A funny, witty, heartrending and eventually joyous show, this is a must-see for anybody who ever loved a boyband.
Having witnessed the crazed crowds at Manchester Opera House when The Band opened there in September 2017, before joining them to see the musical created by Tim Firth and inspired by Take That, I complacently assumed I’d feel less impacted by the show this time round, under its new title, Greatest Days. I was wrong.
Rather than follow the story of a boy band and all their travails, this show follows the lives, interrupted, of five teenagers from a typical small town in the North West of England, in 1993. They all have dreams for their future – fashion designer, Olympic medal winner, dancer, wife and mother, Professor – but in the right now, their only focus is The Band. This group of friends are united in their adoration of a boy band and, oh, imagine the joy when one of them wins tickets to see them in concert at Manchester Apollo. Tragedy strikes, the group splinters, but 25 years later, another competition, another win – can they reunite and make it work, again?
It is these girls, and later these women, who take centre stage through most of the show. The band, five young men singing the hits of Take That, are mostly a support act, though they most certainly do have their moments, too.
As you’d expect from Tim Firth, this is a brilliantly witty, funny, show. The teenage chatter is perfectly presented, a mix of vulnerability and bravado, fierce attitudes and sorry-not-sorry banter. When we meet their older selves, there’s a real need to discover if their lives worked out as they had dreamed at 16, and their adult selves are just as fierce, but now the bruises are showing.
As the show goes on, Take That hits are weaved into the storyline, supporting and enhancing the experience, providing more hits of humour and, on occasion, silencing the audience with pure emotion. Yes, I know what I did there.
The cast is excellent. Kym Marsh has the role of adult Rachel, and her daughter Emilie Cunliffe plays Young Rachel. Kym on stage is always excellent, and this part suits her beautifully. What she does really well, however, is not take the lead. It’s very much an ensemble event, each player as important as the next; every 16 year old has her story to tell, and 25 years later each 41 year old has new chapters to add. Every woman on that stage has power and talent and skill, and this show allows that to shine.
The boy band too are great. Their rendition of each Take That hit really nails it, and whether they’re crooning while crawling under Rachel’s kitchen table (this is a brilliantly clever scene) or showing their true boy band style in full concert mode, they delight the assembled audience every time, as we try desperately not to sing along unless it’s very, very quietly.
The set is clever too, morphing from school locker room to craggy rocks to kitchen and Greek police station, while in between times performing as a concert venue, airport or northern back yard. And the sound – every lyric clearly heard, and who turned up the base during the concert scenes? Just like the real thing, the thud of the beat into the solar plexus, the music cascading over you, it’s a moment of recollection from our own boy band crazy days.
When Tim Firth and Take That launched this show in 2017 it was called The Band. It’s been renamed now for this 2023 tour, in keeping with the title of the film musical adaptation, Greatest Day being launched on June 16, starring, among others, Aisling Bea and Marc Wootton. If it has half the power of the stage show, you’ll laugh, cry and sing along, but I am not sure it will have the same power to bring you to your feet at the end, to sing and dance and cheer the cast.
Greatest Day plays at Manchester’s Palace Theatre until Saturday 27 May.
atgtickets.com/shows/greatest-days/palace-theatre-manchester
WIN: A trip to see Take That at the London premiere of Greatest Days and a short break in Clitheroe
