Calendar Girls The Musical, Birmingham Hippodrome - review with pictures

The cast, story-line and songs had the audience belly-laughing one minute, and holding back tears the next. It was a real rollercoaster of emotions - which is what made it quite so fantastic.

A tale of friendship, love, and grief, the musical shows how a group of ordinary Yorkshire ladies achieved something extraordinary.

It’s inspired by the true story of a group of women, who decide to appear nude for a Women’s Institute calendar in order to raise funds to buy a settee for their local hospital, in memory of one of their husbands. They have, to date, raised almost £5million for blood cancer charity Bloodwise.

Leading the cast are Lesley Joseph of Birds of a Feather as Jessie, Hollyoaks star Sarah Jane Buckley as Annie, Casualty actress Sue Devaney as Cora, Broadchurch star Julia Hills as Ruth, Judy Holt of Cold Feet as Marie and Lisa Maxwell of Loose Women as Celia and Rebecca Storm from Les Miserables as Chris.

The group of leading actresses worked fabulously together - and were a joy to watch. They got more laughs out the audience then almost any other musical I’d been to, but they certainly knew how to tug the heartstrings too.

The set was simple - just the rolling Yorkshire hills to illustrate the little village the musical is based in, but it worked perfectly for the entire show.

Throw in sunflowers, cakes, and plum jam - and you’ve got a show that’s sure to brighten anyone's day.

The musical, which included songs ‘Yorkshire’, ‘Mrs Conventional’ and ‘My Russian Friend and I’ was written by Take That star Gary Barlow and award-winning writer Tim Firth - and the songs were as uplifting as they were memorable.

Calendar Girls really does make you think about your own family and friends - and how lucky we are to be so loved by so many around us.

It’s a performance everyone should watch - far from being a ‘girls only’ show, the audience was packed with men and women of all ages last night; from older women who probably know all too well about the highs and lows of the famous WI, and teenagers who likely have never even given it a second thought.

Calendar Girls the Musical runs until Saturday, June 8.