Theatre News

Casting announced for Gary Barlow's The Girls

The new musical will begin its run at the Phoenix Theatre in January

Debbie Chazen, Joanna Riding and Sophie-Louise Dann who will star in The Girls
Debbie Chazen, Joanna Riding and Sophie-Louise Dann who will star in The Girls
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage

Casting has been announced for the West End run of Gary Barlow and Tim Firth's new musical The Girls.

The show will begin its run at the Phoenix Theatre on January 28.

Many of the original cast will reprise their roles in the show, with Sophie-Louise Dann taking on the role of Celia. Debbie Chazen will play Ruth, Michele Dotrice will play Jessie, Claire Machin will play Cora, Claire Moore will play Chris and Joanna Riding will be Annie.

The rest of the cast will be Joe Caffrey as Rod, Jeremy Clyde as Denis, John Davitt as Doctor, Soo Drouet as Brenda, James Gaddas as John, Jenny Gayner as Miss Wilson, Steve Giles as Lawrence, Maxwell Hutcheon as Colin, Shirley Jameson as Miss Wilson, Marian McLoughlin as Marie, Judith Street as Lady Cravenshire and Jane Lambert, Rebecca Lewis, Victoria Blackburn and Frazer Hadfield. Josh Benson will play Tommo, Ben Hunter will play Danny and Chloe May Jackson will play Jenny.

Producers David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers have made a commitment not to sell premium seats for the West End run of the musical. The show will have reduced previews and no booking fees.

The Girls is a new musical by Barlow and Firth which charts the true tale of a group of ladies who decided to pose nude for a Women's Institute calendar to raise funds to buy a sofa for their local hospital.

A film was released in 2003, starring Celia Imrie, Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, before a play, Calendar Girls, also written by Firth, was staged in 2008. The West End run of The Girls follows the show's run at The Lowry and Leeds Grand late last year and early this year.

Click here to buy tickets for The Girls

The Girls runs at the Phoenix Theatre from 24 Febuary 2017.