Hull New Theatre – until 4th November 2023
Reviewed by Dawn Bennett
5 *****
Adam Kenwright for Kindred Partners presents The Official Take That Musical Greatest Days based on the book by Tim Firth and music and lyrics by Take That.
The story starts with five 16-year-old friends from school who are massive fans of The Band and their music. We see how their life is and we hear about their hopes and dreams. Young Rachel (Olivia Hallett) wins tickets to see the band in Manchester and takes her friends with her, Debbie (Mary Moore), young Heather (Kitty Harris), young Zoe (Hannah Brown) and young Claire (Mari McGinlay). They see the band and decide to go and try and meet them afterwards missing their train back home which causes a chain of events which ends in tragedy for the girls.
The next time we meet the girls it’s 25 years later. Rachel (Jennifer Ellison) lives with her partner Jeff (Christopher D. Hunt) and they hear on the radio that she has won a competition for 4 people to watch The Band in Athens with a meet and great with them as well. Jeff decides to ask two of their friends to go with them but Rachel wants to get in touch with her friends from school to take them instead.
At the airport we meet Heather (Rachael Marwood), Zoe (Karen Holmes) and Claire (Jamie-Rose Monk) and they have had very different lives to how they thought they would have lived and how the tragedy when they were younger affected them. They board the plane to Athens where things don’t exactly go to plan!
The Band (played by Kalifa Burton, Benjamin Cameron, Jamie Corner, Archie Durrant and Alexanda O’Reilly) were on stage for most of the production and were brilliant. Their singing was so good and the certainly had the moves of Take That!
Alan Stocks plays Every Dave and he plays lots of different characters, school janitor, roadie, Greek policeman and a few more, and he, along with the sets and costumes (designed by Lucy Osborne) made a simple set come alive.
Take That’s back catalogue is amazing, and I say this as a fan of many years. The musicians (under musical director Josh Cottell) played it so well last night and it brought back lots of memories. The music and words fit in well with the story line and it really made me think of what the lyrics meant and how they fitted the story.
This production is heartwarming, poignant, funny and heartbreaking in equal measures. The acting, singing, dancing and storytelling is superb. You really don’t have to be a fan of Take That’s music to go and see this show but I can probably guarantee by the end of it you will be!