Review: CALENDAR GIRLS at Gdynia Musical Theater

This is something really fresh. It’s different, it takes musical entertainment to the next level. Great music combined with a great story and this beautifully ordinary vibe is something definitely worth seeing.

Let’s start with the plot. This simple but very familiar story is about life. There is no artificial atmosphere, no plastic, sweet icing, it’s about love, grief, and courage but also everyday struggle with no dazzling coloring. This show captivates with its truthfulness that brings to mind a neighbor’s story. It melts your heart. An adoration of simple life with all its colors and everyday poetry. The director, Jakub Szydlowski, made sure that we feel safe and close to the main characters.

It’s about dealing with grief but also about living on our own terms. And it’s okay to make your way a personalized path, you can have crazy ideas, take care of yourself the way you want, have your manner, be devoted or uncaring, have plastic surgeries, and not let your age restrict you from anything. It’s wise, simple, and moving.

Numbers are very varied from energetic through crazy, moving to calm. Just like life.

The cast is great, energetic, and varied. The main women’s gang is marvelous! Dorota Kowalewska as Chris is on fire, Alicja Piotrowska as Annie is gentle and wise, Karolina Trebacz as Cora is full of life, Celia played by Anna Andrzejewska is just exquisite, Aleksandra Meller as Ruth is excellent. They all make a group of women that you can at some point relate to. They look and act so familiar!

This is one of the rare cases in musical shows that are short on big musical numbers on a huge scene, which this theatre is famous for, but it’s not disturbing at all. Don’t get me wrong, when big numbers are coming you feel the power of energy and great choreography (by Paulina Andrzejewska-Damiecka), but what is even more amazing is that every scene brings another wiseness and catchy anaphoric phrase that would go straight to your heart.

Stenography (by Grzegorz Policinski) is a masterpiece, with huge round construction moving quickly you are not left out at any point and it makes a wow effect. Clearing/school/hall/flower shop surroundings are changing fast and efficiently making each scene even more to the point.

My favorite musical moments were: So I’ve Had A Little Work Done - about accepting the willingness to correct your body and being proud of it, plus amazing choreography with stairs and pink doctors. Alert! It might want you to have some plastic surgeries and feel great about it. The other remarkable song is What Age Expects which beautifully deals with accepting becoming older, different state of mind, and the color of your hair, applicable to all ages. The last of my Top 3 is Kilimanjaro, a calm statement of life struggles and goals that will give you serious goosebumps and make you drop some tears.

An important element of the show is humor. Simple, vibrant, and familiar as a favorite home-backed cake. This show will make you laugh and cry. And it’s not over! It also has a very important social impact as the DKMS foundation which works in areas of blood cancer and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is involved. Seeing people sign in as potential lifesavers in a theater hall during the premiere made this day even more special.

The work done here is important as the theater is involved in making space and encouraging others to help people in need. The art was never closer to life.

This show is for everybody even if you just start your relationship with musical theater. It’s wise, funny, and cheerful. The fact it’s based on a real story makes it even more unique. You should see it, let yourself be infected with day-to-day courage that makes a life worth living, and learn, just like sunflowers, how to follow the sun.

Show with English subtitles.

Photo: Rzemieslnik Swiatla

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