That's all folks

Well, two years after the idea first emerged to create our own Calendar Girls-style charity calendar we have wound up the fund and handed over a final cheque for £2,560.39 to the Midlands Chairman of Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. In total we raised £2649.89, including donations made on our Just Giving page which went straight to the charity.

John Purser kindly travelled down from Coventry to Burton-on-Trent last night to meet as many of the Calendar Girls who could make it and take possession of the cheque.

With us were Little Theatre Company's chairman Peter Clemson and Artistic Director John Bowness - because obviously we could not have done it without them. It was their decision to stage the play Calendar Girl which inspired us to create our own calendar and raise as much as we could for the charity that is fighting to beat all blood cancers. They supported all our publicity efforts and let us launch the calendar at last September's Little Theatre Company Playathon day.

We'd also like to thank our talented photographer and calendar designer Tilley Bancroft and make-up artist Sheelagh Powell who supported us at last summer's photoshoot. Thanks also to Sara of BraSense who supported us with secret underwear during show week!

We would like to thank the people of Burton who gave to our fund so generously. We know times are hard and lots of good causes are competing for donations - so we are grateful for every penny given by the audiences who came to our show week in March 2013 as well as those who bought the calendar.

Thanks to our MP Andrew Griffiths who was quick to ask how he could help and posed for a photo with us when he bought a calendar to hang in his office at the House of Commons.

Thanks to George Gunby who sold our calendars at his Calendar Club stall in Cooper's Square in the run-up to Christmas and Pint Arts Festival who let us have a stall at their craft fair and the Burton town centre management who let us have a stand at the Christmas lights switch on.

Thanks to Sarah Spencer, who was a superbly organised treasurer, and all the other Calendar Girls who played their part in making the project a success and beating our original target of £2,500.

It's been an unforgettable experience.

WE DID IT!!!

Well, what a week we had at The Brewhouse in Burton-on-Trent last week.

Virtually every seat was sold for Little Theatre Company's six performances of Tim Firth's play Calendar Girls and the feedback from our audiences was fabulous. They laughed, they cheered, they burst into spontaneous applause and they shed a few tears too - moved by the story of Annie and John Clarke (Matt Bancroft and Vicky Fryer) and Annie's fiesty friend Chris (Heather Ratcliffe).

But there was plenty of comedy too - from the hapless Ruth (Elaine Pritchard) and her doomed efforts to create still life with fir cones and fancy dress for the summer fete, and her mismatched badminton night with WI Chairman Marie (Carol Brown). And who will forget guest speaker Brenda Hulse (Sonja Wardle) and her talk on the history of broccoli, Lady Cravenshire (Sarah Spencer) and her ponderings on the architectural origins of Knapeley Church and of course retired schoolteacher Jessie (Bethan Waite) irate at being asked to arrange flowers for a landowner's wife and her encounter with the excruciatingly patronising beautician (Caitlin Pritchard)?

When it came to "SCENE SIX", the calendar photoshoot itself, the ladies all agreed it was less stressful in the end than managing fast backstage costume changes and remembering a host of props. Single mother and church organist Cora (Vanessa Birch) showed off a tattoo (but it was temporary) and photographer Lawrence (Daniel Tunks) had the audience in stitches as he finally realised Jessie was his old school teacher. Trophy wife Celia (Hannah Mason) stirred him to anger when she moved his carefully arranged composition of buns - leading to one of the most eagerly-anticipated lines each night (sometimes we could hear members of the audience join in with Chris to announce): "We are going to need CONSIDERABLY bigger buns".

The girls got lots of support and help in the photoshoot scene from other members of Knapeley WI - Joyce  Pike, Jodie Durbin, Jane German, Kay St Clair and Dawn White.

Finally to complete the cast we had Liam (Rob Tunley) tasked with shooting a washing powder commercial with the girls, and Rod (Mark Pearson), Chris's long-suffering husband.

But last week was also about us striving to reach our challenging target of raising £2,500 for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research - and, WE DID IT!! As I write, the total on our Just Giving Page stands at £2,649.89

It was thanks to a lot of people that we made this impressive total.

...Thanks to all those who donated raffle prizes - including The Mug Tug, in Barton-under-Needwood, who also surprised cast members with specially created, hand-painted jugs at the after-show party!

...Thanks to those who staffed the raffle stall in the Brewhouse bar at each performance selling raffle tickets and taking donations for our calendars and our crochet calendar girls.

...Thanks to the audience members who gave so generously.

...Thanks to Sarah Spencer - who was the Burton Calendar Girls finance chief throughout and sat up after each performance last week counting coins and texting the latest total to the girls.

..Thanks to the cast of the UK touring production of Calendar Girls who donated an autographed calendar and other memorabilia as raffle prizes.

...Thanks, of course, to the uber-talented Tilley Bancroft of Red Door Studios whose vision for the 2013 calendar we shot last summer made it such a beautiful piece of work.

...Thanks to Sara of Bra Sense and make-up artist Sheelagh  Powell who generously gave up time and products.... and all those who sold calendars for us.

There are also many, many thank you's associated with the play itself:

• Our amazing director John Bowness 
• Soundtrack supremo Peter Clemson
• The hard-working set crew who built Knapeley Village Hall for us
• Musical director Jack Hawkins
• Karen Hailstone for continuity
• Ben Yeomans for lighting
• Katie Haywood - and the cast - for props
• Geoff Thompson for photography
• The BADAC volunteers who staffed the bar each night
• Janet Plummer and Pam Anderson for selling programmes and staffing the coffee bar
• Little Theatre Company's private and corporate patrons - who help make our productions possible
• Brewhouse box office staff who stayed calm under a deluge of phone calls trying to get last minute tickets.
• The Burton Mail for pre-show publicity.

So, the adventure is finally over. Thank you for following our blog. Our JustGiving Page will stay open until the end of March 2013 to enable any late donations to be gathered in and then we'll be organising the handover of the money to the charity which is fighting so hard to cure blood cancers.

Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research has always been associated with the play since the real life calendar girls of  Yorkshire began fundraising for a settee for their local cancer ward following the death of the real John Clarke. Who could have imagined where that decision was going to lead?

Although there's such an important and serious point to the fund raising we have had so many laughs along the way with our photoshoot and last week's shows. I hope we brought a little sunshine into your life too.

HERE COME THE GIRLS!

Two years after John told us we would be doing the play Calendar Girls - if we were 'up for it' - which led us to decide to start our own fundraising drive for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research ..... SHOW WEEK IS FINALLY HERE!!

Today we'll be at our venue, The Brewhouse, Union Street, Burton-on-Trent, organising props and dressing the set ahead of a first dress rehearsal tonight.

So, there's not much time to stay on here and blog - but I'll be back later to tell you more and maybe share some pictures of the final preparations.

Also watch out for updates and images on our Twitter feed - twitter.com/LTCCalendarGirl

Two weeks to opening night of Calendar Girls in Burton-on-Trent

So, it's now just over two weeks until opening night of our production of Calendar Girls at The Brewhouse in Burton-on-Trent.

But it's two YEARS since we first heard that we would be staging the comedy play and came up with the idea of fundraising for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research through our own charity calendar.

This week our publicity drive got a welcome boost with a story in the Burton Mail which reminded people that there will be a raffle every night of the show's run to boost our fund raising total which currently stands at £1,386.

Among the items we will be raffling off are copies of the signed good luck messages we received from the cast of the UK touring production of Calendar Girls - including Ruth Madoc, Sue Holderness, Lesley Joseph, Kacey Ainsworth, Helen Fraser, Camilla Dallerup and many more.

Then there will also be our infamous crocheted calendar girl dolls - though if anyone wants to put in a bid to buy one of them for charity we might consider it! Our challenging target is to raise £2,500 by the end of March 2013 - and we would LOVE to make it.

Tickets for the play - which runs from March 12-March 16 - are going fast with some shows already sold out. Latest news on ticket availability can be obtained by telephoning the Brewhouse Box Office on 01283-508100. But if you are too late to get a ticket you can still pop down to the Brewhouse any night of the show and enjoy a drink at the bar and buy a raffle ticket or make a donation. Each day there will be a different raffle with winning tickets drawn during the second half of the show. Copies of our calendar - sure to be a collectors' item in future years! - can also still be acquired in return for a donation.

Thanks to the friends of LTC and the members of LTC Youth who have volunteered to sell raffle tickets in the bar each night and at the Saturday 2.30pm matinee.

If you would like to support our efforts but can't get to the Brewhouse during show week you can still donate at the Burton Calendar Girls Just Giving page

Every penny will make a difference in these last few weeks so please spread the word about us on social media - help us get more fans on Facebook and followers on Twitter.

Thank you Brasense for your support!

As rehearsals continue for our March production of Calendar Girls, the members of the cast who need to strip off for the crucial (and hilarious) scene where the charity calendar is photographed are thinking about eating salads, exercising - and underwear.

Sara, of Brasense, can't help us with the first two - but she has provided the six main characters with some super, nude, almost invisible undies. And we are very grateful.

It's a very important part of the show that no-one in the audience actually sees anything they really shouldn't. We're determined to avoid the 'wardrobe malfunctions' that it seems other amateur theatre groups have suffered around the UK.

As the name suggests, Brasense is a company that specialises in ensuring that women achieve a perfect fit from their bras. But in this case she has sourced some knickers that are like the ones worn by glamour models - and we feel very glamorous as a result.

If you think you could be among many, many women across the UK wearing a bra that's not really comfortable and doesn't give you the shape and support you really need, have a look at the Brasense website - http://www.brasense.co.uk - and read about the service they can offer.

Brasense is based in Measham, Derbyshire - and we're also happy to welcome them as a Corporate Patron of Little Theatre Company.

Burton Belles, and a bit of burlesque

As you know, the play Calendar Girls - which we are performing at Burton's Brewhouse from March 12-16, 2013 - focuses on the WI.
We loved visiting Egginton WI last year to talk about our experience of creating our own charity Calendar Girls calendar.
Next month, on February 13, we're talking to another WI group - this time the Burton Belles who meet in the town centre at the St John Ambulance HQ.
The Burton Belles are also turning out in force to come and see opening night of our play in March.
So we were thrilled to see them getting a mention in an article in the Daily Express about the changing face of the WI.

You can read the full article here.

Burton Belles are a great example of a modern WI and the feature refers to one of their events - a Burlesque dance evening. 

The Burton Belles website is here - and I'm sure they would love to see any ladies of any age at a future meeting to find out more about their group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support. You may have seen that this week we past the £1,250 mark with our fund raising for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. Our fund raising will continue through to the end of March 2013. 

If you'd like to help you can:

• Text 'BCGS90 £1' to 700700 - to donate £1 to our fund. It will go straight to the charity and you'll even have an opportunity to add gift aid if you wish.
• Visit our JustGiving page at http://www.justgiving.com/BurtonCalendarGirls to donate any amount safely and securely online.
• Buy a calendar for just £5 - find out how on our How To Buy A Calendar page.
• Buy a ticket for one of our shows in March. There will be a chance to donate any loose change in collecting buckets on the bar or buy a ticket in our nightly raffle where prizes on certain nights will include signed pictures donated by the professional cast of Calendar Girls. Tickets for the play can be bought via the Brewhouse box office - call in person or ring 01283-508100 - or book online at http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/littletheatreco. There's NO booking fee.

Donate £1 by text - it's so easy

Today we've decided to take advantage of a free service that Just Giving makes available when you have a fundraising page - as we do at http://www.justgiving.com/BurtonCalendarGirls

Vodafone - for no extra charge - allows you to set up a 'donate by text' service.

So if you can afford to give just £1 to our fund for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research you can now text "BCGS90 £1" to 70070 and VOILA! you will have automatically donated £1.

We know that everyone has to think about every £1 these days - but even if a few people can afford it, it will help us towards our very challenging target of raising £2,500 by the end of the week of our play of Calendar Girls in March.

Tickets for the play are already going fast with lots of requests coming in for group bookings - so don't delay if you want to see the girls live on stage in the brilliant, funny, sweet and sad play by Tim Firth.

Tickets can be booked in person at the box office of the Brewhouse, or by telephoning 01283-508100 or by booking online at http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/littletheatreco

Calendar Girls, the play, runs from Tuesday March 12 to Saturday March 16 at The Brewhouse, Union Street, Burton-on-Trent.

Crochet your own Burton Calendar Girl

It's amazing the ideas that percolate in a dressing room when a bunch of Little Theatre Company ladies are dressed as nuns for The Sound of Music.

Maybe those wimples overheated our heads, but as we watched 'Sister Tilley' crochet backstage to pass the time between bouts of acapella four-part harmony singing in Latin the idea of crocheting our own calendar girls emerged.

Tilley (that woman's talents know NO bounds) is a crochet expert extraordinary as well as a top class animator, designer and photographer at Red Door Studios. She - remember - took ALL the photos for our beautiful calendar and designed the pages and got everything ready for the printers.

Well, she quickly whipped up a sample doll overnight.

... and she soon had a couple of friends.

Last night, at the first read through of our production of Calendar Girls the play - on at The Brewhouse, in Burton-on-Trent, in March 2013 - Tilley distributed wool, a pattern she's created and a crochet hook to all the girls to start crocheting their own calendar girls.

Watch this space for news of our progress. We hope that by March we'll have a full set of Burton Calendar Girls which we would raffle off during show week - along with the signed memorabilia from the professional cast of Calendar Girls - to raise more money to add to our funds being raised for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research

If anyone gets a bit obsessed and carried away with this craft project (YOU KNOW WHO I'M THINKING OF, GIRLS!!) then any extra dolls may be for sale in the bar during the show week. Or auctioned to the highest bidder, even!

If anyone out there who loves crafts and crocheting wants to join us, leave us a message here or on our Facebook page and I'm sure we can get you a copy of the pattern so you can join in the fun.

Now here, for the benefit of the crocheting calendar girls, are a series of video tutorials that Tilley has found time to record (I wonder if she ever sleeps?) which will help you. They are also quite useful to anyone else who wants to hone their crocheting skills.














Meanwhile, a quick reminder that our calendars are STILL on sale priced at £8 each - a great idea for a Christmas gift that gives to such an important charity dedicated to beating blood cancers. Find out how to buy one at our How To Buy A Calendar page.

You can alternatively (or as well as) make a small donation of whatever you can afford at our Just Giving Page - http://www.justgiving.com/BurtonCalendarGirls

From nuns to nudes

It's been a hectic week since the PINT craft fayre with many of the Burton Calendar Girls playing nuns in Little Theatre Company's production of The Sound of Music.

Carol, Vicky and Chris have been selling our calendars in the bar before and after all the performances - and special mention must go to our good friend, and honorary Calendar Girl, Kate who achieved record sales on Thursday night.

The nuns have been having a great time backstage. Some of them follow very suitable nun-like pursuits - like our bible-reading 'Sister' Dawn, a Miss March.

Others sit in quiet contemplation and do a spot of crocheting. Like Sister Cait (a Miss December) and Sister Tilley (a Miss October).

Pausing to occasionally burst into song.

But soon we'll be saying 'goodbye' to Nonnberg Abbey and 'hello' to Calendar Girls rehearsals.

The cast has been announced - and we'll bring you the news about that in the coming weeks. Rehearsals for our March 2013 production of Calendar Girls start on Tuesday November 27.

Tomorrow, after helping take down the set and pack away the costumes, we'll be selling our calendars at the official switch-on of Burton-on-Trent's Christmas lights. Come and find us in the market place.

Then, on Wednesday three of us are guest speakers at Egginton WI.

Meanwhile, please support our efforts to raise as much money as possible for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. Donations are always welcome if (for any reason) you don't want a calendar.

Find out the latest places to buy a calendar by clicking the link at the top of this page called "How To Buy A Calendar".

As you know, our calendar reflects a theatrical theme, and as we've not given away any secrets from the calendar so far - here's the December shot of us all looking over programmes from past Little Theatre Company shows. From nuns to nudes...... it's all in a day's work for the Burton Calendar Girls.

New Burton market is christened in style

What an amazing event the PINT Arts Festival Craft and Artisan Market was in Burton-on-Trent yesterday.

Organiser Alistair Kennedy deserves a medal as he powered through the day having had just 40 minutes sleep because on Friday night he was among those taking part in Burton YMCA's Sleep Out. And let's not forget Burton Town Centre Management and The Making House who also helped make yesterday such a great success.

There was a great range of quality stalls selling unusual and beautiful gifts and cards, cakes, chocolate, chutneys and jams, clothes and jewellery - the list went on and on. The event was superbly well organised and promoted and I hope it bodes well for the future success of Burton's traditional market stall holders when they take over those new pitches on Station Street which we christened yesterday.

The Burton Calendar Girls had a great day. We met some lovely people and had lots of support. Here are Carol and Dawn during their shifts.



Dawn and me, Heather, Karen and Katie, Tilley and Bethan were splitting our time between the stall and The Brewhouse where the set crew had a busy day building mountains, a convent and the residence of the Von Trapp family ready for tomorrow's opening night of Little Theatre Company's The Sound of Music.

Carol will be the one organising our big calendar selling operation at every performance of the show - so there's plenty of time to come down to The Brewhouse any night this week and buy a calendar and chat with Carol about our calendar girl experience. Now, it's back to the Brewhouse again for a Sound of Music double dress rehearsal. See you again soon!

Extreme calendar selling

We have eight days of 'extreme calendar selling' on the horizon and are hoping for lots of support from the people of Burton and district.

We start on Saturday (November 10) when a number of the girls are taking turns to sell calendars at the Burton Craft Fair and Artisan Market being held in Station Street, in Burton town centre. HUGE thanks to Burton Creative Network who have generously let us have some space on their stall for free.

The market runs from 10am until about 4pm and will host lots of  quality stalls. Here's a picture of the stalls being put in place which Burton Creative Network shared on its Facebook Page this week.

It's going to be a busy day as most of the girls are also appearing in The Sound of Music next week for our Little Theatre Company. On Saturday they are fitting calendar selling shifts in around trying on costumes and some technical rehearsals.

Then, throughout the run of The Sound of Music (Monday November 12 - Saturday November 17) calendars will be on sale before, during and after every 7.30pm performance and the Saturday matinee at 2.30pm at The Brewhouse, Union Street.

Tickets for the show are in very short supply. The popularity of this Rodgers and Hammerstein favourite clearly never fades and the Friday night and Saturday afternoon shows are already sold out. A few tickets remain for other performances - so call the box office on 01283-508100 for latest availability.

BUT, remember, even if you've NOT got a ticket we'd love to see you in the bar of the Brewhouse where Carol, Vicky and Chris - who all appear in the calendar - will be leading the sales drive. You would be welcome to drop in for a calendar, a drink from the bar and you can also enjoy the handiwork of artist David Booth who is currently working on the world's largest sculpture (we think) made from beermats as part of the PINT Arts Festival.

Many other girls from the calendar appear as nuns in The Sound of Music - no typecasting there, then!

There's no peace when the show ends on Saturday November 17 - as after the 'take down' on Sunday morning (when we dismantle the set, gather up the props and pack up the costumes) some of the girls will be selling calendars at the official Burton Christmas Lights Switch-on from 12 noon in the town centre. Thanks again to Burton Town Centre Management for the support.

The only expense we have had is the calendar printing - thanks to the generosity of our support team and our Burton supporters. EVERY other penny raised will go to Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.

Our full colour calendars cost just £8 each.

Playwright Tim Firth supports Burton Calendar Girls

Bethan Waite, one of the brave ladies in our calendar, took a trip to Frodsham Literature Festival where she had the good fortune to be introduced to Tim Firth - the award-winning writer of the play Calendar Girls.

Tim is patron of the festival, known as Weaver Words, and was more than happy to chat to Bethan about his play, Little Theatre Company's production of it in March 2013 and our current charity calendar project.

Bethan said: "I asked him, 'Please write more plays with such wonderful parts for women in' - and he said that was one of the reasons that he wrote Calendar Girls in the first place."

He also co-wrote the screenplay for the 2003 film which starred Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.

Tim's own website is being very generous in its support for the hundreds of amateur productions of Calendar Girls going ahead in the coming 18 months.

The evening after Bethan met Tim and his wife, the Firths were going to the amateur premiere of Calendar Girls which took place in Grassington - the village where the real Womens' Institute did that first naked calendar.

He told Bethan that was definitely the ONLY production he would be going to see. His mother was due to appear in an amateur production, he revealed - but he wasn't even planning to watch that.

Tim did sign a couple of good luck messages for us which we'll add to the front of house displays when we stage the play next March. Meanwhile, remember to keep an eye on our How to Buy A Calendar page here to see how and where you can buy your own Burton Calendar Girls calendar for yourself, a friend or a relative as an unforgettable Christmas present.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, is only a day away......

Tomorrow, September 1^st is a very exciting and  long awaited day for the LittleTheatre Company ladies, it’s the day we launch our Calendar Girls calendar. This has been such an interesting journey for all of us and we’re delighted that finally everyone will be able to see what we’ve achieved.  Coincidentally tomorrow is also the day that the amateur rights to the play “Calendar Girls” is being released. Little Theatre Company are delighted that they’re able to perform this wonderfully inspiring play in March 2013.

For those who don’t  know the story the play was written and based on a true story. Because of  Beryl Balmforth, one of the original Calendar Girls  and Grassington Players member, the Yorkshire Dales amateur theatre company have the honour of being the first company to perform Calendar Girls, tonight, Friday 31^st August, the day before the official amateur rights are released.

Mrs Balmforth will not appear in this production but she said that as a story beginning in the Yorkshire Dales she felt it only fitting that it should start its amateur life there. John Baker, whose death in 1998 inspired the original calendar was also a member of Grassington Players. The Little Theatre Company and our own Calendar Girls wish Grassington Players “Break a leg” for tonight’s  performance, it will  undoubtedly be especially poignant for them.

We hope that people will pop into the Brewhouse tomorrow from 10am until 10pm when they can enjoy  the wonderful  entertainment provided at Little Theatre Company's   Playathon and of course buy  your Calendars hot off the press.

Calendars are priced at £8. We can accept cash or cheques but not card payments unfortunately.

We look forward to seeing  everyone then.

Ready to stuff?

As you'll know our "baby" is currently at the printers and will be hot off the press this coming Friday. As we're launching our Calendar at Little Theatre Company's Playathon on Saturday, the ladies have a fun night on Friday putting calendars into plastic bags. So, Calendar Girls if you're not doing anything Friday 31st August - 7pm please hotfoot it to the Brewhouse and lend a hand. I know you're all very excited to see the finished product, we have created something very special.

I would like to give a very special thanks to the Brewhouse and staff  for their generosity and help. It is very much appreciated.

Almost there

Tomorrow afternoon Elaine, Tilley and myself will be meeting for what will be our final meeting before the Calendar goes for printing. The pictures have been taken, we decided who we need to thank on our Calendar, people who've given their time generously, Sheelagh who so magnificently made every one of us look so beautiful for our pictures, Elaine for her tireless work on our publicity and spreading the word.There are so many people that we're grateful to, Mike for his costume and prop contributions, Matt for his splendid lighting and helping to set up the theatre for us and Ken for his tea/coffee making. Most importantly we could not have done this without our wonderful Tilley, photographer extrordinaire, we cannot thank her enough for her tireless work in taking the pictures, her vision and patience and for all the work she's done since to ensure that we have the most stunning Calendar.

Tomorrow we'll check the proofs, make sure everything is in place and then we have to let our baby go to the printers. I know that we're all super excited to see the final product in its printed form. And so the next part of our adventure begins, we launch the Calendar on September 1st and our hopes for selling as many copies as we can to enable us to donate as much as we can to such a worthy cause. Now it's up to you, please support us and spread the word.
You can follow us on Twitter
'Like' us on Facebook and of course follow this blog for updates about the calendar and how to buy your own copy.

P.S: Here we are taking a final look at the calendar page proofs on Tilley's laptop. We're so pleased with the finished result.

Countdown to calendar launch

In recent years the Little Theatre Company - of which all the Burton Calendar Girls are proud to be members - has held a 'Playathon' every two years as our main fund-raising event for the company.

This year, as before, we'll be taking over the Brewhouse, in Union Street, Burton-on-Trent, for 12 hours between 10am and 10pm on Saturday September 1, and offering non-stop entertainment by our members.

And we can also reveal that this will also be the day when our calendar will launch!. It will be the first chance for anyone in Burton to buy one of these calendars - so if you pop in to the Brewhouse any time between 10am and 10pm you can snap up the first available calendars.

ALL the proceeds from the sale of these calendars will go to Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. None of the money is going to LTC funds - but we thought by launching the calendar on Playathon day we could have 12 hours of non-stop calendar selling too to get this charity project off to a flying start.

We would also love to see as many of you as possible at our Playathon on September 1. Admission is completely FREE - but we will be running an all-day tombola for Little Theatre Company funds. Entertainment will include lots of comedy sketches and music from a couple of our recent musical shows. There will also be a two-hour 1940s section with music, dancing and 1940s fun from 4.30pm to 6.30pm. The Brewhouse bar will be open and there will be coffee and cake, of course (See, with the Calendar Girls there's ALWAYS coffee and cake). We look forward to seeing you all. 

We've seen it - but you still have to wait

It's safe to say that the get-together at the Tutbury studios of our photographer Tilley Bancroft last night was a HUGE success.

Fuelled by Sonja's ginger cake, biscuits tea and coffee, the ladies nervously gathered to see the final shots chosen for the calendar.

And they loved them!!

But I'm afraid to say that the rest of you have to wait until later in the year when the calendar is printed and launched. We'll have some more details for you about that.

After all the excitement of the 'reveal'  most of us headed off to local pub, The Dog and Partridge for a drink to make the most of the warm summer evening.

The touring company is coming to Derby

If you've never seen the professional production of Calendar girls then you're in for a treat, it's coming to Derby in September this year. Many of us in the Little Theatre Company went to see this production last year at Nottingham and it's a stellar cast and one not to be missed. Check out Derby Live for full dates and prices.

Calendar Girls by Tim Firth

The global phenomenon comes to Derby

Calendar Girls has been the fastest selling tour ever and has triumphed in the West End. Now, it's coming to Derby starring Lesley Joseph as Miss October, Sue Holderness as Miss February, Ruth Madoc as Miss March, Kathryn Rooney as Miss September, Camilla Dallerup as Miss May, Helen Fraser as Miss January, Deena Payne as Miss July and Kacey Ainsworth as Miss November, with Kevin Sacre as Lawrence the photographer
A group of ordinary women do something extraordinary and spark a global phenomenon when they persuade one another to pose for a charity calendar with a difference! Based on an inspiring true story and the smash hit film, Calendar Girls is quirky, poignant and hilarious. Calendar Girls has sold out in every theatre it's visited before opening. Don't miss out and book today for the show the Mail on Sunday said is "marvellous theatre, guaranteed to make you laugh, cry and come out singing Jerusalem!"
"A show I could see over and over again - and I hope I will!" Sir Cliff Richard
"Lots of laughs and a few tears. This show should be on everyone's calendar" June Whitfield CBE
"Funny, charming and a touching tribute to the fundraising efforts of a group of extraordinary, ordinary women" Ian Hislop

Great Hall

Monday 24 September to Saturday 29 September

7.30pm, Wed & Sat Matinee 2.30pm

Tickets: £15.25 - £28.25. Mon–Thu evening/Sat Mat £17.25–£26.25, Fri & Sat evening £19.25–£28.25, Wed Mat £15.25–£23.25

Concessions: Tickets cost more when booked via telephone or in person at box office. See our Ts & Cs for details.

Book now

Burton Calendar Girls on social media

Well, now we've done the brave bit and had our photos taken, the next challenge is making sure we sell ALL the print run and raise lots of money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.

So, with that in mind we're spreading the word on social media and we'd be really pleased if you would become our fan on Facebook...

...and follow us on Twitter.

It's two more ways to stay in touch with all the news as we continue along the route to seeing our calendar published. We'd love to hear from you - so do feel free to leave a comment on this blog, send us a tweet or post on our Page.

And Miss January is.........?

What a difficult task Elaine, Tilley and myself had last week. As is the norm Ken was on coffee duty and my dining room was the scene of some serious deliberations. Tilley had all the shots she'd taken and our task was to whittle them down to a few and then choose the best photograph of each pose. You'd think that would've been fairly easy to do, no such luck, every single picture taken could've gone in the Calendar, Tilley's pictures were unbelievable, the difference that her terrific lighting made without doubt, made every single shot.

 To put everything on a fair playing field and so that Elaine, Tilley and myself didn't get to choose our own pictures, Tilley and myself chose the shot of Elaine, to see Elaine sitting there hugging a teddy bear with an excrutiating look on her face while the two of us picked over her shots was hilarious, too bad I didn't have my camera to capture that expression. Of course then Tilley and I had to wait with bated breath while Elaine chose our shot. Two hours later and after much deliberation we finally had our 12 amazing poses.

And so to choose who should star in which month, our idea behind this was largely taken to make the calendar as interesting as possible, to fit in each month so that it flowed nicely with the month before and so here is the final selection.

January           -     Elaine
February         -     Joyce
March             -     Katie,Jane, Chris, Dawn
April               -     Hannah
May                -     Karen
June                -     Jodie and Sarah
July                 -    Vicky
August            -     Sonja
September      -     Bethan
October          -     Carol and Tilley
November       -     Heather
December       -     The Girls