Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s new musical The Girls to be staged at The Lowry, Salford

The pair grew up in the same village and have been friends for 25 years.

Inspired by a group of ladies, the Calendar Girls, the show will follow life in their Yorkshire village, the effects of cancer on the community and how a group of ordinary ladies posed nude to raise money for Leukaemia Research.

The musical, entitled The Girls, will be staged at The Lowry, Salford, from January 13 to 30. Tickets are now on sale at The Lowry.

Gary Barlow has written 14 number one singles, is six times winner of the Ivor Novello Award and has sold over 50 million records worldwide.

Tim and Juliette Towhidi wrote the Calendar Girls screenplay which won the Olivier Award and the UK Theatre Award for Best Musical and Best Play and the Comedy Film Award for Calendar Girls.

The film, starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, was made for $10 million and became a major success, eventually grossing $96,000,000 worldwide.

In 2008 the film was adapted into a stage play, adapted by Tim Frith. The original cast included Lynda Bellingham, Patricia Hodge and Siân Phillips.