Ellison & McGann in Third Cast of Calendar Girls

Producers of the Calendar Girls tour have announced a third new cast, who will start performances in Cardiff on 27 July.

The new cast will feature Elaine C Smith (Chris), Denise Black (Cora), Jean Boht (Jessie), Jennifer Ellison (Celia), Julia Hills (Annie), Rachel Lumberg (Ruth), Ruth Madoc (Marie), Joe McGann (John) and Bruno Langley (Lawrence).

Both Elaine C Smith and Julia Hills were members of the original West End cast of the show, which began life at Chichester in 2008 before transferring to London’s Noel Coward Theatre in April 2009. Margaret John (Gavin and Stacey) will play Lady Cravenshire in Cardiff and Llandudno.

Tim Firth’s adaptation of Calendar Girls tells the real-life story of the members of a Yorkshire chapter of the Women’s Institute who decide to pose nude for a charity calendar. Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, Penelope Wilton and Celia Imrie starred in the 2003 screen original, also written by Firth.

The current tour began at the Chichester Festival Theatre in January with a cast including TV gardener Charlie Dimmock, Gemma Craven, Sue Holdnerness, Anna Charleston, Letitia Dean Hannah Waterman and Dean Gaffney.

The new tour will visit: Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff (27 July-7 August), Venue Cymru Llandudno (9-14 August), Theatre Royal Glasgow (16-28 August), His Majesty’s Theatre Aberdeen (30 August-4 September), Eden Court Theatre Inverness (6–11 September), King’s Theatre Edinburgh (13–25 September) and the Liverpool Empire (27 September–2 October).

From 5 October to 11 December, Lynda Bellingham will rejoin the cast as Chris, alongside Debbie Chazen, Mikyla Dodd, Brenda Gilhooly, Jan Harvey, Ruth Madoc and Bernie Nolan.