On one hand there is Karen Holmes who spent two years in the West End in Les Misérables and has starred in hit musicals such as Grease, Blood Bothers and the Take That musical Greatest Days.
Then there is Bolton-born actor Billy Currid, for whom Calendar Girls is his first professional stage outing, having made a great impression this summer as part of the Young Octagon production of The Trials.
Karen plays Chris, one of the driving forces behind a charity calendar organised by members of a Yorkshire WI to raise money for a new settee for a Skipton hospital.
In the show Chris’s best friend Annie lost her husband to cancer and the musical is the story of how the women of the WI turned a simple idea into a multi-million pound fundraiser.
Billy plays Danny, Chris’s son, a slightly nerdy teenager who is head boy at the local school and who rebels just as much as his mum and her friends.
Written by Tim Firth and featuring songs by Gary Barlow, Calendar Girls is an uplifting and emotional ride – both for audience members and the cast alike. It is at the Octagon having previously been in Scarborough, Keswick and Ipswich.
“I’ve done quite a few big tours,” said Karen, “but this one is really quite special. I think it’s because of the way everyone has bonded – it is a lovely group of people to be with.”
Billy who joined the show for the Octagon run said: “There’s such a lovely cohesion in the group. Coming in to a group that had already been on tour I did wonder what it would be like but it’s been just like coming into a family, both on and off the stage.”
Read also: Five stars for Calendar Girls the Musical – read the review
Karen added: “It’s not easy for the younger cast who join the show as they don’t get as much rehearsal time. They do a couple of days of tech rehearsals and then they’re on stage in the show but it’s been lovely to welcome them in. It’s also very good for the cast who have been in the show from the start as it gives things a fresh impetus.”
Calendar Girls is a show full of heart which has really connected with audiences but that puts extra demands on the cast.
“We spent much of the initial rehearsals crying but we have got that out of our system” said Karen. “It doesn’t serve any purpose if we’re all crying on stage – it’s about us making the audience feel for these characters.”
The cast had the opportunity to meet the original Calendar Girls – members of the Rylstone and District Women’s Institute – in Scarborough.
“That was a bit of a starry moment,” Karen recalls.
One of the key reasons for the musical’s success is the very natural dialogue written by Tim Firth.
“He writes in a very conversational way,” said Karen. “It’s also very northern; it’s a northern trait to make light of something no matter how serious it is.
“These are very human characters. We often find ourselves saying things to each other which are in the script; it’s really well observed.”
The current production marks the first time that Calendar Girls has been performed with actor musicians rather than a conventional orchestra or band.
“I’ve not worked with actor musicians before but they are remarkable,” said Karen. “I’m used to musicians being in the pit but with this you can interact with them; they really have to know what they are doing, as they are very much characters in their own right.”
One of the key elements of the show are the calendar photoshoots where the WI members pose for their charity calendar with strategically placed flowers, fruits and other items the only things preserving their modesty.
Was this something that ever caused Karen any concern in agreeing to be part of the show?
“Not at all,” she said. “You know that everything is going to be covered and the audience will not see anything – it’s just suggested.
“We have a great intimacy director who handled everything very delicately and made sure that every person was totally happy with every moment of it. We’ve always been in safe hands and it’s not something I’ve ever worried about.”
Each scene has been carefully choreographed and that choreography has had to change at each venue where the staging has changed.
“At the Octagon we’re very much in the round with the audience looking down so there is effectively a lid put over some of the characters for their calendar scenes,” said Karen. “Everyone on the stage has a very precise role.”
For Billy, being part of the show has been a memorable experience.
“I did as much theatre as I could when I was younger,” he said. “I started with Cats Youth Theatre in Bolton and loved it there. It’s where I learned to sing and did a bit of dancing.”
A former pupil of Canon Slade in Bolton Billy did film studies at university but acting has remained his passion.
He signed with Cartwright Higgins Agency run by playwright Jim Cartwright and put on his on one-man show at the Manchester Fringe.
“I’d done a couple of commercial short films then I did The Trials this summer with Young Octagon,” he said. “In doing that I remembered just why I wanted to get a job as an actor. Of course I’d take a screen job like a shot but there’s something so special about theatre.”
Calendar Girls runs until the end of the month and Karen is hoping that the show may yet get a special audience member.
“I was in Greatest Days but never got to meet Gary Barlow,” she said. “Now I’m in Calendar Girls. I’d just like say Gary if you’re about just pop down and see what we’ve done with your show….”
Calendar Girls the Musical, Octagon Theatre, Bolton, until Saturday, October 31. Details from www.octagobnbolton.co.uk