Recently nominated for Best Musical Production at the 2026 UK Theatre Awards!
The death of a much-loved husband prompts a group of ordinary women in a small Yorkshire Women’s Institute to do something extraordinary: create a nude calendar to raise money for charity.
News spreads fast in their community and none of them expect the emotional and personal repercussions, but gradually the making of the fabulous and funny calendar brings each woman unexpectedly into bloom.
The true story of the Calendar Girls launched a global phenomenon, a million copycat calendars, a record-breaking movie, a West End play and now an award-winning musical, packed with unforgettable songs, written by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth.
The show contains material that some individuals may find emotionally or psychologically challenging. Click here to view this in more detail, as well as links to organisations that can offer support to those that have been affected by experiences in their own lives.
We’d love you to join us for a post-show talk on Tuesday 22nd September (after the 7pm performance). This is your chance to ask the cast any questions you have about the show, and should last between 20-30 minutes.
A musical by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth. Originally produced by David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers and The Shubert Organisation. Based on the play Calendar Girls, written by Tim Firth and on the motion picture Calendar Girls, written by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi. Calendar Girls the Musical is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd.
The Cast
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Angela Caesar
Brenda H, Lady Cravenshire & Miss Wilson (Tea)
Angela Caesar
Brenda H, Lady Cravenshire & Miss Wilson (Tea)
Angela is from Manchester and trained in violin and voice at Trinity College of Music, London and the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, USA.
Her theatre credits include: The Sound of Music (Pitlochry Festival Theatre); The Wizard of Oz, The Wicker Husband (Watermill Theatre); Rags (Park Theatre); Caroline or Change (Playhouse Theatre/Chichester Festival Theatre/National Theatre); Astronaut (The Other Palace); King (Hackney Empire); Orlando and The Three Graces, Clown, Into the Forest, The Magic Paintbrush (Theatre Peckham); Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Porgy and Bess (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); The Phantom of the Opera (UK tour); Showboat (Raymond Gubbay Productions).
Stage/concert credits include: Roam (Shaftesbury Theatre); Protest and Struggle (NitroVox Theatre/The Box); Voices of Change (Nitrovox Theatre, Theatre Peckham); 24 Italian Songs and Arias (Royal Opera House); To Kill a Mockingbird (Bath Literature Festival); An African Cargo (Nitro Theatre Company, Greenwich Theatre).
Radio credits include: Jubilee! (BBC Radio 3); The Fiske Jubilee Singers (NitroVox Theatre, BBC Radio 4); Lost in the Stars (Southbank Centre, BBC Radio 3).
Film & TV credits include: Songs of Praise (Avanti Media, BBC 1); Anna Nicole: The Opera (Royal Opera House, BBC 2); The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (1993, directed by Trevor Nunn).
Film soundtrack credits include: Mufasa: The Lion King (Walt Disney); Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, including Oscar-nominated song Lift Me Up (Marvel Studios); Black Panther (Marvel Studios); The Soloist (DreamWorks/Universal Pictures).
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Thomas Donnan
Danny
Thomas Donnan
Danny
Thomas is an actor originally from West Cumbria and a 2024 graduate of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has had an incredible time at Theatre by the Lake, performing as Danny in Calendar Girls, and is delighted to now be bringing the role to The New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich. It has been a real joy to spend time with such an amazing company and to be part of this beautiful and important story.
Theatre credits include: A Girl on The Ledge (A Fly On The Wall); Myth & Tell (The Other Palace); A Very Expensive Poison, Hymns, Jekyll & Hyde, Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons and Much Ado About Nothing (BOVTS); as well as The Shepherd’s Life and Peter Pan (Theatre by the Lake).
Screen credits include: No Gorillas in Thailand (Muir McFadden); Her Eyes Only (Brighton MET Film School), and several music videos.
Voice work includes The Dalmatian That Lost Its Spots (Audible).
Thomas would like to thank his incredibly supportive family, his amazing agent, and the entire Theatre by the Lake team for welcoming him back with such open arms. He now can’t wait to bring Danny to Ipswich and continue the Calendar Girls journey with the wonderful team at The New Wolsey Theatre.
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Pippa Duffy
Celia
Pippa Duffy
Celia
Pippa trained at Royal Academy of Music and Bristol University.
Her theatre credits include: Only Fools and Horses The Musical (Theatre Royal Haymarket); Mother Goose (Cambridge Arts Theatre); Spoonface Steinberg (Hull Truck); Up The Duff (York Theatre Royal); Once We Were Mothers (The Orange Tree); Tracy Beaker Gets Real (Nottingham Playhouse/UK tour); Musical Bites, The Riveters (The Other Palace); The Crocodile (The Arcola), The Infant (Gilded Balloon/Old Red Lion); Pride and Prejudice (UK tour).
Her screen credits include: Man Vs Baby (Netflix); Mammals (Amazon); Lee and Dean, Pete Vs Life (Channel 4); Alan Partridge: Mid Morning Matters (Baby Cow); Hold the Sunset, Silent Witness, Casualty (BBC); Mouth to Mouth (BBC3).
Her workshop credits include: Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, Dead Certain.
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Sarah Groarke
Marie
Sarah Groarke
Marie
Sarah trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School where she was the recipient of the Peter Ackerman Comedy Prize.
TV and film include The Bay, Brassic, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale, A Quiet Night In, The Shadow of the Vampire.
Theatre includes Leeds Playhouse, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Bolton Octagon, Theatre by the Lake, Oldham Coliseum, New Vic, Hampstead Theatre, Peter Hall Company, Library Theatre, Nuffield Theatre, Harrogate Theatre, Watermill Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, Tobacco Factory, Bristol Old Vic, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Theatre Clwyd, New Wolsey.
Roles include Mrs Driver (The Borrowers), Mrs Fairfax (Jane Eyre), Lady Macbeth (Macbeth), Clover (Animal Farm), Widow Corney Oliver!, Grace (Bus Stop), Ymma (Silence), Neasa (Shining City), Mother (Grimm Tales), Eunice (A Streetcar Named Desire), Mistress Quickly (Henry V), Sheherazad (Arabian Nights), Dionyza (Pericles), Elizabeth (Taking Steps), Mrs Cratchit (A Christmas Carol), Lady More (Sir Thomas More).She enjoys working with writers and has created roles in new plays including Linda Marie in Lost Boy Racer (Lawrence Batley Theatre & tour), Vera in Blonde Bombshells of 1943 (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Carole in Remembering The Way and Mrs Manresa in Between the Acts. Sarah has also worked on projects with the South West Scriptwriters and North West Playwrights.
An experienced voice-over artist with her own voiceover studio, she has provided voices for various projects and is an established audiobook narrator, with titles available on Audible and iTunes. She is a Lecturer in Acting at Leeds Conservatoire and also works as a Voice and Presentation Coach: groarketalk.co.uk. Sarah runs Kickstart Drama clubs for primary children, and, having a MA in Music, and is a highly regarded brass band conductor and adjudicator.
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Rachel Hammond
Miss Wilson (Coffee) & On-Stage Understudy
Rachel Hammond
Miss Wilson (Coffee) & On-Stage Understudy
Rachel trained as an actor musician at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.
Her theatre credits include: Underneath a Magical Moon (Tutti Frutti USA tour); Joy Unspeakable (Ordinary Glory); Climax (Close to Home;, My First Panto: Rapunzel (The Garage); Pulse (Bamboozle); Twitchers and A Force to Be Reckoned With (Mikron); Give it Back Mack (Riding Lights); The True Adventures of Marian and Robin Hood (Barn Theatre); Swallows and Amazons (York Theatre Royal); Much Ado About Nothing (Northern Broadsides),; Babe, The Sheep-Pig (Mercury Theatre).
Rachel is also a writer and theatre maker. Her debut show Joshua (and Me) opened at The Hope Theatre, London in 2021, and went on to tour in theatres across the UK (and Norway!).
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Matt Heslop
Lawrence
Matt Heslop
Lawrence
Matt trained at the Drama Centre London and Rose Bruford College.
His theatre credits include: Peter Pan (international tour); To the Moon and Back (UK tour); 2065 (UK tour); Twelfth Night, The Importance of Being Earnest, A Christmas Carol (New Forest Open Air Theatre); The Adventures of Pinocchio (Goblin Theatre); Away with the Circus (Royal Albert Hall).
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Karen Holmes
Chris
Karen Holmes
Chris
Karen trained at Guildford School of Acting.
Her theatre credits include: Uk tours of Greatest Days, Grease, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Pirates of Penzance; Les Misérables (West End); Blood Brothers (English Theatre Frankfurt).
TV includes: Peak Practice (ITV).
Karen has also toured extensively with her one-woman show.
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Matt Ian Kelly
Rod, Colin & Denis
Matt Ian Kelly
Rod, Colin & Denis
Matt trained at ALRA.
His theatre credits include: Brassed Off (Theatre by the Lake, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Bolton Octagon); The Importance of Being Earnest (Chelsea Theatre); What’s Wrong with Angry? (BAC); I am Star Trek (Hackney Empire). Matt has worked extensively with Les Enfant Terribles: UK/international tours of Immaculate, originating the role of Lucifer, and the original cast of The Terrible Infants (Lowry, Arts Theatre, London, Oxford Playhouse, Esplanade Theatre, Singapore and Holden Street Theatre for the Adelaide Festival). For Greenwich Theatre he has played Bob Hull on the UK tour of The Temperamentals (Dublin Festival, Courtyard Theatre, Hereford, Greenwich Theatre) and co-wrote and devised Jennifer Skylark and the Seagull’s Handbook, a site-specific children’s piece, also for Greenwich.
Matt has also appeared in several in pantos for Camberley Theatre including Cinderella,’Beauty and the Beast and Jack and the Beanstalk.
TV and film includes: Breaking the Band (ITV) and voicing the role of Ulme in the children’s animated film Vik the Viking and the Magic Sword (Amazon Prime).
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Annie Kirkman
Ruth
Annie Kirkman
Ruth
Annie trained in Musical Theatre at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.
Theatre includes: Sleeping Beauty, Noises Off, Beauty & the Beast (Stephen Joseph Theatre); Love’s Labour’s Lost (more or less) (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Shakespeare North); Dracula: The Bloody Truth (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Octagon Bolton); Perfect Pitch, Shakers (John Godber Company); Ladies Down Under (New Vic Theatre); Ladies’ Day (New Vic Theatre, Octagon Bolton); The Hound of the Baskervilles, Frost Hollow Hall, Sparrow, A Christmas Carol (East Riding Theatre); 71 Coltman Street, Leftovers (Hull Truck); Beryl (Arcola Theatre); Red Riding Hood (Nottingham Lakeside Theatre); The Butler Dresses Again, Oliver Twist (LAF, New Zealand).
Annie is a Co-Artistic Director of She Productions where she has co-written and performed in 12 original shows; she also works as a producer for the charity.
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Alicia Mckenzie
Cora
Alicia Mckenzie
Cora
Alicia Mckenzie is a multi-faceted performer from Darlington. She trained at the Identity School of Acting and National Youth Theatre.
Theatre credits include: Jack and the Beanstalk (Scarborough); Christmas Carol (Stephen Joseph Theatre); Small Island (National Theatre); Quality Street (Northern Broadsides); A Christmas Carol (Northern Stage); Bleak Expectations (Watermill); Jekyll and Hyde, The Wind in the Willows, The Crucible, Blonde Bombshells of 1943, Summer Holiday (Pitlochry Festival Theatre); The Wind in the Willows (New Vic); Women in Power (Nuffield, Southampton and Oxford Playhouse); Whisky Galore (Oldham Coliseum, Hull Truck and New Vic); Peter Pan (Mercury); Cinderella (Octagon Bolton); In the Night Garden Live (Minor Entertainment); Macbeth (Infinite Jest); Fuse (Satellite) (Sheffield Theatres); The Life and Death of Martin Luther King (American Drama Group Europe); Muscovado (Burnout); Rapunzel (Tutti Frutti); The White Witch of Rose Hall, In a Pickle (RSC); Ring a Ding Ding (Oily Cart).
TV includes: Eastenders; The Thief, his Wife and the Canoe.
Short film includes: Parents Together Forever; In a Rush.
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Christina Meehan
Annie
Christina Meehan
Annie
Christina is thrilled to join the cast of Calendar Girls the Musical and hopes you enjoy it as much as she relishes sharing the remarkable story of these incredible women.
Her theatre credits include: Rosie in Mamma Mia! (RCCL); Mavis in Stepping Out (Brockely Jack Theatre); Swing/Understudy for four roles in Fat Friends the Musical (UK Tour); Miss Flannery/Ruth in Thoroughly Modern Millie (Landor Theatre); Cybil/Ensemble/Associate Director & Choreographer in Around The World In 80s Days (Grand Theatre, Blackpool); Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty, Mrs Darling/The Mermaid in Peter Pan (UK Productions); Mother Hood in Robin Hood (Big Adventure Productions); Pavalonia in The Revellers Society (UK tour); Tori in Unraveling (New Union Theatre); Patrica in Fatbusters the Musical (St Giles in the Field Church); Ensemble in Silent Voices – The Doris Stokes Musical (Tristan Bates Theatre); Ensemble in Spend Spend Spend (Union Theatre); Crystal in Little Shop of Horrors (King’s Arms Theatre); Vocalist in Time and Music (tour).
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Neil Moors
John
Neil Moors
John
Neil trained at Birmingham School of Acting and the Royal Academy of Music.
His theatre credits include: Rebecca the Musical (Charing Cross Theatre, London); Mamma Mia! (Novello Theatre, London); Heaven on Earth (arena tour); Great Expectations (Grand Theatre, Blackpool); Out There (Union Theatre); Blondel (Union Theatre – Offie-nominated for Best Actor); Jesus Christ Superstar (UK and German tours); All Male Pirates of Penzance (Hackney Empire, UK tour); Shrek the Musical (UK tour); All Male HMS Pinafore (UK tour); Jesus Christ Superstar (world arena tour); Rent 20th anniversary concert (UK tour); Pirates of Penzance (Sydney Theatre, Australian tour); Magic Tenors (European tour); Carmen (Stephen Joseph Theatre); The Sound of Music (UK tour); Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat (UK tour); Beowulf (Cockpit Theatre); Blaze the Musical (Bridewell Theatre); The Good Person of Sichuan (Birmingham Rep); Misalliance (UK tour); The Devil’s Disciple (Shaw’s Corner).
Television includes: Coronation Street (ITV); Life is not Loose (ITV Loose Women) Lockdown Day Job (BBC News); Morning at the Musicals (ITV This Morning).
Pantomime includes: Beauty and the Beast (Victoria Theatre, Halifax, Cymru Theatre, Llandudno, Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford); Cinderella (Shaw Theatre); Sleeping Beauty (Key Theatre, Peterborough).
Live performances include: Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant 2022, West End Live (2018-2022).
Short films include: Howdy Mr Kid.
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Fenella Norman
Jessie
Fenella Norman
Jessie
Fenella grew up in Hull, before studying Drama at Birmingham University. She has since worked extensively in the theatre. Recent work includes Ladies Unleashed for Hull Truck Theatre and she is about to put in her fourth appearance in Casualty for the BBC, this time as Linda Owens, a lady with a very unpleasant leg injury!
Theatre includes: The Lady in the Van (Hull Truck/national tour); Noises Off (Derby Playhouse); Harvest in the North (Oldham Coliseum); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cabaret (Chester Gateway); King Lear, Talent (Leicester Phoenix); The Accrington Pals (Bolton Octagon); Into the Woods, It’s a Girl (York Theatre Royal); The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (Sheffield Crucible); School for Wives (Manchester Library Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Young Vic); It’s a Girl (West Yorkshire Playhouse).TV includes: Coronation Street, Brookside, Hetty Wainthrop Investigates, Monsignor Renard, Casualty, Truckers, FortySomething, All Creatures Great and Small.
Film includes: The Gathering.
Fenella has read the Morning Story twice on BBC Radio 4 and has been heard in many radio plays.
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Catherine Terry
Jessie
Catherine Terry
Jessie
Catherine hails from Hull & trained as a Royal Ballet scholar and at Birmingham Drama School.
Her theatre credits include: Original cast of 42nd Street (Drury Lane); Hello Dolly (Prince of Wales); Follies (Shaftesbury Theatre); Budgie (Cambridge Theatre); Cats (New London); Me & My Girl (Adelphi); Taming of the Shrew, A Connecticut Yankee (Regent’s Park); Gypsy, Scrooge, Oklahoma! (UK Tour); Babes in Arms (Chichester); Fiddler on the Roof (Leeds Playhouse); Little Shop of Horrors, West Side Story (Nottingham Playhouse); Blithe Spirit, Dames at Sea (Oldham);
Her TV & Radio credits include: 4 years presenting Playdays (BBC); Brush Strokes, 2.4 Children (BBC); Family Affairs (Channel 5); Regular Presenter BBC Radio Essex & Radio Humberside
Her recordings include: Follies & Budgie Original cast albums. Songtime – Personal Album
Catherine has her own Cabaret Company – Songtime Entertainment, and has performed her one-woman show, ‘Musicals, Memories… and More!’ in the West End and internationally. She is a Presentational Speaker on Worldwide Cruise Ships, teaches singing & drama, and loves walking in the hills. Being a Yorkshire lady of a ‘certain’ age, doing Calendar Girls is her a dream come true!
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Isabelle Casement
Jenny (Shared Role - Community Cast)
Isabelle Casement
Jenny (Shared Role - Community Cast)
Isabelle has appeared in the New Wolsey Theatre Young Company productions of Midsummer Nights Dream (2024), Twelfth Night (2025) and Every Brilliant Thing (2026) and will be appearing as Abigail Williams in ‘The Crucible’ at the Princes Theatre Clacton, in October. Isabelle is also a singer as regularly appears in cabaret’s and performances around Essex.
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Elizabeth Garnham
Jenny (Shared Role - Community Cast)
Elizabeth Garnham
Jenny (Shared Role - Community Cast)
I’m delighted to be sharing the role of Jenny in Calendar Girls: The Musical, which is my first time appearing in a professional production and my first time performing at the New Wolsey Theatre. I study Drama and Theatre A-level at Colchester Sixth Form College and I train in musical theatre at Stagestruck Academy, where I most recently appeared as a Fate in Hadestown. Theatre is my passion which is why I’m so grateful to be a part of this production. I hope you enjoy the show!
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Robbie Sliwka
Tommo (Shared Role - Community Cast)
Robbie Sliwka
Tommo (Shared Role - Community Cast)
I’m an aspiring performer and musician from Suffolk, with a background in the New Wolsey Theatre’s Young Company and other community theatre projects over the years. You may have seen me performing at various Brighten the Corners venues or local events like Queer Noise.
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Kit Widdup
Tommo (Shared Role - Community Cast)
Kit Widdup
Tommo (Shared Role - Community Cast)
Kit began acting at the age of 10, making his stage debut as Zach in Goodnight Mister Tom with Company of Four.
Since then, he has gone on to play Marius in Les Misérables with Company of Four, Kristoff in Frozen and Benny in Rent, both with Co-op Juniors.
Kit is currently in his first year at Suffolk One, where he is studying Performing Arts and continuing to develop his skills as an actor and performer.
He hopes to pursue a professional career in acting, both on stage and screen.
Production Images by Will Green Photography
'A warm, sharply observed and deeply affecting celebration of friendship, self-acceptance and the messy realities of grief.'
'6 stars! The most joyful celebration of life... a must-see of must-sees.'
'Heart, humour and humanity in abundance.'
'All of the cast members deserve the standing ovation that followed.'
'Outstanding production has crafted an irresistible blend of humour, life and, unfashionable as it is, kindness.'
'Glorious and life affirming.'
'Heartfelt and hilarious.'
'Tugs on your heartstrings without being schmaltzy.'
'The best version of Calendar Girls yet.'