The Girls

Musical dates
Original title:	The Girls
Original language:	English
Music:	Gary Barlow Tim Firth
Book:	Tim Firth Gary Barlow
Lyrics:	Gary Barlow Tim Firth
Literary source:	Calendar Girls (film, 2003)
Original direction:	Matt Ryan
Premiere:	November 14, 2015
Place of premiere:	Grand Theater , Leeds
Place and time of the action:	Yorkshire , 1998/99

reviewer	rating
The Times	"Pure Gold"
The Guardian
The Independent
The Telegraph
The Mirror
The Sun
Daily Mail
metro
The People
Sunday Mirror
London Theater
The Stage

The Girls is a musical - comedy of playwright Tim Firth and composer Gary Barlow OBE . The West End production was honored with three Olivier nominations in 2017 .

The plot is based on the true story of the Calendar Girls , the literary source was an older play by Firth and the film Calendar Girls with Dame Helen Mirren DBE and Dame Julie Walters DBE in the lead roles. The musical is produced by David Pugh and Daffyd Rogers and premiered in November 2015 at the Grand Theater Leeds , 50 kilometers from the location of the real story. After moving to London's West End at the turn of the year 2016/17, the consistently positive reviews culminated in three Olivier nominations. Another tour will take the ensemble through the United Kingdom and Ireland from August 2018 to the end of April 2019, the title of the musical has been changed for the tour to Calendar Girls - The Musical and some new songs and dialogues have been added. On April 9, 2018 a studio album with audio recordings by the West End ensemble was released. The musical and all related products support the Bloodwise Institute for Blood Cancer Research (formerly Leukemia & Lymphoma Research), the preferred foundation of the original Calendar Girls.

action

When Annie's husband John dies of leukemia at a young age , her best friend Chris comes up with the idea of ​​donating a comfortable sofa to the hospital for the visitor's room. The two women decide to edit a calendar with some members of the Women's Institute in Knapely, North Yorkshire . For this, the women posed naked, but in an unobtrusive way, doing activities traditionally associated with the women's institute founded in 1897, such as singing, reading, baking, knitting or gardening together. Her proposal was initially met with strong skepticism, but in the end she convinced ten other women of the benefit project. An employee of the hospital, the amateur photographer Lawrence, supports her in implementing her idea.

background

The true story

The phenomenally successful fundraiser, on which the musical, like its originals in theater and film, is based, was inspired by the death of John Richard Baker, a Yorkshire Dales national park servant, who died in 1998 at the age of 54 of non-Hodgkin lymphoma . His wife Angela Baker's friends began to raise money for a sofa in the visiting room of the hospital where John was being treated while he was ill. After the calendar of the Women's Institute surprisingly turned out to be extremely successful, they converted their charity project into a fundraising campaign for the leading British blood cancer foundation Leukemia & Lymphoma Research , produced further calendars in the following years and expanded their range to include other products . Just through the sale of the first calendar (for 2000) they have so far collected over three million pounds (about 3.5 million euros) for the research company.

The photos for the 2000 Alternative WI Calendar were taken by Terry Logan, a retired professional photographer and husband of one of the women photographed. The calendar was released on April 12, 1999 and was an overwhelming success: within a week it was completely sold out and 10,000 more copies were printed, which in turn went over the counter in three weeks. Nine months after its publication, women had sold 88,000 copies of the calendar. As a result, the women also published a version of the calendar in the United States, there for the months of June 2000 to December 2001. They were invited there by both Jay Leno and Rosie O'Donnell on their respective talk shows . In that second year, the calendar sold 202,000 times.

Proceeds from the 2000 calendar were invested in lymphoma and leukemia research in newly built laboratories at the University of Leeds . The laboratory has a plaque dedicated to John Baker that reads, "The work in this laboratory is dedicated to the memory of John Baker in recognition of the extremely successful fundraising of the Calendar Girls of the Rylstone & District Women's Institute."

After 2000, the Calendar Girls produced other calendars for 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2010 as well as a recipe calendar for 2008, which shows their favorite Yorkshire recipes on the back of each month.

To this day, the Calendar Girls are strong supporters of leukemia research and sell a variety of products for ongoing research funding. In addition to the classic calendars, these include greeting cards, various jams made locally by the Brackenhill Fine Foods company in York , and chocolates from the Yorkshire chocolatier Whitaker's (twelve types in square form with the original calendar images on the packaging). They are sold in selected stores and online.

Angela Baker said of the project “We are constantly overwhelmed by the feedback we have received and are still getting about our calendar. I cannot believe that we were able to raise so much money and I am happy that the research funded in this way is bearing such fruit. I know John would be immensely honored to know how much we have accomplished on his behalf. "

Adaptations in theater and film

The story of the Calendar Girls was made into a film by Nigel Cole in 2003 . The main roles were among others Helen Mirren and Julie Walters , the script was by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi. The comedy became an international box office hit and received a variety of awards and nominations, including the Golden Globe Award , the European Film Award and the British Comedy Award . Some of the real Calendar Girls made guest appearances as members of the Women's Institute's full board.

Screenwriter Tim Firth adapted the slightly fictionalized film story in the following years for the theater stage, directed by Hamish McColl. The comedy Calendar Girls premiered at the Chichester Festival Theater in 2008 , then went on a nationwide tour before production began its first West End staging on April 4, 2009 at the Noël Coward Theater ( Covent Garden ). Lynda Bellingham (Chris), Patricia Hodge (Annie) and Dame Siân Phillips DBE (Jessie) were part of the first ensemble (Tour and West End). In the later course of three West End runs and ten tour productions so far, a. still Jerry Hall (Celia), Gemma Atkinson (Elaine / Celia), Will Knightley (John), Kelly Brook (Celia), Jan Leeming (Lady Cravenshire / Brenda Hulse), Michael Peluso (Lawrence / Liam), Colin Tarrant (John) , Jennifer Ellison (Celia / Cora), Margaret John (Lady Cravenshire), Michelle Collins (Cora) and Camilla Dallerup (Elaine). Lynda Bellingham played her leading role as Chris as the only actress across seven of the thirteen productions. The theater took in £ 1.7m in advance sales. It was not until January 9, 2010 that the play ended its run at the Noël Coward Theater and embarked on a nationwide tour again from January 27, 2010. Since well-known actors are usually unable to enter into contracts for many months, the ensemble changed to the Piece quite often. The second country tour only ended in December 2012.

Theater ensembles have also taken on comedy abroad, for example a production of the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society opened on April 11, 2013 at the Earl Cameron Theater in Hamilton , Bermuda. The theater group also brought out its own calendar, based on the original, with recordings of the ensemble members; the entire proceeds were donated to various local foundations. The Geneva English Drama Society (GEDS, Geneva , Switzerland ) also showed Calendar Girls in June 2013 at the Geneva Théâtre Pitoëff. A separate charity performance with a guest appearance by Angela Baker ( Miss February in the original 2000 calendar) and the sale of her own calendar enabled a donation of 6000 Swiss francs to the Fondation Dr Henri Dubois-Ferrière Dinu Lipatti and the Fondation Artères , local foundations for leukemia and lymphoma research. Toronto's theater group Mirvish Productions announced a Canadian production of the play in February 2010, which opened in Toronto in April 2011, while the North American premiere took place in March 2011 at the Manitoba Theater Center in Winnipeg . In Australia in 2014, a touring production by Jally Entertainment Ensemble visited 45 theaters in Queensland , New South Wales , Victoria , South Australia and Western Australia . Performance rights to amateur theaters were issued for only 18 months from September 1, 2012. 520 applications were received by August 2012, and 322 licenses were ultimately granted.

In September 2016 Firth and his childhood friend Gary Barlow (both from Frodsham, Cheshire) finally announced the move of their joint musical adaptation of the piece to the Phoenix Theater in London for January 2017.

Song sequence

first act "Yorkshire" "Girls" "Scarborough" "Who Wants a Silent Night?" "Very, Slightly, Almost" (1) "Mrs Conventional" "The Flowers of Yorkshire" (1) "Time Passing" (1) "Sunflower"

Second act "Dare" "Protect Me Less" "Girls (Reprise)" (1) "So I've had a Little Work Done" "What Age Expects" "Killimanjaro" "Crazy Paving" (1) "Dare (recapitulation)" (1) "My Russian Friend and I" "For One Night Only" "Sunflower of Yorkshire" (1)

⁽¹⁾ Added after moving to London

Productions

Leeds and Salford

The Girls premiered on November 14, 2015 in Leeds ' largest theater, the Grand Theater and Opera House . There the play ran until December 12th. Production moved to Salford, The Lowry Theater , in January 2016 . Tim Firth directed it himself.

West end

After its successful run in Yorkshire, the production ventured into London's West End theater district , where it officially opened on February 21, 2017 at the Phoenix Theater. Pre-premieres started on January 28, 2017.

Tim Firth was again personally directing, the set and costumes were designed by Rob Jones, and Tim Lutkin was responsible for the lighting. The musical part was staged by Lizzi Gee, the comedy part by Jos Houben. Terry Jardine was responsible for the sound design , Nick Lidster for the autography design, and Alex Uragllo for the design of the digital projections.

Originally the last curtain in the West End was supposed to fall on July 15, 2017, four more performances were added on July 16 and 17 due to the high demand.

tour

The West End production will be followed by a touring production , again starting in Leeds with a preview on August 15, 2018.

Tour dates announced so far

city	theatre	Events
Leeds	The Grand Theater & Opera House	August 16 to September 1, 2018
Canterbury	The Marlowe Theater	September 5th to 15th, 2018
Newcastle	Theater Royal	September 18-29, 2018
Edinburgh	Festival Theater	October 2nd to 13th, 2018
Leicester	De Montfort Hall	October 16-20, 2018
Llandudno	Venue Cymru	October 23-27, 2018
Salford	The Lowry	October 30 to November 10, 2018
Stoke-on-Trent	Regent Theater	November 13th to 17th, 2018
Hull	New Theater	November 20 to 24, 2018
Liverpool	Empire	November 27th to December 1st, 2018
Southampton	Mayflower Theater	January 8th to 19th, 2019
Dublin	Dublin Bord Gais Energy Theater	January 22nd to February 2nd, 2019
Norwich	Norwich Theater Royal	February 5th to 16th, 2019
Aberdeen	His Majesty's Theater	February 19 to March 2, 2019
Dartford	The Orchard Theater	March 5th to 16th, 2019
Sunderland	Empire	March 19-23, 2019
Woking	New Victoria Theater	March 26th to 30th, 2019
Sheffield	Sheffield Lyceum Theater	April 2nd to 13th, 2019
Oxford	New Theater	April 16-20, 2019

occupation

Fern Britton, Anna-Jane Casey, Sara Crowe, Karen Dunbar, Ruth Madoc, Rebecca Storm and Denise Welch have already been confirmed as touring ensemble on the musical's official website. Further appointments and the announcement of the distribution of roles are still pending.

role	Leeds & Salford 2015/16	West End 2017
Annie	Joanna Riding
Chris	Claire Moore
Cora	Claire Machin
Celia	Vivien Parry	Sophie-Louise Then
Jessie	Sarah Kestelman	Michele Dotrice
Ruth	Debbie Chazen
Marie	Harriet Thorpe	Marian McLoughlin
John	James Gaddas
Dennis	Jeremy Clyde
doctor	John Davitt
Brenda	Susan Fay	Soo Drouet
Mrs. Wilson (coffee)	Karen West	Jenny Gayner
Mrs. Wilson (tea)	Shirley Jameson
Lawrence	Steve Giles
Colin	Stephen Boswell	Maxwell Hutcheon
Lady Cravenshire	Judith Street
Tommo	Josh Benson
Danny	Ben Hunter
Jenny	Chloe May Jackson

Calendar Girls - Original London Recording

Calendar Girls - Original London Recording Alternative title: Calendar Girls: The Album
Studio album by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth
Publication (s)	March 9, 2018
admission	2017/2018
Label (s)	Decca, Universal Music Operations Limited
Format (s)	CD, MP3 download
Genre (s)	Musical ( pop )
Title (number)	23
running time	1:29:56
production	Gary Barlow, Tim Firth
Studio (s)	Abbey Road Studios

On March 9, 2018 (just in time for Mother's Day on March 11), an accompanying studio album was released with recordings by the original ensemble members of the West End production.

#	title	Performer (s)	length
1.	Yorkshire	Original London cast	7:23
2.	Girls	Original London cast	2:31
3.	Scarborough	Original London cast	4:16
4th	Who Wants A Silent Night?	Original London cast	4:14
5.	Very Slightly Almost	Original London cast	4:51
6th	Spring party	Original London cast	5:25
7th	The Flowers Of Yorkshire	Original London cast	1:39
8th.	Time passing	Original London cast	2:01
9.	Sunflower	Original London cast	3:51
10.	Dare	Original London cast	3:37
11.	Protect Me Less [Explicit]	Original London cast	2:59
12.	Girls (reprise)	Original London cast	2:21
13.	So I've Had A Little Work Done	Original London cast	2:53
14th	What Age Expects	Original London cast	2:57
15th	Kilimanjaro	Original London cast	4:02
16.	Crazy Paving	Original London cast	2:17
17th	Dare (recapitulation)	Original London cast	1:43
18th	My Russian Friend And I.	Original London cast	3:44
19th	For one night only	Original London cast	9:28
20th	Sunflower Of Yorkshire	Original London cast	6:42
21st	Yorkshire (bonus track)	Gary Barlow & Original London Cast	4:07
22nd	Scarborough (bonus track)	Gary Barlow & Original London Cast	3:12
23.	Dare (bonus track)	Original London Cast & Gary Barlow	3:43

reception

Reviews

The production received mostly positive reviews, the new implementation of the material as a musical was widely praised.

Michael Billington ( The Guardian ) awarded four stars and wrote: "Sometimes Firth's jokes are reminiscent of the carry-ons , sometimes again - for example when a harried mother proclaims, 'If Jesus had had teenage children himself, the Bible would be very different!' - one hears an echo from Alan Bennett . The musical succeeds in a very beautiful way, in that it presents the calendar as a way to defeat one's own two demons. These women take off their clothes to conquer, to conquer. "

"Pure Gold" - The Times "You'll cry with laughter." - Daily Mail : Quentin Letts "A life-enhancing thrill." - Metro

"It's gorgeous ... It's a beaut." - The Telegraph : Dominic Cavendish "A gloriously fun celebration ... Riotously brilliant." - The Mirror "A soaring, emotional and hilarious triumph." - The Sun

Awards

year	Award ceremony	category	Nominee	Result
2017	Whatsonstage.com Awards	Best regional production	The Girls	Profit
	Laurence Olivier Award	Best new musical	The Girls	nomination
		Best Actress / Musical	"The Girls" - Debbie Chazen, Sophie-Louise Dann, Michele Dotrice, Claire Machin, Claire Moore and Joanna Riding	nomination
		Best Actor in a Supporting Role / Musical	Ben Hunter	nomination

Web links

• Official website of the musical
• Homepage of the research foundation Bloodwise (formerly Leukemia & Lymphoma Research )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://bloodwise.org.uk/page/calendar-girls
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Calendar Girls True Story . ChasingTheFrog.com.
3. ↑ Rachel Porter: As Calendar Girls is turned into a play, the stars reveal: 'Why we're proud to parade our wobbly bits' . In: Daily Mail , August 14, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2009. 
4. ^ Listing and review of Calendar Girls . The Stage Media Company website. Retrieved June 1, 2009.
5. ^ Delfont Mackintosh Theaters Limited: Delfont Mackintosh Theaters - Site - The Page You Are Looking For Is Not Available . In: Delfont Mackintosh Theaters . Archived from the original on April 14, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 11, 2017. 
6. ↑ See Calendar Girls .
7. ↑ Bermuda Sun review - BMDS production of Calendar Girls .
8. ↑ Mirvish Productions website  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed 2010-02-22  
9. ↑ Manitoba Theater Center website ( Memento of the original from July 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ Oh! The bare-faced cheek of it: Release of amateur rights to stage 'Calendar Girls' sparks record . In: The Independent , August 5, 2012. 
11. ↑ Best of Theater: THE GIRLS to open at the Phoenix Theater in January 2017 . In: Best of Theater .
12. ↑ ^{a b} Hemley, Matthew: “'The Girls' Musical review at the Grand Theater, Leeds - 'brilliant'” The Stage , December 3, 2015.
13. ^ ^{A b} Cavendish, Dominic: “'The Girls', Lowry Theater, Salford, review: 'already has the bare essentials of a classic'” The Telegraph , January 17, 2016.
14. ↑ ^{a b c} Shenton, Mark: "'The Girls', Musical by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth, to premiere in West End" Playbill , September 16, 2016.
15. ↑ "Creative Team" thegirlsmusical.com
16. ↑ ^{a b} The Girls announces West End closure and UK tour . In: WhatsOnStage.com . 
17. ↑ Matinee and evening performances on two additional days of West End Theater Ticket Service. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
18. ↑ [1]
19. ↑ Full casting is announced for The Girls - Entertainment Focus ( en-US )
20. ↑ The Girls . In: Phoenix Theater program . 18th February 2017.
21. ↑ Official Website . February 21, 2017. Archived from the original on February 27, 2017. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 21, 2017. 
22. ↑ ^{a b} "Gary Barlow and Tim Firth's 'The Girls' Triumphs at WhatsOnStage Awards" broadwayworld.com, February 19, 2017
23. ^ Longman, Will: Did the critics think Gary Barlow's The Girls blossomed? . 22nd February 2017.
24. ↑ Billington, Michael: 'The Girls review - Gary Barlow gives Calendar Girls a classy musical makeover . February 21, 2017.
25. ↑ Shenton, Mark, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” Receives Record Olivier Nominations, ” Playbill , March 6, 2017.