To John: A Story of Female Friendships and One Heck of a Calendar

From left to right, Tanya Tranberg as Celia, Goo as Jessie, Jenny Kosek as Cora, Beth Perry as Annie, and Lesley Grider as Ruth in Calendar Girls at Waukesha Civic Theatre. Photo credit: Anne Kenny Creative.

A review of Calendar Girls

by Kennedy Freiberg, age 12

(Some spoilers ahead!)

Calendar Girls is a comedy about 6 women (Chris, Annie, Ruth, Cora, Celia, and Jessie) who are all part of the Yorkshire Women’s Institute. After Annie’s husband John dies from leukemia, the girls need to raise money to buy a bench at the hospital as his memorial. Every year their group does a calendar as a fundraiser, but this year the girls decide to switch it up to raise more money—they do a nude calendar. Said nude calendar sells out quickly, but people are starting to judge and some of the girls think they should stop. Will their friendship survive this? Or will they pretend that this never happened?

Somehow this show managed to make me cry and laugh. It was such a roller coaster of emotions in the best way possible. I did feel like I should’ve looked away at times but overall it was a very enjoyable experience.

I wanted to start by saying how cool the set was! I think that it was so fun when it changed from the church to the hill, especially with the sunflowers at the end (I could tell why John liked spending so much time there!) Also the attention to detail in the main set was incredible; the hallways had lots of pictures and it seemed like the piano actually worked. The whole scenic design was very pretty and I give credits to Evan Crain for making such a beautiful set!

The other thing I wanted to shout out was the actors! Going on stage is already nerve-racking but having to portray "nudity" while also performing?! Props to them honestly. Also I would like to specifically compliment Lesley Grider playing Ruth. I loved how she used an accent, and it's what made me realize that they were in England. I think that her calendar shoot was the least "modest" from where I was sitting in the audience, and that can be really uncomfortable and challenging as an actor. I think she really brought the most out of her character and really made her being the "teacher’s pet" believable.

I would recommend this show to older or more mature audiences because there are some sensitive topics. Please go see Calendar Girls at Waukesha Civic Theatre!!! Get tickets now!!!