Hull New Theatre – until 24th November 2018
Reviewed by Catherine McWilliams
5*****
Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s Calendar Girls The Musical is a total triumph. The story follows the highs and lows of a group of W.I. members as they attempt to produce an “alternative” calendar to raise funds for the relatives’ room in Skipton Hospital in memory of their friend’s husband John Baker. This is of course loosely based around a true story and is handled with sincerity, care and masses of humour, never shying away from how difficult it is to lose a loved one to cancer and how hard for those left behind to deal with the little things in life. The story takes place in a small Yorkshire village and we move through the seasons with the villagers as life changes irrevocably for Annie (Anna-Jane Casey), and as her best friend Chris (Rebecca Storm) tries to keep her going. We also see the broader story of village life through the stories of the other members of the W.I., the husbands and the teenagers who are just trying to find their path in life.
The cast is outstanding and deliver the story with superb comic timing but also with feeling and emotion, never losing sight of the serious side of the story. Anna-Jane Casey is excellent as Annie and the whole audience felt for her as she lost her beloved John. Rebecca Storm plays Chris beautifully with just the right amount of naughtiness. I loved Karen Dunbar’s musical numbers and Christmas Carols will never be quite the same. Denise Welch and Ruth Madoc play their parts to perfection, Sara Crowe is suitable dippy as Ruth and Fern Britton adds the right amount of frostiness as Marie. The cast made all of the characters real and made you care what happened to them. I was very impressed by the young actors Tyler Dobbs as Tommo, Danny Howker as Danny and Isabel Caswell as Jenny, they had superb timing and added beautifully to the humour.
This is ultimately a musical about community, life and love and about grabbing those chances while they are there. It will drain you of emotion and you will probably cry but you will leave the theatre feeling empowered and uplifted and full of joy. It is a real celebration of life. I’m not alone in thinking this the entire audience at the Hull New Theatre was quickly on their feet to give the cast a well-deserved standing ovation. The friend I went with summed it up nicely – “That’s the best thing I’ve ever seen at Hull New Theatre”.