PERFORMING: Rotorua's production of Calendar Girls starts its season on Friday.
PERFORMING: Rotorua's production of Calendar Girls starts its season on Friday.
When Rotorua director Jill Horne decided to put on the play Calendar Girls, she wasn't entirely sure whether she'd find enough brave women willing to ditch their clothes and take part.
But she did - and now after eight weeks of rehearsals, the Rotorua stage version of the popular movieis about to hit the stage at Shambles Theatre.
Mrs Horne said she'd seen the play twice - in Cardiff and in Cambridge - and loved the diversity of it as well as the story it told.
"I thought if I could just find the people, I'd love to put it on."
She said the play was funny and sad, with poignant moments.
Calendar Girls is based on the true story of a group of Women's Institute members who pose nude for a calendar to raise money for the Leukaemia Research Fund. The play followed the 2003 movie of the same name, which starred Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.
Mrs Horne said the fact that it was a true story was part of the appeal.
The local production involves a cast of 14 on stage.
Mrs Horne said the popularity of the movie probably increased people's expectations of the stage show.
"People will expect it to be the same and it is fairly much. Certainly the movie has raised the awareness of it and people know what it is about."Tickets are now on sale and are available from the Rotorua Shambles Theatre, Monday to Saturday, from 11am to 2pm and from 7pm on show nights.
Show times are 8pm, Wednesday, to Saturday, with matinees at 2pm on Sunday, November 10 and 17. Door sales are also available. Ticket prices are adult $26, senior citizen $23, theatre member $20, student (with ID) $15.
