Calendar Girls The Musical UK Tour – Cast Announced

Casting has been announced for Calendar Girls The Musical UK tour.

Tanya Franks (EastEnders), Maureen Nolan (The Nolans), Lyn Paul (The New Seekers, Emmerdale), Amy Robbins (Coronation Street, EastEnders), Paula Tappenden (Blood Brothers, The Exorcist), Marti Webb (Evita, Cats, Blood Brothers), and Honeysuckle Weeks (Foyles War) will star in Calendar Girls The Musical.

This brand new production from Bill Kenwright sees this incredible true story continue to bloom, with a reimagined book and new music bringing the show to life. Calendar Girls The Musical will begin performances at Theatre Royal Windsor on 30 August and will travel to Sheffield, Cheltenham, Birmingham, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Wimbledon New Theatre, Leeds, Stoke on Trent, Darlington and Hull (See below for full tour schedule).

Tanya Franks stars as Annie Clarke, the wity compassionate sidekick, and who’s husband’s illness is the catalyst in this story; Maureen Nolan will star as the big hearted Ruth; Lyn Paul returns to the stage as Jessie, the frank and fearless school teacher; Amy Robbins stars as Chris Harper, the excitable, irrepressible leader of the gang, who was played by Helen Mirren in the film; Blood Brothers aficionados will recognise Paula Tappenden who steps into the role of intrepid Women’s Institute leader Marie; Musical theatre star Marti Webb will play Celia, the glamourous and sassy former airhostess; and, Honeysuckle Weeks will play Cora, the rebellious musician.

Tim Firth, co-writer of the show, said: “Pre-pandemic I had been preparing the musical for a foreign production which was of course then postponed. When the skies cleared and a new production in the UK was proposed I looked back and thought, ‘This is the version we ought to stage’. The story and songs, a little like the real world, had been thrown in the air and come back slightly different. What we had in our hands lay somewhere between the original play and the original musical and it seemed right for a time when sunlight, optimism and humour seemed more necessary than ever. Like the calendar itself, it seemed that something dark had created something unexpectedly bright.”

Gary Barlow, co-writer of the show, said: “I am delighted to be working on this new production of Calendar Girls and getting ready for the joy, the laughter, and the nostalgia to take the stage again. It’s been 20 years this year since the film was released, and around 10 years since I first saw Tim’s play with my mum Marjorie. We’ve already had a fantastic time in the rehearsal room workshopping the show and weaving in new music, reworked songs and reimagining the book. We cannot wait to see the way these incredible leading ladies bring the story to bloom as we head out on tour later this year”.

Calendar Girls follows these extraordinary women in a small Yorkshire Women’s Institute, prompted to create this calendar following the death of a much-loved husband, to raise funds for charity.

With unforgetable songs, every performance continues to add to the nearly £6 million already raised for charity and prove that there is no such thing as an ordinary woman.

This tour is proud to be supporting Blood Cancer UK, the charity dedicated to funding research into all blood cancers including leukaemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, as well as offering information and support to blood cancer patients.