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Bad Girls The MusicalOpening Date: Sept 12, 2007
Closing Date: Nov 17, 2007 Air date: July 2015 Medium: online Where to watch: Vimeo |
Stage Production Notes
In 1999, British television studio ITV released Bad Girls, a drama set in the fictional women’s prison Larkham. The show was an immense success. It ran for eight years, winning multiple awards, and garnering viewers from around the world. Written by Maureen Chadwick and Ann McManus, Bad Girls has been described “some of the finest British drama ever produced.”
In collaboration with the Shed and Screen Stage, Chadwick and McManus worked to develop Bad Girls into a musical. Workshop performances were held at the New Players Theatre in London in November 2004.
Bad Girls The Musical first premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in June 2006. The cast featured several actors who had appeared in the television series, including Helen Fraser (Sylvia “Bodybag Hollamby), Nicole Faraday (Snowball Merriman), Laura Rogers (Helen Stewart), and Maria Charles (Noreen Biggs).
Several years before Fun Home, Bad Girls may have been the first commercial musical with an all-female creative team, and the first to feature a lesbian romance between two lead characters.
Reviews for the new musical were mixed, often within the same publication. Reviewer Carol Cadwalladr thought the show had the potential to be a surprise hit like Jerry Springer the Opera. Grant Gibson felt that “for all its potential it doesn’t quite manage to deliver,” though noted that “there’s enough wit and verve to hold the show together [and]…it remains a really enjoyable night out.”
Bad Girls The Musical transferred to the West End in September 2007, opening at the Garrick Theatre, where it received generally positive reviews. The Guardian’s Susannah Clapp described Kath Gotts’ music and lyrics as “unflaggingly vivacious,” while Michael Billington stated “though the piece is preposterous hokum, the show is put across with enormous zest.”
Despite hopes Bad Girls would attract audiences from around the world who had loved the television show, the musical did not do well at the box office. It had been scheduled to play at the Garrick Theatre until March 2008, but closed on November 17, 2007, just three months after its first previews.
The most recent professional production took place in March 2016 at the Union Theatre in London.
As of June 2015, 100 amateur groups around the UK had licensed and performed Bad Girls The Musical. The show has also been performed in Australia.
The show is available for licensing through MTI Europe.
In 1999, British television studio ITV released Bad Girls, a drama set in the fictional women’s prison Larkham. The show was an immense success. It ran for eight years, winning multiple awards, and garnering viewers from around the world. Written by Maureen Chadwick and Ann McManus, Bad Girls has been described “some of the finest British drama ever produced.”
In collaboration with the Shed and Screen Stage, Chadwick and McManus worked to develop Bad Girls into a musical. Workshop performances were held at the New Players Theatre in London in November 2004.
Bad Girls The Musical first premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in June 2006. The cast featured several actors who had appeared in the television series, including Helen Fraser (Sylvia “Bodybag Hollamby), Nicole Faraday (Snowball Merriman), Laura Rogers (Helen Stewart), and Maria Charles (Noreen Biggs).
Several years before Fun Home, Bad Girls may have been the first commercial musical with an all-female creative team, and the first to feature a lesbian romance between two lead characters.
Reviews for the new musical were mixed, often within the same publication. Reviewer Carol Cadwalladr thought the show had the potential to be a surprise hit like Jerry Springer the Opera. Grant Gibson felt that “for all its potential it doesn’t quite manage to deliver,” though noted that “there’s enough wit and verve to hold the show together [and]…it remains a really enjoyable night out.”
Bad Girls The Musical transferred to the West End in September 2007, opening at the Garrick Theatre, where it received generally positive reviews. The Guardian’s Susannah Clapp described Kath Gotts’ music and lyrics as “unflaggingly vivacious,” while Michael Billington stated “though the piece is preposterous hokum, the show is put across with enormous zest.”
Despite hopes Bad Girls would attract audiences from around the world who had loved the television show, the musical did not do well at the box office. It had been scheduled to play at the Garrick Theatre until March 2008, but closed on November 17, 2007, just three months after its first previews.
The most recent professional production took place in March 2016 at the Union Theatre in London.
As of June 2015, 100 amateur groups around the UK had licensed and performed Bad Girls The Musical. The show has also been performed in Australia.
The show is available for licensing through MTI Europe.
Filmed Production Notes
The West End production of Bad Girls The Musical was filmed on November 17, 2007.
On July 9, 2015, the film was released digitally on Vimeo. It was briefly available to watch on Amazon in the United States, and is currently available on Vimeo around the world.
The West End production of Bad Girls The Musical was filmed on November 17, 2007.
On July 9, 2015, the film was released digitally on Vimeo. It was briefly available to watch on Amazon in the United States, and is currently available on Vimeo around the world.
Bad Girls The Musical PRODUCTION CREDITS
Theatre: Garrick Theatre, London
Producer: Big Broad Productions, Shed Productions, Robert Marshall, Kath Gotts, Maggie Norris
Book: Maureen Chadwick, Ann McManus
Music and Lyrics: Kath Gotts
Director: Maggie Norris, film: Robin Lough
Musical Director: Dane Preece
Orchestrations: Martin Koch
Choreography: Ann Yee
Scenic and Costume Design: Colin Richmond
Lighting Design: Tim Mitchell
Sound Design: Paul Groothuis
Stage Manager: Sheena Linden
Cast:
(in alphabetical order)
Emily Aston (Rachel Hicks), Phil Barley (Prison Officer), Camilla Beeput (Crystal Gordon), David Burt (Jim Fenner), Noreen Biggs (Maria Charles), Josephine Cook (Prisoner), Karen Davies (Prisoner), Nicole Faraday (Shell Dockley), Helen Fraser (Sylvia “Bodybag Hollamby), Zita Frith (Prisoner), Lisa Marie Graham (Prisoner), Chris Grierson (Justin Mattison), Michael N. Harbour (The Number One), Gillian Hardie (Prisoner), Caroline Head (Nikki Wade), Julie Jupp (Julie Saunders), Amanda Posener (Denny Blood), Laura Rogers (Helen Stewart), Rick Savery (Prison Officer), Natalie Tapper (Prisoner), Kelle Marie Walters (Prisoner), Rebecca Wheatley (Julie Johnston), Sally Whitehead (Prisoner)
Theatre: Garrick Theatre, London
Producer: Big Broad Productions, Shed Productions, Robert Marshall, Kath Gotts, Maggie Norris
Book: Maureen Chadwick, Ann McManus
Music and Lyrics: Kath Gotts
Director: Maggie Norris, film: Robin Lough
Musical Director: Dane Preece
Orchestrations: Martin Koch
Choreography: Ann Yee
Scenic and Costume Design: Colin Richmond
Lighting Design: Tim Mitchell
Sound Design: Paul Groothuis
Stage Manager: Sheena Linden
Cast:
(in alphabetical order)
Emily Aston (Rachel Hicks), Phil Barley (Prison Officer), Camilla Beeput (Crystal Gordon), David Burt (Jim Fenner), Noreen Biggs (Maria Charles), Josephine Cook (Prisoner), Karen Davies (Prisoner), Nicole Faraday (Shell Dockley), Helen Fraser (Sylvia “Bodybag Hollamby), Zita Frith (Prisoner), Lisa Marie Graham (Prisoner), Chris Grierson (Justin Mattison), Michael N. Harbour (The Number One), Gillian Hardie (Prisoner), Caroline Head (Nikki Wade), Julie Jupp (Julie Saunders), Amanda Posener (Denny Blood), Laura Rogers (Helen Stewart), Rick Savery (Prison Officer), Natalie Tapper (Prisoner), Kelle Marie Walters (Prisoner), Rebecca Wheatley (Julie Johnston), Sally Whitehead (Prisoner)
Sources
Articles
Websites
- Katie Allen, “Shed takes Bad Girls to the West End,” The Guardian (June 18, 2007)
- Lalayn Baluch, “Bad Girls Musical to Close Early,” The Stage (Nov 6, 2007)
- Michael Billington, “Bad Girls - The Musical,” The Guardian (Sept 14, 2007)
- Stephen Brook, “Bad Girls takes to the stage,” The Guardian (Nov 22, 2004)
- Carol Cadwalladr, “The musical that's so Bad, it's brilliant, “The Guardian” (May 14, 2006)
- Dominic Cavendish, “On the road: Bad Girls: The Musical, Shadowmouth, Pygmalion,” The Daily Telegraph (June 12, 2006)
- Susannah Clapp, “Let X = theatrical genius,” The Guardian (Sept 16, 2007)
- Charlotte Cripps, “Preview: Bad Girls - The Musical, Garrick Theatre, London,” The Independent (Aug 27, 2007)
- Lyn Gardner, “Bad Girls,” The Guardian (June 8, 2006)
- Grant Gibson, “Turn of the screws,” The Guardian (June 11, 2006)
- Kris Green, “ITV slams door on 'Bad Girls’,” Digital Spy (Oct 26, 2006)
- Filipa Jodelka, “Wentworth Prison: the show Orange Is The New Black could have been,” The Guardian (July 22, 2015)
- Veronica Lee, “Jailbirds stage a musical breakout,” The Daily Telegraph (May 24, 2006)
- Karena Marshall, “Another View,” The Guardian (Sept 24, 2007)
- Paul Taylor, “Bad Girls: The Musical, Garrick Theatre, London,” The Independent (Sept 16, 2007)
Websites
- Music Theatre International, “Bad Girls The Musical,” Accessed via: http://www.mtishows.co.uk/bad-girls-the-musical
- Big Broad Productions, “Bad Girls The Musical,” Accessed via: http://www.bigbroad.co.uk/productions/bad-girls-the-musical/
Written by Luisa Lyons (April, 2017; updated March 2020)