Review: Musical at Rugby Theatre is a moving portrayal of life, love, loss and friendship

There was a special moment as the applause faded at the end of Saturday’s opening performance.

The six women in the lead roles went into a group hug before leaving the stage, a powerful expression of their togetherness in having taken this show from rehearsal to a live audience.

If you’re going, get there early, buy a programme and read it.

It’s a powerful way to prepare for what’s to come, as it’s a rare instance of all cast members being given space to express their reasons for being involved.

Social historians will surely acknowledge in years to come what a landmark moment it was when a small WI in North Yorkshire came up with a novel idea to raise money after the husband of one of their group died of cancer.

The original calendar challenged everything we thought we knew about the WI; it raised millions - and in newspapers across the country, we were bombarded with all manner of unlikely groups daring to bare nearly all for a good cause.

It soon became a film and what an occasion that was. I saw it at Cineworld with many people who appeared not to have been to the flicks in years - a good number of them remaining resolutely still at the end as though waiting for the National Anthem.

A stage show followed and then a musical. When so many TV series and films use a cancer diagnosis as an easy plot point, it would be tempting to shiver at the thought of a cancer musical.

But because this is based on a true story - and performed by people who like most of us know something of a world upturned by cancer, it works and feels very real.

So to our six, who represented those of the original women who were happy to have their tale shared - Emma Bright, Kay Fitzpatrick, Sara Galligan, Victoria Gillias, Hayley Smith and Kathy Evans.

If Emma as Annie and Kay as Chris play the key roles, this was also an ensemble of six within the wider cast.

They brought out very different personalities as they sang, laughed, cried and eventually posed for the calendar shots, a process both brilliantly presented and sufficiently daring to live up to the original vision.

It wasn’t a full monty revelation but that was never the story here. Similarly the songs - apologies to the writers - are not greatest hits material but didn’t need to be the star attraction.

No, what really mattered was that obvious emotion of our women, giving us a sense of what it must have been like for those calendar pioneers and why their story still resonates.

The aforementioned other cast members were also a vital part of the process. Director Mark Tolchard - and let’s also credit the band, choreographer and all - made sure the action kept moving, allowing both humour and heartache to flourish at the appropriate times.

To describe a highlight of that humour would undoubtedly be a plot spoiler - but let’s just say, prepare for the unforgettable appearance of Rugby’s answer to the Cheeky Girls.

Let’s leave it there.

However well you think you know the story, it is well worth seeing it afresh.