Calendar Girls the musical (was: The Girls)

Rebecca Storm and Anna Jane Casey are the reason I'll probably see it when it comes here, despite the stunt-casting elsewhere (and I don't mean Ruth Madoc or Denise Welch - they're both funny, likeable performers in the right material, and they've both more than paid their dues in the theatre).

I'm sure Fern Britton is a lovely person, and Marie is hardly the show's make-or-break role, but that kind of casting, as far as I'm concerned, exemplifies most of what's wrong with commercial touring theatre. She absolutely is not there because she's the best person for the role. She may well turn out to be perfectly competent, but there are few enough decent roles for older women as it is (granted, this particular show has several), so it's a bit of a slap in the face to, you know, actors, to cast a daytime television host in a relatively minor role and push her to the front in the publicity photos.

I agree with you - and certainly in my ideal world all musicals would be filled only with musical theatre qualified actors. 

But then it's the age old argument of 'celebrity' casting. Certainly on the touring circuit - household name = increased sales = in some cases the difference between the tour actually happening in the first place or not = more work for 95% of the cast who are MT trained than if there were no tour. Tricky.

Re the 'names' in this one, my personal feelings. Fern clearly has no qualifications but for me I have always found her so likeable and it's a small role so I don't mind too much. 
Denise yes has a bigger career in showbiz (though anyone who's heard the Wind in the Willows OCR might argue that she doesn't have the best voice) though I find it hard to look at her and see anything other than Denise. I always think she comes across as very self absorbed on telly. And yes I know she's struggled with alcohol and relationship issues (haven't we all) but frankly I still haven't recovered from her getting her chest out and generally being all over the place on Celebrity Big Brother. Really was lowest denominator TV. Though I guess part of the blame lies with me for watching it. 

Excited about Rebecca Storm. Last saw her in Chess at the Bristol Hippodrome when I was a teenager! 

Sharon D Clarke is going to working on recurring role in the next series of Doctor Who.

I just opened my ATG email and spat out my breakfast and had to do a double take when I saw FERN BRITTON was cast in this. SHE’s a broadcaster and presenter NOT an actress. I despair....

That’s Great she is doing that! There’s lots of actresses who could be fit for a part, Sharon D Clarke was just an example

Doesn't this just look like casting for the other 'Calendar Girls' show that used to schlep around the country at regular intervals. Just with added songs.

Do we know if this cast is doing the entirety of the tour, seeing as it is a very long tour. The old tour of the play used to change the cast up quite regularly. For some reason I can't imagine Fern Britton to have committed to the full 60 weeks.

The Bord Gais in Dublin is advertising this cast so I assume this cast will be playing Dublin.

Ahead of the cast album release next Friday, Yorkshire is now available for early download on iTunes.

What, the whole county? I'll be buffering for weeks!!!

So good I fact that I could close my eyes and almost imagine I was in the Theatre. Seems like we will be getting a rather comprehensive recording as a lot of dialogue included throughout the first number.

The album last an hour and a half in total and given that the show lasted two hours/two hours 10 minutes excluding the interval, I think. So definitely a good length recording (of course there are the three bonus tracks in that 1.5 hours).