Calendar Girls – The Musical Review

StoryHouse, Chester – until Saturday 2 November 2019

Reviewed by Julie Noller

4****

Calendar Girls is approaching the end of it’s UK tour, StoryHouse is your very last chance to catch it in the North, you have been warned. It’s seen a plethora of famous faces over the years; all have taken to the stage to do justice to the well known true story of life within a small Yorkshire town and more so to blow the stereotypical views of the Women’s Institute out of the water.

Gary Barlow and Tim Firth work well together to bond music and lyrics, this helps to differentiate the musical from the play and more importantly the 2003 film of the same title.

My day started not by watching the musical but being invited to meet the cast for a photo call, whilst there I was lucky enough to sit and enjoy coffee with members of some of the local W.I’s, what can I say? They were bright and welcoming from sunflower socks to shiny sunflower broaches. They were engaging, witty; the laughter flowed and I was hopeful the cast would be as enthusiastic on stage as the sunflowers of Chester are in real life.

I have seen Calendar Girls previously and I know that this musical is always very well supported wherever it’s being performed. As the ladies themselves informed me, it’s not all jam and Jerusalem these days, they are modern, fun loving women. Not all following in their mothers footsteps.

I believe the Calendar Girls are more role models than just a mere story. But what a story it is from teenage angst to middle age anxiety. It covers more than the sad loss of a life partner to cancer. There’s members of the W.I. swearing, there’s friendship that’s survived the years, men who understand more than the women around them. But more so there’s the transition from daughter into mother and the telling tale of what goes around comes around. Plus I really never thought I’d say the words I saw Ruth Madoc naked… ok there was knitting covering her modesty.

Sarah Jane Buckley is Annie who is dealing with the illness and then death of her John (Phil Corbitt) she is supported by her friend and producer of many mad-capped schemes Chris (Rebecca Storm). Julia Hills as Ruth is one of the quieter, down to earth characters ‘My Russian Friend and I’ is one of the more funnier moments, I’m sure most of us can relate to having been aided by dutch courage at some point. Lisa Maxwell is Celia ex air hostess who has had a little work much to the eye popping teenage son of Cora, it’s fair to say that Sue Devaney (Cora) loves the stage, her energy bounds across the stage into the audience. They are all brought to attention by Ruth Madocs as ex headmistress Jessie who glows as the elder stateswoman proving there is no such thing as being too old. Age should never be a barrier and that is surely one of the reasons to belong to the W.I. not because you are old but for the camaraderie and I suspect chinwags and naughty antics of growing old disgracefully. The youngsters Tommo, Jenny and Danny (Tyler Dobbs, Isabel Caswell and Danny Howker) remain as upbeat, funny and energetic as they were a couple of years ago.

Despite the laughs, behind is a harrowing tale, the sofa for a hospital waiting room even the naming of a hospital wing after our brave sunflowers bared all for a charity calendar – posing in those stereotypical cake making, tea drinking, piano playing that the W.I is famous for.

It is time for a rest for Calendar Girls, it’s had a long successful tour. Been extremely well supported and still last night managed to bring me to tears and a few others I suspect. The songs are Take That worthy, applause to Mr Barlow for those toe tapping catchy numbers. But more memorable are the words, those blunt hard hitting Yorkshire-isms that quite possibly should be acknowledged for helping to modernise The Women’s Institute.

Here’s to Victoria Sponge cake and scones but there is only so much cake anyone can eat, bake or watch surely. Soon enough enough we’ll be ready for another slice with a great big dollop of plum jam too.