Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s musical comedy, Calendar Girls The Musical, based on the true story, film and award-winning play, heads to Eastbourne’s Congress Theatre from Tuesday 6th to Saturday 10th August, and this heart-warming and empowering tale of friendship is an absolute summer “must see” production.
The musical stars Sarah Jane Buckley (Blood Brothers, Hollyoaks) as Annie, Sue Devaney (Years and Years, Dinnerladies, Casualty, Coronation Street, Mamma Mia!) as Cora, Julia Hills (Broadchurch, The Archers) in the role of Ruth, Judy Holt (Cold Feet, Scott & Bailey) as Marie, Lesley Joseph (Birds of a Feather) as Jessie and Lisa Maxwell (panellist on Loose Women, Hollyoaks) as Celia.
Also in the cast are Phil Corbitt as John, Ian Mercer as Rod, Sebastian Aberneri as Colin, Alan Stocks as Denis, Pauline Daniels as Lady Cravenshire, Ellie Leah as Miss Wilson, Danny Howker as Danny, Isabel Caswell as Jenny and Tyler Dobbs as Tommo.
The critically acclaimed and award-winning production played a six-month London season at the Phoenix Theatre in 2017, and, before that, this musical comedy played sold-out seasons in Leeds and Manchester.
Gary Barlow and Tim Firth grew up in the same village in the North of England and have been friends for 25 years. With Take That, Gary has written and co-written 14 number one singles, has sold over 50 million records worldwide and is a six times Ivor Novello Award winner. Tim has won the Olivier Award and UK Theatre Award for Best New Musical, and the British Comedy Awards Best Comedy Film for Calendar Girls.
The show is inspired by the true story of a group of ladies, who decide to appear nude for a Women’s Institute calendar in order to raise funds to buy a settee for their local hospital, in memory of one of their husbands, and have to date raised almost £5million for Bloodwise. This musical comedy shows life in their Yorkshire village, how it happened, the effect on husbands, sons and daughters, and how a group of ordinary ladies achieved something extraordinary.
Calendar Girls The Musical appears at the Congress Theatre, Eastbourne from Tuesday 6th to Saturday 10th August, with nightly performances at 7.30pm and 2.30pm matinees on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Tickets priced from £19.50, with selected concessions available, can be booked by calling the box office on 01323 412000 or by going online at eastbournetheatres.co.uk
Sarah Jane Buckley can be heard talking about her role in Calendar Girls the Musical on the Uckfield
FM Weekend What’s-On Show, live and online at www.uckfieldfm.co.uk, on Sunday 4th August from 1pm to 4pm.
Bloodwise, the UK’s specialist blood cancer charity will continue to receive monies from this production.