The Calendar Girls to Launch SEASONS OF LOVE at Royal Albert Hall, London, October 7

The Calendar Girls will launch Seasons of Love, a unique celebration of words, music and film at the Royal Albert Hall, 7 October 2012, at 4pm and 8pm. The gala show will have contributions from the City of London Philharmonic, the West End Chorus, Stephen Disley and the Grand Organ of the Royal Albert Hall together with some of the VIPs and stars of the stage and screen The Calendar Girls have met along the way.

This fund-raising event at the Royal Albert Hall will be a multi-media celebration of the achievements of The Calendar Girls, with the theme of love, in honour of their inspiration and the husband of Calendar Girl Angela, John Baker, who tragically died from lymphoma.

Seasons of Love will be created and directed by Hugh Wooldridge and his team, who have supported Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research with ANTHEMS: The Concert with Kerry Ellis and Brian May in 2010 and The Night of 1000 Voices in 2010 and again taking place this year on Spring Bank Holiday Sunday May 6 at the Royal Albert Hall. Hugh’s long-time colleague David Firman, will again conduct; and evocative projections will be thanks to The Calendar Girls original photographer, Terry Logan.

Seasons of Love will bring together the City of London Philharmonic, VIP solo performers, the West End Chorus, the Royal Albert Hall organ and a few surprises.

Alan Titchmarsh will be amongst the show’s presenters and many of the actresses from the film and play will also attend.

Cathy Gilman, chief executive of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research says: “When that first calendar was launched in 1999 we couldn’t have imagined what The Calendar Girls would go on to achieve; a new awareness of ladies of a certain age, one of the UK’s most successful films and touring play and most important of all, the chance of a future for blood cancer patients where in many cases there was none.”

The work of The Calendar Girls is dedicated to the memory of John Baker who sadly died from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1998 aged 54.  In 1999, Angela Baker and her friends from Yorkshire’s Rylstone and District WI decided to pose for a nude fundraising calendar. They aimed to raise enough for a new sofa for the hospital where John was treated and were amazed when the calendar attracted international press attention and then became a 2003 Hollywood movie starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.

To date they have raised over £3 million for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.

The Calendar Girls charity products are available at beatbloodcancershop.com Merchandise includes: the 2012 Calendar Girls calendar, mug, apron, bag, magnets, mirror, tea towels and coasters.

The Calendar Girls stage show has earned over £500,000 for charity Leukaemia Research during its UK tours and run at the West End’s Noel Coward Theatre. Producers David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers generously donate the merchandising rights from the show to our charity, as well as royalty fees, which have alone raised well over £500,000. The show is the fastest selling tour ever and is now touring the UK for the second time following its success in London’s West End.

Royal portrait photographer John Swannell travelled to Yorkshire to take pictures of the Girls for an article in May’s issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, out today. Good Housekeeping are sponsoring the matinee performance of Seasons of Love to celebrate the remarkable ladies who created the first ever, naked, ‘Alternative WI Calendar’ and have since raised £3million for blood cancer charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.

Tickets range from £20-£55 and can be purchased through the Royal Albert Hall Box Office on 020 7589 8212 or book online at www.royalalberthall.com/tickets

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