open stage’ with a backdrop of ‘rolling hills’ sweeping the entire width of the stage backed by a dark sky and a wonderfully bright lit ‘full moon’. A set of climbable stone steps ran from centre stage up the hills to off stage right, a small wall down stage right and a wooden gate down stage left with a hint of smoke meandering throughout, created this wonderfully atmospheric picture! This set would more or less stay in place for the entire show, the only changes… to open a book type flat, to create the interior of WI Community Hall, with chairs and tables added for effect and the setting up of the Waiting Room in the Hospital and the adding of ‘The Couch’… simple yet so very effective! Andrea Shacksmyth-Claire (Stage Manager/Lighting Design) and her Stage Crew: Alex McKillop, Corina Davies and Paul Shacksmyth-Claire with Ed McKillop our ‘Fly Man’ and James Settle on ‘Follow Spot’ did a wonderful job keeping the production moving. Slick/quiet scene changes allowed the production to flow … lighting was superb and added so much to the overall production! Matt Hughes (Sound and Sound Design) did a terrific job … congrats to all, great job throughout… enhanced everything!
Wardrobe … being watched over by Tanya Steel, was amazing and again enhanced the show!
Props… apt/well sourced and used well… congrats to Andrea Calver for keeping an eye on these!
Before I finish… I must highlight some MY ‘favourite’ lines from this production… of which there were many!
(ONE OR TWO I COULDN’T PRINT ... like “Crap, Shit, Bollocks” … not in a NODA Review!
But like… “If Jesus had had kids, the Bible would have been very different” I think quoted by Cora!
“Fully clothed until December when you lift the flap” - think Jessie uttered these gems!
“I Married you for Your Crazy Paving” – loved this line from Rod to wife Chris!
“Nudity, on a need to know basis” – think it was Colin to Denis and Rod!
“You Can’t Get Pregnant after a Curry” – “favourite line” - from Rob again to Chris about their son…
brought the house down…
Thank you so much for inviting my wife and I, it really is always a pleasure. Congrats also for raising, through donations, the amazing sum of £6,321.85 (and 1 Yen) for Blood Cancer UK during the show! Already looking forward to ‘ENCORE’ next February.
Stay safe and keep well
“Stronger Together”
Jim Briscoe