Nativity! writer-director Debbie Isitt launches world premiere of Military Wives – The Musical at York Theatre Royal

Debbie Isitt in the rehearsal room for Military Wives – The Musical. Picture: Danny With A Camera

DEBBIE Isitt, the writer-director behind the Nativity! film and theatre franchise, is at the helm of York Theatre Royal’s world premiere of Military Wives – The Musical.

After beginning preparations at Chalk Farm in London, Debbie and her 12-strong West End cast are in their second week in the Theatre Royal rehearsal room, working towards next Wednesday’s opening preview.

Based on Peter Cattaneo’s 2019 comedy-drama Military Wives, scripted by Rosanne Flynn and Rachel Tunnard, and inspired by the true story of the Military Wives Choir that featured in Gareth Malone’s fourth documentary series of The Choir, BAFTA award winner Isitt has created a joyous celebration of female empowerment and friendship, courage and ‘unsung’ heroes as the choir changes the world one song at a time.

“It’s my first time directing in York. Very exciting,” says Birmingham-born Debbie, 60. “Everybody’s loving being here in this very beautiful city, where we’ve found everyone to be super-friendly, and it’s a relaxing atmosphere, which is so helpful with a new show with lots of challenges.”

The Military Wives Choirs charity now has a network of 75 choirs in British military bases at home and overseas, bringing women in the military community closer together through singing.

Within that framework Debbie constructs her musical, wherein these women are isolated, bored and desperate to find a focus to take their minds off feelings of impending doom when their husbands and partners are away at war in Afghanistan.

Enter Olive (played by Bobbie Little), who arrives on the ‘patch’ to help them form a choir and learn to sing. Through the power of song, these diverse women find themselves facing their fears and making unexpected friendships along the way.

“I’ve loved this story from the early days of the Gareth Malone TV series in 2011,” says Debbie. “I fell in love with these women’s stories, having known nothing about the challenges they faced; how they lived in fear and isolation, and often didn’t make friends with each other on the camps because they were always being posted at a minute’s notice.

“That meant they didn’t make deep attachments and everything was at surface level, so it could be a lonely life. Singing in the choir gave them a sense of community when they didn’t know if their husbands would come back.

“Funnily enough, I was thinking, ‘I’d like to make a film of this’, but life takes over, not least the Nativity! films, but other things too.”

Debbie loved Cattaneo’s film – “it was really well cast,” she says – and when there were mutterings of making a stage musical, she contacted her agent to see if there would be interest in her writing and directing it. “Luckily there was,” she says.

She vowed to both draw on the film and origin story and to bring her own ingredients to the musical. “I’ve done lots of research of my own, so it’s a combination of my spin on the story and having a wealth of material to use.

“There’s a pressure to make something that people genuinely take to their hearts and really care about the characters,” says Military Wives – The Musical writer-director Debbie Isitt

“Bringing these women together in the choir is a great catalyst for drama and comedy – and for conflict from how they come from different backgrounds.”

Debbie held workshops 18 months ago and six months later, with many of the premiere cast in place from the start. “I’m known for using improvisation, with me wanting to tell the story, but with the actors having the chance to create their characters and me working my way around that,” she says.

“The brilliant thing about the process is that every cast member has made a contribution, so the characters feel bigger, three dimensional, so that has its own power.  It’s also good for comedy in the show as you can see if a joke lands. That makes it a fun way to work, keeping everything light on its feet.”

Debbie’s characters in Military Wives are a hybrid of “some of the women I met in my research, where I thought, ‘you’re going to be in my show’ and for others, they were built from me thinking about ‘if you’re a military wife, what would you focus on when you’re bored or anxious?’.”

To create a successful film, musical or television show, “there’s a pressure to make something that people genuinely take to their hearts and really care about the characters,” suggests Debbie.

“Ultimately, Military Wives has to be a character-driven story as you have to fall in love with these women, learning what it’s like to be a military wife, but it’s a universal story too: the way they use humour to get through the day, as do men when they’re at war.

“Then we have the music too, so we have all the ingredients for the show to be empowering, uplifting, healing. The banter, the comedy, the music, the forging of friendships.

“But in this story it doesn’t come without its sadder moments, and you can’t shy away from that, because that’s the reality, so you take the audience on a rollercoaster ride.”

In 2023, Debbie wrote and directed I Should Be So Lucky, the jukebox stage musical built around the Stock, Aitken and Waterman hit factory. Now she is working with arranger, orchestrator and musical supervisor George Dyer in a show full of pop, rock and power ballads.

“Singing those songs within the context of the story, they have a new meaning that makes them more powerful and moving,” she says.  “It’s very exciting to hear songs by Adele, Coldplay, Cyndi Lauper and Motown in a different context.”

York Theatre Royal, in association with Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham and Buxton Opera House, presents Military Wives – The Musical, September 10 to 27. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

More Things To Do in York & beyond when willow whispers and cinema pops outdoors. Hutch’s List No.39, from The York Press

Willow artist Laura Ellen Bacon in the saloon at her Whispers Of The Wilderness exhibition at Beningbrough Hall. Picture: Anthony Chappel-Ross

WILLOW sculptures, outdoor cinema, musical premieres and the Yellow Brick Road are beckoning Charles Hutchinson. 

Exhibition opening of the week: Laura Ellen Bacon, Whispers Of The Wilderness, Exploring Wilderness Gardens, Beningbrough Hall, near York, until April 12 2026, Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm

WHISPERS Of The Wilderness brings together contemporary large-scale willow sculptures by Laura Ellen Bacon, historic pieces from across the National Trust collection to showcase Wilderness Gardens through time and a new drawing studio designed by artist Tanya Raabe-Webber.

Complemented by a new soundscape, audio chair, sketches of the developing sculptures and more, the exhibition is a sensory experience across the first-floor Reddihough Galleries and Great Hall. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/beningbrough.  

Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You, Sunday’s screening at Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema at York Museum Gardens

Film event of the week: City Screen Picturehouse presents Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema, York Museum Gardens, York, Stop Making Sense (PG), tonight, 6.30pm; 10 Things I Hate About You (12A), Sunday, 6.30pm

JONATHAN Demme’s Stop Making Sense, capturing David Byrne’s Talking Heads in perpetual motion at Hollywood’s Panatges Theatre in December 1983, re-emerges in a 40th anniversary restoration of “the greatest concert film of all time”.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Allison Janney, Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger star in 10 Things I Hate About You, wherein Cameron falls for Bianca on the first day of school, but not only his uncool status stops him from asking her out. Blankets, cushions and small camping chairs are allowed. Box office: picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema/venue/york-museum-gardens.

Hal Cruttenden: Reflecting on the insanity of modern politics at Burning Duck Comedy Club. Picture: Matt Crockett

“Take no prisoners” gig of the week: Hal Cruttenden Can Dish It Out But Can’t Take It, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm

HAL Cruttenden promises to stick it to ‘The Man’, as long as ‘The Man’ does not stick it back to him. Expect hard-hitting pontificating on middle-aged dating, social media, the insanity of modern politics and his daughters loving him but not respecting him. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Artist Kerry Ann Moffat with her oil painting Sunlight Catching Wooden Sculpture at the Created In York pop-up gallery in High Petergate, York

Pop-up art space of the week: Created In York, hosted by Blank Canvas by Skippko charity, 22 High Petergate, York, 10.30am to 5pm, Thursdays to Saturdays; 11am to 4pm, Sundays

CHAMPIONING change through creativity, York art charity Skippko’s rolling programme of three-week Created In York shows is running in High Petergate until December 2025 in tandem with York Conservation Trust. On show until September 14 are oil paintings by Kerry Ann Moffat and linocuts and woodblock prints by Rachel Holborow.

York RI Golden Rail Band: Performing Sounding Brass and Voices with York RI Golden Railway Band. Picture: Keith Meadley

Musical partnership of the week: Sounding Brass and Voices, York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir and York RI Golden Rail Band, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm

YORK Philharmonic Male Voice Choir and York RI Golden Rail Band reunite for a fourth joint concert in a tender and thrilling pairing of brass and voices, celebrating 100 years of music.

“From romantic film music to toe-tapping hits, there will be something for everyone,” says Golden Rail Band conductor Nick Eastwood.  Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Musicals Across The Multiverse choreographer Connie Howcroft, right, working on moves with Zander Fick, Ben Holeyman, Abbie Law and Lauren Charlton-Matthews

Interdimensional journey of the week: Wharfemede Productions in Musicals Across The Multiverse, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 10 to 13, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

DIRECTOR Helen “Bells” Spencer and musical director Matthew Clare follow up 2023’s Musicals In The Multiverse 2023 with another blend of iconic musical theatre hits reconfigured with surprising twists. 

“Think unexpected style swaps, minor to major key switches, gender reversals, era-bending reinterpretations, genre mash-ups and more,” says Bells.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Debbie Isitt’s cast in rehearsal for the world premiere of Military Wives – The Musical at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Danny With A Camera

World premiere of the week: Military Wives – The Musical, York Theatre Royal, September 10 to 27, times vary

YORK Theatre Royal stages the world premiere of writer-director Debbie Isitt’s musical based on the 2019 film, rooted in Gareth Malone’s The Choir: Military Wives project.

Faced with husbands and partners being away at war, the women are isolated, bored and desperate to take their minds off feelings of impending doom. Enter Olive to help them form a choir. Cue a joyous celebration of female empowerment and friendship, courage and ‘unsung’ heroes. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Libby Greenhill’s Medium Alison, left, Hattie Wells’s Young Alison and Claire Morley’s Alison in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Fun Home

York premiere of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Fun Home, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, September 10 to 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees

ROBERT Readman directs the York premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Krow’s five-time Tony Award winner, based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel. 

When her volatile father dies unexpectedly, Alison (Claire Morley) recalls how his temperament and secrets defined her family and her life. Moving between past and present, she relives her unique childhood at the family’s Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her sexuality and the looming, unanswerable questions of her father’s hidden desires. Box office: ticketsourse.co.uk/pickmeuptheatrecom.

Rob Newman: Wondering where we are going in Where The Wild Things Were at The Crescent

The future, now: Burning Duck Comedy Club presents Rob Newman, Where The Wild Things Were, The Crescent, York, September 11, 7.30pm

ROB Newman wants to discuss where we are and where we are going, from future cities and philistine film directors to Dorothy Parker’s Multiverse Diaries. Throw in Pythagorean gangsters, intellectual bingo callers and a crazy character called Arlo for a comedic “tour-de-force utterly unlike anything else you will ever see anywhere else”. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Mick Tickner: Headlining the Funny Fridays bill at Patch

Comedy gathering of the week: Funny Fridays, at Patch, Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, September 12, 7.30pm

AFTER May and June sell-outs and a summer break, Funny Fridays returns for a third night of stand-up hosted by promoter and comedian Katie Lingo. On the £10 bill are 2023 Hull Comedian of the Year Hannah Margaret, Jamie Clinton, Kerris Gibson, James Earl Marsters and headliner Mick Tickner. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk/e/funny-fridays-at-patch-tickets-1473792325519?aff=oddtdtcreator.

Erin Childs’ Dorothy with Toto (Freddie) in York Stage’s The Wizard Of Oz

Ruby slippers of the week: York Stage in The Wizard Of Oz, Grand Opera House, York, September 12 to 20, times vary

UNDER Nik Briggs’s direction, York Stage skips down the Yellow Brick Road as Erin Childs’ Dorothy, Toto and her friends, the Scarecrow (Flo Poskitt), Tin Man (Stu Hutchinson), and Cowardly Lion (Finn East), journey to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard (Ian Giles).

In navigating the enchanting landscape of Oz, Dorothy is watched closely by Glinda, the Good Witch (Carly Morton) as the Wicked Witch of the West (Emily Alderson) plots to thwart Dorothy’s quest and reclaim the magical ruby slippers. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.