Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Calendar Girls, written by Tim Firth, Amdram’s latest production

By Terry Lobb
Whanganui Midweek·
4 Dec, 2023 02:30 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Terry Lobb, (assistant director), was the first to shave Geoff Campbell's hair.

Terry Lobb, (assistant director), was the first to shave Geoff Campbell's hair.

Amdram’s latest production, Calendar Girls, directed by Helen Watson, is based on the movie Calendar Girls, and the true story of a group of women from Rylstone Women’s Institute, North Yorkshire, who posed “nude” in a calendar to raise money for a settee.

John Baker died of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 1998 at age 54 and was the main inspiration behind the calendar.

His wife Angela spent many hours sitting on a badly sprung, old settee in the relatives’ room at Skipton General and after John’s death, she and her friend, Tricia Stewart, decided to raise money for a new settee.

Jacqui Hughes, stage wife Annie, is about to take over shaving Geoff Campbell's hair, from Terry Lobb (assistant director).
Jacqui Hughes, stage wife Annie, is about to take over shaving Geoff Campbell's hair, from Terry Lobb (assistant director).
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The original calendar featured 11 women, each taking a month and posing together for December. They sold over 88,000 copies. In over 20 years the Alternative WI calendar has raised over £6 million ($12.2m) for Leukaemia Research.

Geoff Campbell plays John Clarke (John Baker), alongside Jacqui Hughes as his wife, Annie. We are very fortunate to have a fabulous cast to work with, both newbies to our theatre and some returning.

Rosie Rendell, who is Cora onstage, finishing off shaving Geoff's hair, watched by Terry Lobb.
Rosie Rendell, who is Cora onstage, finishing off shaving Geoff's hair, watched by Terry Lobb.

Geoff is no stranger to Amdram both on and off stage and goes all out for his characters. Unfortunately, he only gets to play part of the first act, before he succumbs to that dreadful decease.

So, off with his hair! To get into character we had a ‘shaving’ before rehearsals and let a few cast members loose on him with a razor. Terry Lobb (assistant director) was the first to shave Geoff’s head, for a previous show he was in.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Geoff Campbell, clean-shaven, with his eyebrows having been shaved off by Erika Crombie, one of the Calendar Girls.
Geoff Campbell, clean-shaven, with his eyebrows having been shaved off by Erika Crombie, one of the Calendar Girls.

Terry was first up this time, alongside Jacqui Hughes, Rosie Rendell, and Erika Crombie, fellow calendar girls. And to complete the look, his eyebrows came off as well.

This is a very funny, moving play that will have you in fits of laughter and maybe tears. So don’t miss this show as tickets are selling fast. Tickets are purchased through iSite Whanganui or iTicket ticketing.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Multiple fire crews extinguish large house fire in Bulls

Whanganui Chronicle

WWI soldier’s journal of scientific breakthrough gifted to National Army Museum

Whanganui Chronicle

Coaching guru moves south to take role at Cricket Whanganui


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Multiple fire crews extinguish large house fire in Bulls
Whanganui Chronicle

Multiple fire crews extinguish large house fire in Bulls

Fire and Emergency NZ attended with seven vehicles, three tankers and a command unit.

20 Jul 10:23 PM
WWI soldier’s journal of scientific breakthrough gifted to National Army Museum
Whanganui Chronicle

WWI soldier’s journal of scientific breakthrough gifted to National Army Museum

20 Jul 05:00 PM
Coaching guru moves south to take role at Cricket Whanganui
Whanganui Chronicle

Coaching guru moves south to take role at Cricket Whanganui

20 Jul 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP