It's been a triumphant run, but Gary Barlow's THE GIRLS has now left London's West End. The show, which found a home at the Phoenix Theatre for six wonderful months will head on tour next summer, but the hole it's left in London's theatre district has been felt strongly by thousands of fans. Becky Mary from our friends at the Musical Theatre Appreciation Society, shares her thoughts on its closing...
So as we all can guess this blog is about the closing of ‘The Girls’ at the Phoenix theatre in London (Queue the tears, I am already crying)
This beautiful production sadly closed on the 15 July 2017 after a 6 month run in the West End, touching the hearts of many and bringing us a production filled with true emotions, love and togetherness. The show addresses topics that in the outside realm of theatre we barely comprehend to even think let alone talk about.
Based on a true story, we see six friends come together after Annie loses her husband John - a well-known man throughout the whole village - to blood cancer. They come together to do a nude calendar to raise money to get a new suite for Skipton general, despite the troubles of teens going off the rails and other people not liking what they are doing.
Beyond the story of the show these friends then went on to start the charity Bloodwise that started in 1960. (go and have a look at this amazing charity here) The cast of THE GIRLS always had a fire to help aid this charity and as some of you will know after every show they would collect for Bloodwise, raising thousands of pounds (They also collected after the Manchester and London attacks too).
So this is the part it gets really sad. A lot of us, including the cast, felt it was too soon to close THE GIRLS. The fact that it had such a great message behind it and related to all of us in some way meant that it stood out from the other shows. It took you through a rollercoaster of emotions, from comedic numbers to heart wrenching ballads in the space of minutes. I think what personally drew me to this musical was that it reminded you that you will have times when you feel down and sad but that you are not alone and you can live.
The cast members are fantastic and stunning performers. Each member had fun on stage and you could see that they had worked so hard to get the show as slick as possible for everyone. As well as this, they are a very close group as some of the cast have been doing the show before it came to the west end. As one member described it, ‘It’s a massive family with 6 mothers’. In addition, each cast member would stop and talk to anyone who came to stage door or even in the foyer on the way out to say thank you, take pictures or even just generally chat. I wish every piece of luck to them all on their new journeys.
Now you have got this far and yes it’s been a sad blog to write but there is a ray of sunshine. The show will be going on tour in 2018 to over 45 venues (still to be announced). So if you did miss it do not be alarmed you can go and see it on tour. The dates for the tour will be announced in September 2017.
As well as this the cast, album is yet to have a release date, but I hope it's soon so we can sing along in the car or shower. Do keep your eyes peeled for that!
Final touches to the album today its sounding wonderful it really is....release date to be announced soon!
— The Girls musical (@thegirlsmusical) June 20, 2017
Finally, I think from everyone I know that has seen the show, we can all agree that The Girls musical changed many people’s lives and has a special place in our hearts. We wish the Cast, Crew and Creatives the best for the future.
