Lesley Joseph will join the cast of Tim Firth and Gary Barlow’s Calendar Girls the Musical when it comes to Birmingham Hippodrome for the very first time from Tuesday 28 May –Saturday 8 June 2019.
Although perhaps best known for playing Dorien Green in the ITV sitcom Birds of a Feather, alongside Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson, Lesley has a wealth of theatrical experience to her credit. Most recently she starred as Frau Blücher in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein at the Garrick Theatre, a role which earned her an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.
Lesley’s other notable theatre credits include Miss Hannigan in Annie (West End and UK Tour), Chris in the play of Calendar Girls (UK Tour), The Vagina Monologues (West End and UK Tour), and Kathleen in Sir Peter Hall’s production of Home (Theatre Royal Bath).
On television, Lesley played Rachel Culgrin in ITV’s Night and Day for nearly two years. Other TV appearances include Rumble with Brian Glover, Easy Money, Spywatch, Minder, Roots, and The Knowledge to name a few. She played Green Beryl in Channel 5’s series The Secret of Eel Island, and guest starred as Erica in BBC’s The Slammer.
Lesley has also appeared in scores of light entertainment shows. She had a regular spot as glamour correspondent on GMTV, and presented ITV’s Wish You Were Here…?. In 2016, Lesley was partnered with Anton du Beke on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.
Lesley Joseph joins the previously announced cast of Sarah Jane Buckley (Blood Brothers and Hollyoaks) as Annie, Sue Devaney (Dinnerladies, Casualty, Coronation Street, Mamma Mia!) as Cora, Julia Hills (Broadchurch, The Archers) as Ruth, Judy Holt (Cold Feet, Scott & Bailey) as Marie and Lisa Maxwell (Loose Women, Hollyoaks, The Bill) as Celia and Rebecca Storm (Evita, Les Miserables, Chess) as Chris.
Calendar Girls The Musical is inspired by the true story of a group of ladies, who decide to appear nude for a Women’s Institute calendar in order to raise funds to buy a settee for their local hospital, in memory of one of their husbands, and have to date raised almost £5million for Bloodwise. This musical comedy shows life in their Yorkshire village, how it happened, the effect on husbands, sons and daughters, and how a group of ordinary ladies achieved something extraordinary.
Gary Barlow and Tim Firth grew up in the same village in the North of England and have been friends for 25 years. With Take That, Gary has written and co-written 14 number one singles, has sold over 50 million records worldwide and is a six times Ivor Novello Award winner. Tim has won the Olivier Award and UK Theatre Award for Best New Musical, and the British Comedy Awards Best Comedy Film for Calendar Girls.
The cast also includes Phil Corbitt as John, Ian Mercer as Rod, Sebastian Aberneri as Colin, Alan Stocks as Denis, Pauline Daniels as Lady Cravenshire, Ellie Leah as Miss Wilson, Danny Howker as Danny, Isabel Caswell as Jenny and Tyler Dobbs as Tommo.
Calendar Girls the Musical comes to Birmingham Hippodrome for the very first time from Tuesday 28 May –Saturday 8 June 2019.
