Gary Barlow: Here come The Girls
Music maestro Gary Barlow tells us about his brilliant new musical that’s already won a theatre award...
Is there nothing this man can’t turn his hand to?! Gary Barlow has just had success with BBC One talent show Let It Shine, and now the 46-year-old supremo is riding the crest of another wave, thanks to London’s debut of West End musical The Girls.
Penned with his long-term pal – and screenwriter of the original Calendar
Girls play – Tim Firth, the musical tells the real-life tale of North Yorkshire’s Rylstone & District Women’s Institute group, who pose naked for a calendar, raising a whopping £4 million for leukaemia research charity Blood wise. Here, dad-of-three Gary chats to best about his latest heartwarming hit.
Were the original
Calendar Girls involved in the musical?
I’ve met them many times. They were a big part of the whole process from the beginning, and came to the workshops for the show. This is a true story and it’s about their lives – it’s a living story. Every show we do continues to earn money for the charity.
Is it true that you did this musical because your mum got you interested?
My mum first took me to see Calendar Girls, and we were surprised to see Tim’s [Firth] name at the end of it. I was 15 when I first met Tim. My mum, Marjorie, really loves the show – she’s been to see it 20 times. And she’s definitely my biggest fan! Tim and I wrote The Girls at her house. We’d have a writing session and all sit round the kitchen table, and she would bring out the biscuits.
How does it differ writing songs for a musical instead of pop songs?
When we started this, I said to Tim, ‘Great, we are writing a musical. So what musicals shall I go and watch?’ And he very cleverly said, ‘I don’t want you to go and watch any. I want you to do what you do best. I don’t want you to turn yourself into a West End writer, I want you to write what’s in your heart.’ Tim would send me lyrics and song titles, and we would slowly start to etch away at them.
There’s also swearing and nudity in this! I know. It’s funny that their village was like Frodsham, where we grew up – these women were like our mums. It does tickle me, because there are similarities between us and them. I love it for that; it’s got so much personality.
Cancer touches so many lives – have people been moved by this story?
This is one of those subjects that touches everyone, especially loss. One of the things that I love about this musical – the most emotional part of it – is actually walking towards the hope at the end. Do you think you’ll make another musical? It’s been hard work, but I’ve had so much fun. Working with Tim has been brilliant. I’d love to do something else with him, but I don’t think he can stand me any more [ laughs]. We wrote 90 songs to come up with the 13 that make up the musical. If we’re going to write another, we’d better start now!
You always seem to be working. Are you a bit of a workaholic?
It’s not that at all! When we started the musical five years ago, I didn’t realise it was going to land in the middle of Let It Shine, and just before a Take That album! These things have no sense of time. But what I do never feels like work. I’m very lucky to be able to do what I do; I love it.
What do your Take That bandmates think of the show? Mark said you’d kept it a secret…
We kind of did really, because we wanted to make sure it worked. So we tried it out in Leeds first, then Manchester.
In your autobiography Take Me, you said Elton John was your ‘guiding light’ – but you’re almost matching him now!
I don’t know about matching him. A song of his came on the radio the other day and I was like, ‘ Wow, he’s still brilliant.’