Calendar Girls The Musical at Bournemouth Pavilion
Last night we were lucky enough to be invited to see Calendar Girls The Musical on its opening night at Bournemouth Pavilion.
Calendar Girls The Musical 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 starts off slowly, introducing the characters and showing life in their small village in the Yorkshire Dales.
The set was simple, with small, seamless changes to depict the story’s changing locations. The simple addition of a chair or a piano and lights dropping down moved you from the Yorkshire Dales to a WI meeting or to the hospital.
The story is brilliantly British, capturing the tongue-in-cheek wit and humour that comes with living in a close-knit community with a light hearted look at everyday issues including cancer, grief, marriage and rebellious teenagers.
You really get to know each of the characters, how it happened, the effect on husbands, sons and daughters, and how a group of ordinary ladies achieved something extraordinary.
The songs are good and are perfect for adding emotion and grit to the story, but are not big and memorable like I would normally expect from a musical, yet it didn’t spoil the show.
The best moment had to be the photo shoot for the calendar, with some careful robe removals and a few well-placed props to cover the ladies modesty, plus the hilarious facial expressions of the cast as they posed for their photo’s, which had the audience screaming with laughter.
If you are looking to for an entertaining evening out, then I highly recommend Calendar Girls The Musical – they fully deserved the standing ovation from the whole theatre at the end of the show.
Calendar Girls The Musical is at Bournemouth Pavilion from Tuesday 17th – Saturday 21st September 2019 before continuing its UK tour and Bloodwise continues to receive monies from this production.
Romina
This looks like such a fun experience! Sometimes simples stories are the best ones. This is definitely one to keep an eye out for!
Fritha
That sounds so funny! I definitely need to see more musicals!
Rachael
This sounds so brilliant! I haven’t heard of this before but it sounds like a really fun thing to see on a girls night out.
Rhian westbury
I wish this was coming close to me as I know my mum and nan would love this, I remember us all watching the movie of this together x
Laura - Dear Bear and Beany
What a fun night out. I loved the film.
Kira
I haven’t been to a musical in years! This one looks brilliant
fashionandstylepolice
What a fab musical. We will love to watch this x
Liona
This looks like great fun!
Natasha Mairs
Would you believe that I have never seen the film? The musical sounds really amazing!
Anosa
I never knew calendar girls was a real-life story, how incredible, the musical sounds lovely.
Jess Howliston
This sounds like a great musical with plenty of laughs and a fab story to follow. It sounds like the perfect thing to go see with great friends!
Nichola - Globalmouse
That looks like so much fun. I am hoping to get to more theatre this coming year so will definitely look out for this!
Playdays and Runways
I cannot wait for this to come to a theatre local to us. It’s been on my ‘need to see’ list for years.
Rebecca Smith
I’d love to see this! I really enjoyed the film and I think it would be fun to see it on stage.