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Calendar GirlsBased upon a real-life story of a group of Yorkshire WI members, Calendar Girls, will open in the West End Noel Coward Theatre in April 2009. After premiering at the Chichester Festival Theatre in September, the show is currently touring the UK before its arrival in London. Directed by Hamish McColl, one half of stage comedy act ‘The Right Size’, the play has been announced with a strong cast including Lynda Bellingham and Dancing on Ice winner Gaynor Faye.
Following the story of the award-winning 2003 motion picture of the same title, the plot is based upon the true events that followed the death of a man married to a Women’s Institute member. Aiming to raise enough money for a sofa at the hospital in which John Barker was treated, Angela and her friends discreetly posed in the nude whilst doing everyday activities such as knitting and baking bread. The calendar was a phenomenal hit and to date has raised over £1.3 million for Leukaemia research. The West End production fictionalises the events of the Yorkshire WI ladies and will hope to capitalise on the success of the film, which has grossed over $93 million worldwide.
Calendar Girls joins a long list of West End production titles that are previously best known as movies. Whilst some productions have been short lived, such as Gone With The Wind lasting only 79 performances, many have been some of the West End’s greatest success stories this decade such as The Lion King, Billy Elliot and Spamalot (adapted from Monty Python and the Holy Grail).
David Hugh, co-producer, is no stranger to West End shows made famous for their nudity – he was behind Equus in which Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe famously stripped off on stage. Meanwhile, McColl’s direction will be inspired by his history in theatre which has taken place alongside his comedy partner, Sean Foley.
Chris Harper, the role made famous by Academy Award winning actress, Helen Mirren, will be played by Lynda Bellingham who is best known for being a panellist on Loose Women. She is joined by Patricia Hodge, famous for roles in The Naked Civil Servant and BBC TV Drama, Maxwell. The third lead role is portrayed by Sian Phillips who since appearing in 1976 in a BBC Adaptation of I, Claudius has gone on to make many TV and film appearances.
Calendar Girls will run initially for 12 weeks starting from April 4th 2009 at the Noel Coward Theatre.
