The Girls
16 May 2017
Phoenix Theatre
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Yesterday I had a chance to see the new musical The Girls at the Phoenix Theatre. I’ve heard good things about it and wanted to check it out for myself, so off I went to the side entrance of the Phoenix Theatre and climbed all those stairs all the way to the top.
We had a gorgeous view over the stage from our balcony seats, the stage design absolutely fascinated me throughout the entire show, walls built out of cabinets of varying sizes, it was absolutely gorgeous.
The Girls tells the story of the world-wide sensation of ordinary Yorkshire women raising money for charity through a nude calendar, you’ve probably heard the story before. The musical jumps right in with a song about how… ordinary living in Yorkshire is; I felt like this theme snaked its way through the entire performance, constantly reiterating that Yorkshire life is bland and dull, which seemed a little derisive rather than proudly speaking of small town life the way I’ve heard it from people who enjoy country living.
Characters and flow of the story were done really well, though the teenage romance of two of the protagonist’s children seemed very shoehorned in and not necessaryto drive the plot, almost serving as a bit of a distraction from the calendar girls.
I loved the songs though, very bright and upbeat, and the stage design was absolutely stellar with colourful props and soooooo many sunflowers! And of course the story of women empowering women was beautiful to see, despite a few minor consent issues here and there.
It’s a beautifully done musical with lovely songs but overall didn’t blow me away.