‘A LIFE-ENHANCING THRILL’

Metro

Childhood friends, film producer Tim Firth and singer songwriter Gary Barlow always felt the girls’ story would work as a musical and started working on songs in 2012.

The pair carried out some workshops in Burnsall village Hall in Yorkshire, because it is just like the hall where the idea for the calendar was born. Songs were revealed and sections of what would become the play. The workshop weekend was enjoyed by local people and theatre professionals alike – not to mention many of the original girls and their families.

In December 2015, The Girls opened at the Leeds Grand, in Yorkshire, for four weeks, then moved on to the Lowry in January 2016 for three weeks. Across 65 performances, with 65 standing ovations more than one hundred thousand people saw The Girls and £57,000 was collected, for Bloodwise, in the buckets after the shows.  The whole cast came out to help the volunteers collect with the buckets in the foyer.

On 28 January 2017, the show opened at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End.

After three weeks of previews, a Gala Night was held on  20 February  followed by a Press night on 21 February. The musical has received five star reviews and post-show bucket collections have added a further £30,000 to the funds raised.

The cast even opened the 2017 Olivier Awards, performing the song ‘Yorkshire’, accompanied by Gary on piano. Following its West End run, the show went on tour in the UK from August 2018-November 2019, helping to swell the total raised, to date, to almost £6 million!

Click here to buy tickets to the show.

Where next? Well, everyone has their fingers crossed for Broadway!