GASPS of delight rippled through a Dales village hall when Gary Barlow arrived as a surprise guest.

The Take That frontman was in Burnsall last Sunday to reveal details of The Girls, his new musical based on the story of the Calendar Girls, which will open at Leeds Grand Theatre in November.

News of the musical had slipped out unexpectedly and prematurely at the Welcome To Yorkshire launch of May's Tour de Yorkshire cycle race last Wednesday, but Gary's appearance at a read-through last weekend was still a surprise to Burnsall villagers.

The village is close to where, 17 years ago, the Rylstone and District Women's Institute first posed for a nude charity calendar to fund a settee for their local hospital, in memory of one of their husbands. They have since raised nearly £4 million for Leukaemia Research.

After the rehearsed reading in front of the original Calendar Girls, locals and industry professionals, Gary announced the Yorkshire premiere, saying the new musical would capture the humour and poignancy of a story that already has been turned into a film in 2003 and a stage play in 2008.

“Humour, particularly Yorkshire humour, is part of this story. It’s a coping mechanism for dealing with tragedy, and it was important to get that across in the music,” said the songwriter. “When I write albums, I want to take people on a journey of emotions and I took the same approach with this show.

“It’s amazing to be here in the heart of the Dales, where it all began. There’s something very special about this place. We always said that for this musical to work, it had to be something we could present in a village hall, with just a few people and a piano.”

Gary has created The Girls with playwright and screenwriter Tim Firth, who wrote the Calendar Girls film and play. The pair, who grew up in the same village – Frodsham in Cheshire – have been friends for 25 years and began working hush-hush on the show more than two years ago.

“It’s about the women, but it’s also about their husbands, their children and the wider community,” said Tim. “Their story left a huge legacy, not just in their own fundraising but in the way charity campaigns are presented. There’s much more of a sense of fun now.”

It was the death in 1998 of original Calendar Girl Angela Baker’s husband, John, that led to the calendar. “We’re incredibly proud of how far it’s all come,” said Angela at last Sunday's gathering. “This musical takes it on even further, and having Gary on board is a wonderful boost. Here’s to raising the next million.”

Angela’s son and daughter, Matthew Baker and Rachel White, talked for the first time about the impact of the calendar on their lives.

“We have lived and breathed this story for so long, it’s something very positive that came from our dad,” said Matthew.

“It still seems very strange when the film comes on at Christmas, it’s very much part of our cultural fabric now. When the calendars were first printed we thought we’d be left with hundreds of them lining our kitchen drawers.

"We’re very proud of what our mum and the other women did. There have been lots of charity calendars since, but theirs was the first. This new show, and Gary’s involvement, adds a whole new dimension and will keep the story going into the future.”

After the launch, Gary and Tim said: “We're over the moon with the reception our new musical has had here in Burnsall, and to have received the ecstatic blessing of the original Calendar Girls is something that is so so special to us."

Billed as "a new musical inspired by The Calendar Girls", the premiere of The Girls will run at Leeds Grand Theatre from November 14 to December 12, followed by the Lowry, Salford, in January.

The show will be co-directed by Roger Haines and Tim Firth, designed by Rob Jones, with comedy staging by Jos Houben, lighting design by Tim Lutkin and sound design by Terry Jardine and Nick Lidster.

In his career with Take That, Gary Barlow has written or co-written 14 number one singles, sold more than 50 million records and won six Ivor Novello awards. The Girls will be his third involvement in a musical, the first having been the Take That jukebox musical, Never Forget.

His second, Finding Neverland, was inspired by the 2004 film of the same name based on the story of Peter Pan writer J M Barrie. Featuring music and lyrics by Barlow and Eliot Kennedy and a book by James Graham, it premiered at the Leicester Curve in 2012 and a reworked version made its American debut last year in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The production has now transferred to the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, New York, for its Broadway premiere.

Tim Firth first made his name at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, where he was talent-spotted by playwright and artistic director Alan Ayckbourn. A revival of his play Neville's Island will form part of the SJT's 60th anniversary season from August 6 to 27.

Tickets for The Girls in Leeds are on sale at leedsgrandtheatre.com or on 0844 848 2700; Lowry, thelowry.com or 0843 208 6000; Neville's Island, sjt.uk.com or 01723 370541

- Emma Clayton and Charles Hutchinson