Girlfriends, Bishopsgate Institute 2nd/3rd Nov

Good news that it’s being recorded. I quite like the score but, given the era it’s set in, have never felt it gives a flavour of it. Having used the choral/folk song tradition in The Hired Man and a Spanish flavour to Days of Hope that was, maybe, a trick that Goodall missed.

I very much wanted to go, but I can't make it. As a teenager, I saw the first production at Oldham Coliseum - the one with a cast that included Maria Friedman, Jenna Russell, and Clare Burt - and I still remember some of the music. Very pleased it's being recorded, and I look forward to hearing the album.

So this was glorious, and the cast are sublime. Do go and see it tomorrow if you can.

Really enjoyed this today, I'd like to see a properly staged version to get more out of the story but the vocals were sublime from all involved. Lauren was the standout for me, such a great voice 😀

(Mostly collating my own tweets here so apologies to anyone that is reading this twice.)

Sitting front row for Girlfriends may have been a mistake. I cried through 2 songs & nearly cried half a dozen more times in Act 1. Howard Goodall writes such incredibly emotional music. I managed only to cry once in Act 2, probably because that has a greater proportion of up-beat music.

I'm glad I've previously seen the piece staged as I think otherwise I wouldn't have been quite sure how the plot was progressing at a couple of points. I found the only weak point this afternoon to be the narration as it was more about the historical background than the plot. I hope that the cast recording will omit the narration & just have the glorious music. I also hope it'll be available on CD & not just a download.

I feel it's a bit unfair to single out cast members as everyone was excellent but I'm afraid I'm going to do it anyway! I was very impressed with Lauren Samuels's upper register as I only knew of her as a belting-type singer. I was in floods during Bronte Barbe's "The Chances Are", which is my favourite number. The other one that really got me was "Wake Me". I had heard of Vikki Stone as a comedian but didn't know she was also a very good singer & actress. Casting Ro Houchen - who must be mid-20s but looks about 18 - really brought home how young some of the men fighting were and, I felt, made Guy more sympathetic.

I liked this but didn’t love it. The performers were all amazing and the music beautiful, but as an overall piece it was a bit dull and I got bored - I can’t imagine it as a full-blown musical as the narrative is so slight.
A bit shorter and it would have been a lovely concert. I knew Lauren Samuels would be a safe pair of hands for the material, but really enjoyed Lucie Jones too (a much more serious piece than I’ve seen her do before). Bronte Barbe, Natasha Barnes and Rob Houchen impressed too. In fact, I don’t think there was a weak link vocally; the girl playing the drill sergeant also stood out, both as a singer and actress.
The score was beautiful, with the soaring orchestrations I love from Howard Goodall, diminished a little by the clunky lyric and obvious rhymes at times.
I would agree that the narrator didn’t add much. It was a nice gesture to use a servicewoman, but a professional actor would have made the flow smoother - and possibly the narration more interesting - it felt like she was nervously doing a reading in church.
But I look forward to the recording, where I can revisit the bits I enjoyed.
Interesting venue.

I knew the original very well- great score but the story is a bit of a slog.

I have the original sound desk recording and the end of Act 1 was and is a thriller!