|
|
|
|
|
Pictures: Alex Harvey-Brown Calendar Girls – The Musical The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham **** There are some stories which strike a
chord, human stories of human feelings, in theatre Blood Brothers is
one, and this is another, made all the more poignant because it is based
on a true tale of triumph rising from the darkest of episodes. It is a musical that will make you laugh and
sometime cry, and will melt even the hardest of hearts. We feel for the
characters, but along with the empathy, there is also a fear which is
what ties us to the story. We all know someone who has had to hear the
word cancer. When Angela Baker lost her husband John to
non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1998 her fellow members of the Rylstone and
District Women’s Institute did what friends do, they rallied round. The idea of an alternative WI calendar was born,
alternative as in nude. The idea was to raise a modest amount. Depending
upon the version you heard the target was £5,000 for blood cancer
research, or enough for a new sofa for the visitor’s room at Skipton
General where John had been treated. A sensible ambition from a WI in a village deep
in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The calendar appeared in 1999 and
by the end of the year had raised £300,000. A film (2003). a play (2009) and a musical (2015)
later and the amount raised for Blood Cancer UK is north of £5 million,
which is an awful lot of sofas. Tim Firth has written all three and for the
musical brought in a friend from his home town in Cheshire, Gary Barlow.
All three have their differences, but all have that same unerring
message of creating something good out of a personal heartbreak. The stellar cast is almost a Blood Brothers Reunion with five of the seven WI stalwarts having played Mrs Johnstone, so they have had plenty of practice at heartbreak. We are now in the Knapely branch of the WI, still
nestled in the dales, Lynn Paul is Jessie, ex head teacher, no nonsense
and “no front bottoms”, while Amy Robbins is the larger than life
driving force, Chris, up for a laugh at the drop of . . . well
everything as it turned out. Maureen Nolan is Ruth, her husband has walked out
on her, and her best friend is now a bottle. She has no intention of
getting her kit off, but her friend, and lots of it, persuade her
otherwise, and the 40 per cent proof is in the picture.
Rod, played by Graham McDuff, Chris, played by Amy Robbins, Annie, played by Tanya Franks and John played by Colin R Campbell Marti Webb is Celia, the sophisticated one,
member of the golf club with a little enhancement here and there. One
enhancement, well two actually, leave Chris thinking they might require
somewhat larger buns to hide somewhat larger . . . you get the
idea, Honeysuckle Weeks is organist and pianist Cora,
who we discover dropped out of music college for personal reasons,
reasons which last roughly nine months. She is currently despairing at
rehearsing The Messiah with the church choir, not the easiest of jobs as
only four members were there and Handel omitted to arrange a Barber’s
Shop Quartet version. Saddest of all is Annie, played with real feeling
by Tanya Franks. Her emotive solo Killimanjaro is a real lump
in the throat moment, a wife’s anguish at having lost her husband,
trying to live a life where things she did as two are now done as one –
the line getting wedding rings back in an envelope must be one of the
saddest in a song, telling a thousand unwritten stories. While the rebel end of the WI are going au
naturale, there is Marie, played by Paula Tappenden, the rather prim
head of the Knapely WI, traditionalist and booker of speakers on
subjects as riveting as collecting tea towels, or the history of the
Milk Marketing Board. You suspect naked is not a word often heard and
probably never seen in Marie’s household, although, to be fair, the
straight-laced, straight-faced chairperson does come good in the end. John is given an avuncular air by Colin R
Campbell, a joker to the last as we see him slowly succumbing to his
disease and his death is cleverly and tastefully done as he just rises
from his wheelchair, collects his coat and leaves – so simple and so
effective. Graham MacDuff is Rod, Chris’s feller and keen
amateur photographer of wildlife, and life doesn’t get much wilder than
middle aged women in the buff. The first act is scene setting, not everyone has
seen film or play, so can seem a little slow, and is a little bitty, the
rivalry with a nearby WI and the battle with Knapely Rotary mentioned
but not really explained. The real story starts to develop after the
interval, although we don’t have the conflict and personality clashes of
the play, perhaps the cost of creating a musical is that some of the
drama and dialogue has to give way to songs. The setting from Gary McCann is clever though,
with a roll on, roll off settee and boards dropping from the flies to
create that signpost wall beloved by hospitals showing directions to a
host of departments, or to show the national WI conference. The main set is an open A-beamed village hall,
looking like a National Trust meeting room. Chairs around the side and a
piano provide all that is needed for meetings and photoshoots – which
must be a nightmare for sightlines! Musical Director Jordan Alexander leads an
excellent five piece band who sound bigger than their number while
director Jonathan O’Boyle keeps up a good pace to keep the story moving
along once the scene is set. The calendar girls story is one still evolving
and the musical is a bright, cheery addition to the collection. Barlow has added some clever and witty numbers,
some emotion mixed with some triumphal songs, although, as a
Lancastrian, I did find the recurring Yorkshire anthem a bit
far-fetched, but we’ll let that pass, si’thee. The girls will be bearing
all to 07-11-23. Roger Clarke 03-11-23 |
|
|
|
