Women are baring it all for charity

A cast of amateur actresses have bravely dropped their inhibitions as well as their clothes for a calendar to raise money for cancer charities. 

The 10 female stars of Calendar Girls, along with its producer and director, agreed to follow in the footsteps of the film and pose naked for the photo shoot in memory of those they have lost to the disease.

Each photograph has been carefully staged to ensure the 2014 calendar is tasteful and family-friendly.

And items reflecting the role the actresses play in the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society production — ranging from broccoli to easels to buns — have been strategically placed in each shot.

Director Janice Howell told the Bermuda Sun: “We had a lot of fun during the photo shoot last month.

“It was pretty cold and there was a lot of wine involved for courage.

“Once one of our members, Nicola Flood brought the idea of doing the show to the committee the idea of doing the calendar was really a no-brainer.

“We hope that it proves very popular and raises a lot of money for these worthwhile causes.”

Almost all of the money raised by the $15 calendars will go towards Bermuda Cancer and Health, Friends of Hospice and PALS

A very small percentage will go to BMDS’s charitable trust.

Producer Adrienne Hintz added: “We have all had each other’s back during this process.

“We are a close group of friends and we felt that this was such a good cause we needed to do our bit.

“We have also received a huge amount of help from our 12 sponsors who have helped cover the printing costs of the calendar.”

The photographs were taken by BMDS member, Lori Goodwin, at three different premises across the island in Fairylands, Tuckers Town and Southampton.

Each of the ten actresses has a month to herself, while November features Ms Howell and Ms Hintz sitting on deck chairs looking out across the Great Sound from Ms Howell’s boss’s home.

The December page features six models clutching hymn books in festive Santa hats.

At the bottom of each month is a tribute from the actresses in the photo to someone they have lost to cancer.

Tribute

Ms Howell said: “The tribute makes this a very personal calendar.

“It’s a very emotional play in many ways and the money we hope to raise with the calendar has the potential to do a lot of good in Bermuda.”

The original film was based on a true story about the Women’s Institute in Yorkshire, England.

Eleven members posed naked for a calendar to raise funds for charity after one of their member’s husband’s died of cancer.

To date they have raised more than $1.5 million for Leukaemia Research.

In 2003 their story was made into a film starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters and in 2008 the film was adapted into a stage play, which is still being performed professionally throughout the UK.

The amateur rights were released from September 2012 to February 2014.

And the professional producers are hoping to break into the Guinness Book of World Records and establish the record for the most productions of a play in one calendar year, at the same time as raising money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.

Calendar Girls will open in Bermuda next month at City Hall and performances will take place between April 11-13 and 17-20.

Tickets go on sale on March 23 and can be purchased online at www.bmds.bm for $35.

The calendar will go on sale on April 11. n