This week, all the ingredients are in place for a wonderful night out at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, as we are treated to Tim Firth’s stage adaptation of the inspirational true story of the ‘Calendar Girls’.

The day that the original group of ladies from a Womens Institute in Yorkshire came up with the idea of posing ‘nude’ for an alternative WI Calendar, was surely a day to go down in the history books. Raising a few pounds for Leukemia Research was their aim; the outcome has been over 3 million pounds raised to-date and along the way, pleasure and enjoyment have been brought to so many through the subsequent film and stage play of their genuinely thrilling success.

There is unbridled pleasure to be drawn from this great production of Calendar Girls and yet it acknowledges right from the start that within this story, tragedy and comedy must sit side by side; for it was when one of the WI ladies lost her beloved husband to leukemia, that the group came together to support her and to put their energies into positive fund raising.  Jack Ryder’s direction enables us to move easily from hysterical laughter in one scene to simplicity and silence in the next which is made all the more powerful by the direct contrast.

Having said that, the evening is primarily one long run of laughter delivered by a very talented cast with some terrifically funny one-liners that will stay in the memory for some time to come. Lynda Bellingham is excellent as the driven and ambitious Chris, a role she originated in the West End back in 2008. Jan Harvey plays Annie, the bereaved wife, and the friendship between these two women is established from the outset, as they giggle their way through a WI talk entitled, ‘The Study of Broccoli’. Lovely comedy characters are also provided by Jennifer Ellison as Cora, June Watson as Jessie, Rula Lenska as Celia and Debbie Chazen as Ruth, all daring to face up to the more set in her ways WI organiser, Marie, played beautifully by Ruth Madoc. Although this production is more female dominated for obvious reasons, the men make fine contributions; John Labanowski as Rod, Bruno Langley as the photographer, and special mention to Joe Mcgann, as John, for a very touching performance indeed.

The truth of this tale is a joyous one. The original WI Ladies brought such positivity from tragic circumstances, posing in such a tastefully bare fashion to raise a little money for a good cause – a little that has turned out to be such a lot!  At the same time they have revolutionised the image of the WI. This stage adaptation is an hysterically funny version of events that never loses sight of the underlying sadness that inspired it and reinspires faith in the human race.

Award winning producers, David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers have announced this will be the final tour before the amateur rights are released, so make sure you get along to this hugely successful production and share a truly uplifting evening that will warm the heart and let the laughter ring out.

The Tour continues:
Monday 21 - Saturday 26 November

Liverpool Empire Theatre
Lime Street
LIVERPOOL
0844 871 3017

Monday 28 November - Saturday 3 December

Richmond Theatre
The Green
RICHMOND
0844 871 7651

If Glasgow’s Theatre Royal is currently hosting the stage version of the archetypal girl power Chick Flick (Legally Blonde), then The Kings have gone one better with this stage adaptation of the hit “woman-power” film, Calendar Girls.

Based on the real-life story of a band of women from the WI who set about to raise funds for charity in response to one of their husbands being diagnosed with Leukaemia, this is a play full of poignant emotion. However the memorable factor that most audiences will take away is the humour.

With Lynda Bellingham returning to the role she originated on stage as Chris, the friend of the recently widowed Annie (played with grace and a real believability by the wonderful Jan Harvey) we get to see her back at her best. After years of presenting as a “Loose Woman” it was good to see Ms Bellingham showing her talent as an actress again. With a great rapport between these two leads the friendship of the characters was made to feel so real to the audience that you really invest in their journey throughout the show. Jennifer Ellison is another returnee to the touring production, this time strangely in the role of Cora – a part which she looks a bit too young for, but handles the humour well. Rula Lenska as trophy wife Celia also has some great killer lines (as well as some killer heels – amongst other assets!) as the “lush” of the group. The small moment where she reveals some of the sadness in her life is a great chance for Ms Lenska to wipe the memories of her strange appearance on Celebrity Big Brother and remind us of her acting talents.

June Watson as the “elder stateswoman” of the group is a revelation. Her dry put-downs and sarcasm provide some of the funniest moments of the show exceeded only by the scene staging the infamous calendar shoot!). And in mentioning the calendar shoot, it would be remiss of me not to mention Debbie Chazen as Ruth. who definitely steals that particular scene, a meek and mild-mannered character with a heart of gold who seems to always be taken advantage of. Ms Chazen, best known for comedy sketch shows, shows a subtlety of performance in certain scenes that draw the audience into her story and I think both her moments of strength in the show gained the biggest applause from the audience on the opening night. With great support from Ruth Madoc as aspiring social climber (ie. snob!) and head of WI branch Marie and cameos from Jane Lambert and Camilla Dallerup this is a formidable line up of ladies.

The men are due a mention too – for a show aimed at the female market it is refreshing to see the men portrayed in a good light (although the script was written by a man – the very witty Tim Firth). Joe McGann provides a very warm and touching performance as the likable John, the ill-fated husband. John Labanowski as Rod carries on this style as husband to the pushy Chris and Bruno Langley also has two very different cameos as the shy photographer Lawrence, and pushy Ad Man, Liam.

The set design is not only clever technically, but it’s simple style combined with Jack Ryder’s direction keep the pace of this production moving along nicely – and for this current touring cast’s opening night, it certainly appeared to be a very smooth ride.

This play has toured previously and it is constantly refreshed by the changing of cast members – and although many plays of that set up can fall foul of the “famous names/stunt casting” trap, this production proves that using famous names can work well – especially when they are as talented as Lynda Bellingham and company.

You can catch this talented cast at the Kings Theatre Glasgow until 3^rd September or on tour until December (see www.seecalendargirls.com for details).

Performances:

Mon – Sat eves 7.30pm

Wed, Thu & Sat mats 2.30pm

Tickets: £11.50 - £27.50

Box Office: 08448 717 648(bkg fee)   web: www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow

Calendar Girls has become the most successful play ever to tour the United Kingdom and has taken more at the box office than the original film with ticket sales in excess of £21 million.  Following an award winning West End run, Calendar Girls is now touring the country and stars Lynda Bellingham, along with Jan Harvey, Michelle Collins, Ruth Madoc, Debbie Chazen and June Watson.

A group of ordinary women, members of a very ordinary Yorkshire WI, spark a global phenomenon by persuading one another to pose for a charity calendar with a difference! As interest snowballs, the Calendar Girls find themselves revealing more than they’d ever planned…

Original star of Calendar Girls, Lynda Bellingham plays Chris, the instigator of the calendar, with great exuberance and comedy timing. She continues to present ITV’s popular afternoon chat show Loose Women. Other credits include the long running series of OXO television ads and Helen Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small. Lynda grew up in Aylesbury and carried out the ‘topping out’ ceremony at the new theatre. She was very much looking forward to performing at the Waterside saying “This is a wonderful new theatre and the beginning of a new era of entertainment for Aylesbury. I will be so proud to stand on stage in my home town in such a magnificent venue”

In the show, Jan Harvey plays Annie, Chris’ best friend, whose husband dies from cancer, which triggers the idea of a nude calendar. Jan played Jan Howard in the BBC’s long running Howard’s Way. Other television credits include the BBC action series Bugs as well as Babs Woods in Family Affairs.

Michelle Collins is probably best known as Cindy Beale in EastEnders, a role she played for 11 years. Other credits include the TV series Real Women, Sunburn and Two Thousand Acres Under the Sky.  In Calendar Girls, she plays Cora and I was pleasantly surprised to see that she can not only do a very good Yorkshire accent, but was very believable and has a good singing voice.

 Ruth Madoc, best known as Gladys Pugh in Hi-De-Hi has more recently been seen on our screens as Dafydd’s mother in Little Britain.   Ruth plays the rather pretentious Marie, who opposes the calendar, but is eventually won around by its success.

Debbie Chazen’s recent credits include Annie in the BBC comedy The Smoking Room and a whole host of comic creations in the BBC sketch show Tittybangbang. In Calendar Girls, she plays the very put-upon Ruth, whose husband is cheating on her, but finally gets the courage to find her voice.

Some of the biggest laughs of the night go to June Watson, who plays the older, more serious character of Jessie.  She is one of the UK’s most versatile actresses and can frequently be seen on our screens. A few of her many credits include series of Strictly Confidential, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and Brotherly Love.

Kathryn Rooney, Susan Bovell, Mikyla Dodd, John Labanowski, Michael Peluso and Colin Tarrant complete the cast.

It was a very entertaining and lively production, showing that  the predominately female audience really are crying out for more theatre and TV shows based around real women in real situations.  This truly is a very heart-warming true story and the very clever use of costumes and props in the photo shoot scene, was extremely funny.  These ladies prove that life really does begin at 40!

For details of the tour dates visit www.seecalendargirls.com

Next at the Waterside, it's the Rocky Horror Show and for tickets visit www.ambassadortickets.com/aylesbury or call 0844 871 7665.

Yvonne Delahaye

The cheeky movie based on real life events takes a second national tour as a play with an A-list cast, a light-hearted yet poignant script and some brilliant ‘laugh out loud’ one-liners.

Life can be stranger than fiction, it is said.  Who could imagine, for example, that a group of women (who are not classic beauties by any means) could produce a nude calendar which might sell in its thousands to raise millions for a local hospital?  And wouldn’t it be even stranger if the connection between these pioneering women was the Women’s Institute – famed more for sponge cake sales and jam making than soft porn?  Life can be funny that way, and even funnier in the hands of scriptwriters Juliette Towhidi and Tim Firth, who’s clearly defined quirky characters and ‘knock em dead’ one-liners had the audience in stitches.

Staging appeared to be a simple reconstruction of a church hall complete with badminton court but was revealed to be deceptively complex as a hydraulic mechanism smoothly transferred the action to a sunny hillside – no mean feat!  Roger Haines’s direction was sympathetic to the underlying tragedy which contrasted delightfully with the natural comedy that the characters engaged to deal with the situation.  The expertly choreographed photography sequence gained maximum laughs while preserving the ladies’ modesty but proved to be even racier that the 2008 tour of the play.  Priceless!

So what of that A-list cast?  They turned in a 1^st class performance!  There was a great chemistry between the characters exuding an air of long term friendship.  The narrative naturally belonged to Julia Hills (as grieving widow, Annie) and Elaine C Smith (as her unwittingly self-centred friend, Chris) and both were convincing and comical as appropriate, proving breadth of character as both played different roles in the 2008 tour.  But the wider cast added real value, too, as they lightened the tone with infectious Northern humour.  Jennifer Ellison (Celia) raised some laughs as her character certainly fancied herself as a tasteful nude.  The witty girl-talk was shared by Denise Black and Jean Boht with Ruth Madoc as prudish Marie being the butt of many jokes.  This time around it was Rachel Lumberg as Ruth who stole the show for me with her clear character development and brilliantly timed comedic delivery.

LISTINGS:

King’s Theatre, Glasgow

Mon 16 – Sat 28 August

Mon – Sat eves 7.30pm

Thu & Sat mats 2.30pm

Tickets: £11.50 - £27.50

Box Office: 0844 871 7647 (bkg fee)