Triumphant, joyous, song-filled delight - Calendar Girls The Musical at Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre

Since then there has been hundreds of copy-cat calendars. There has also been a play, a film and a musical based on the true story of the women who dared to bare all for a calendar sold to raise money, originally to buy a settee for the relatives’ room at the hospital where John Baker, the husband of WI member Angela Baker, was treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Such was the success of the campaign – whose symbol is a sunflower, a beacon for hope and remembrance – that the cash went to what is now Blood Cancer UK and funds continue to roll in.

Given the context, it would not be churlish to suppose the idea of revivals, screenings and more calendars is as jaded as a drooping sunflower, brown at the edges.

Wash your mouth out with soap and water. The revival of Calendar Girls The Musical, written by Tim Firth, who also wrote the play and co-wrote the screenplay, and Take That’s Gary Barlow, is going down a storm at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.

Actors Karen Holmes and Christina Meehan, Angela Caesar, Pippa Duffy, Sarah Groarke, Rachel Hammond, Matt Heslop, Matt Ian Kelly, Annie Kirkman, Alicia McKenzie, Neil Moors and Fenella Norman star in the first in-the-round production of the show.

Holmes and Meehan as best mates Chris and Annie, respectively, are the beating heart of the piece but every character has their moment in the sun and the actors wring every ounce of fun and poignancy out of it.

Revel in Pippa Duffy proudly singing of her cosmetic enhancements in the defiant So I’ve Had a Little Work Done and Annie Kirkman’s show-stealing rendition of the poignant yet hilarious My Russian Friend and I.

Also featured are young local actors Arabella Carey, Robyn Chambers, Annie Dunbar, Will Ireland, Keane Liley, Jack Pickering and Charlie Wright. They are taking it in turns to play awkward adolescents.

The force of nature that was the original women who stripped off, their fighting spirit, zest for life and influence cannot be overstated.

As well as starting a fundraising campaign that is set to top £1 million during its Scarborough run, they changed for good the way women of a certain age are perceived – there would not be a Dove advertisement featuring women, of all ages, shapes and sizes, clad only in flower garlands but for them.

Firth and Barlow’s show captures all of that – the ‘girl power’, the joy, the triumph, the sadness, the anger, the power of love, the transformative power of action and a celebration of the achievement of ordinary people making a difference.

It is defiant, life-affirming, a celebration of friendship, an analysis of matrimony and marriage, a portrait of grief, heart-thumpingly joyous and sob-inducingly moving. Be prepared to laugh and cry.

Neither does the show shy away from the darker side of the calendar’s production – jealousy, accusations of limelight stealing, selfishness, division and dissension in the WI ranks. There is also family strife and fall-outs.

Director Paul Robinson and his cast of actor/musicians bring a freshness and vitality to the witty, perceptive musical, crammed full of earthy, funny and touching songs.

Calendar Girls The Musical is the opening show of the summer repertory season – which always includes a new play by Sir Ala Ayckbourn.

It is the slot which always promises plenty of laughs and a celebration of what the region is – and this year the promise is delivered in shovelfuls.

Calendar Girls The Musical is a tribute to Yorkshire – Northern grit runs through its marrow. It is a bra-less Brassed Off, a female Full Monty.

To give away lines – except “We are going to need considerably bigger buns” – jokes and pay-offs would be to spoil the experience of seeing the show.

Likewise, to describe how the nude photographic session is staged – particularly in the round where there is no place to hide or for cover-up – would be criminal and rob potential audiences of the delight at its audaciousness and pure fun.

The music is delivered by musical director Alex Weatherhill at the piano plus the actors doubling as musicians and musicians as actors and includes guitars, clarinet and flute and the score, of course, has a touch of the brass band about it.

Calendar Girls The Musical is a show-stopper of season-starter. It is, all in a oner, a soap opera, a drama, a comedy, a tragedy and a musical.

It is a triumphant, joyous celebration of life, love and friendship packed full of wit and wisdom. Most of all, it is great night out or, if you prefer, an afternoon delight.

Calendar Girls The Musical runs at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, from now until Saturday July 25.

Tickets are available on 01723 370541, in person from the theatre box office and online at www.sjt.uk.com