​Calendar Girls heads to Crawley

Calendar Girls the Musical brings together a cast of music, stage, and television stars. Featuring for 2024 are Laurie Brett (EastEnders) as Annie, Liz Carney (The Full Monty, The Mousetrap) as Marie, Helen Pearson (Hollyoaks) as Celia, Samantha Seager (Coronation Street) as Chris, Maureen Nolan (The Nolans, Blood Brothers) as Ruth, Lyn Paul (The New Seekers, Blood Brothers) as Jessie and Honeysuckle Weeks (Foyle’s War) as Cora. They are joined by Colin R Campbell as John, Andrew Tuton as Rod, alongside Jayne Ashley, Lucas August and Victoria Hay in the ensemble.

Tickets are available at hawth.co.uk or by calling The Hawth box office (12 noon-4pm, Monday to Friday) on 01293 553636.

A spokesman said: “Following the death of a much-loved husband, a group of ordinary women in a small Yorkshire Women's Institute are prompted to do an extraordinary thing and set about creating a nude calendar to raise money for charity. But upturning preconceptions is a dangerous business and none of the women are prepared for the emotional and personal ramifications they will face as the fabulous and funny calendar brings each woman unexpectedly into flower.

“The real-life story of the Calendar Girls launched a global phenomenon: a million copycat calendars, a record-breaking movie, stage play and now a musical written by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth which coined the term ‘craughing’ – the act of crying and laughing at the same time. This production sees this incredible true story continue to bloom, packed with unforgettable songs, bringing the joy of life live on stage.”

Calendar Girls the Musical (previously titled The Girls) was originally produced by David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers and the Shubert Organisation and is based on the record-breaking play Calendar Girls by Tim Firth and the 2003 motion picture of the same name