PRINCIPAL CAST ANNOUNCED
FOR THE UK AND IRELAND TOUR OF
HERE & NOW
FROM 29 August 2025
The producers of the brand new musical HERE & NOW, presented by UK pop sensation, Steps, are delighted to announce the principal cast for the UK & Ireland tour which opens at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre on 29 August and will continue until 16 May 2026 at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury.
Returning from the successful original run in Birmingham will be Rebecca Lock* (ELF – The Musical, West End; School of Rock, UK Tour) as Caz, Finty Williams* (The Baker’s Wife, Menier Chocolate Factory The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre Tour) as Patricia, Blake Patrick Anderson (Emojiland, West End; RENT, Hope Mill Theatre) as Robbie, River Medway (fan favourite on the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, BBC) as Jem, Edward Baker Duly (The King and I, Broadway & West End, The Third Man, Menier Chocolate Factory) as Max and John Stacey (Kiss Me Kate, Barbican; My Fair Lady, The Coliseum) as Lesley.
Joining the principal cast are new cast members Jacqui Dubois (Ghost The Musical UK tour) as Vel, Chris Grahamson (NOW That’s What I Call A Musical UK and Ireland tour) as Gareth and Rosie Singha (& Juliet UK and Ireland tour) as Neeta.
Further casting is to be announced.
Featuring Steps’ most beloved hit songs, HERE & NOW has an original book by Shaun Kitchener and is produced by the band and ROYO with Pete Waterman. It will be directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, with choreography by Olivier Award-winning Matt Cole and Matt Spencer-Smith as musical supervisor, orchestrator and arranger.
Welcome to seaside superstore Better Best Bargains, where it’s Friday night, the vibe is right, and everyone’s dancing in the aisles. But when Caz discovers the shelves are stocked with lies and betrayal, the summer of love she and her friends dreamed of suddenly feels like a tragedy. Have they all lost their chance of a ‘happy ever after’? Or does love have other plans in store…
Steps (Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Ian ‘H’ Watkins, Lee Latchford-Evans and Lisa Scott-Lee) are the UK’s most successful mixed sex pop group of all time, with 14 top five singles, 4 number one albums, 22 million record sales, 500 million streams & 11 sold-out national arena tours under their belts. The band’s hits include #1 singles Tragedy/Heartbeat and Stomp, the gold certified One For Sorrow & Better Best Forgotten, the silver certified 5,6,7,8, Last Thing On My Mind, Love’s Got A Hold Of My Heart, Chain Reaction, all of which will feature in the musical alongside many more.
Steps’ 2017 comeback tour sold out all 300,000 tickets, making it one of the biggest pop tours of the year. The band have since continued to release new music including two further iTunes #1 singles, the Sia-penned What The Future Holds in 2020 and the Michelle Visage duet Heartbreak In This City in 2022. In 2022 Steps celebrated their 25th anniversary with a headline summer tour and released the #1 album Platinum Collection which means they join ABBA, Rolling Stones and Stereophonics as the only groups in UK history to score #1 albums in four consecutive decades.
Musical supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Matt Spencer-Smith, set design by Tom Rogers, costume design by Gabriella Slade, lighting design by Howard Hudson, sound design by Adam Fisher, wigs, hair and makeup design by Sam Cox, casting by Will Burton for Grindrod Burton Casting, Music Technology by Phij Adams with Production Management by Setting Line.
Website: TheStepsMusical.com
Instagram: @TheStepsMusical
X: @TheStepsMusical
TikTok: @TheStepsMusical
Facebook: @TheStepsMusicalUK
*Please note Rebecca Lock and Finty Williams are only in the production until November 2025
2025/26 TOUR SCHEDULE
29 – 30 August 2025 Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
2 – 13 September Manchester Opera House
16 – 20 September Glasgow Kings Theatre
www.atgtickets.com/Glasgow
23 September – 4 October Dublin Bord Gais Energy Theatre 0818719 377 (ROI)
bordgaisenergytheatre.ie 08442485101 (UK)
7 – 11 October Southend Cliffs Pavilion
www.thecliffspavilion.co.uk
14 – 19 October Woking New Victoria Theatre
www.atgtickets.com/new-victoria-theatre
21 – 26 October Aberdeen His Majesty’s Theatre
28 October– 2 November Newcastle Theatre Royal 0191 232 7010
4 – 9 November London New Wimbledon Theatre
www.atgtickets.com/Wimbledon
11 – 16 November Nottingham Theatre Royal 0115 989 5555
18 – 22 November Sheffield Lyceum 0114 249 6000
www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk
25 – 29 November Liverpool Empire Theatre
www.atgtickets.com/Liverpool
2 – 13 December Theatre Royal Brighton
15 – 28 December Stockton Globe
www.stocktonglobe.co.uk
20– 24 January 2026 Southampton Mayflower Theatre 02380 711811
27 – 31 January Belfast Grand Opera House
www.goh.co.uk
3 – 7 February Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre
10 – 15 February York Grand Opera House
17 – 22 February Oxford New Theatre
www.atgtickets.com/Oxford
24 February – 1 March Edinburgh Playhouse
www.atgtickets.com/Edinburgh
10 – 15 March Wolverhampton Grand 01902 42 92 12
17 – 22 March Hall for Cornwall Truro 01872 262 466
24 – 29 March Theatre Royal Plymouth 01752 267 222
31 March – 4 April Milton Keynes Theatre
www.atgtickets.com/milton-keynes-theatre
8 – 12 April Blackpool Opera House 0844 770 0593*
www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk
14 – 19 April Norwich Theatre Royal 01603 630 000
www.norwichtheatre.org
21 – 26 April Hull New Theatre 01482 300 306
www.hulltheatres.co.uk
28 April – 3 May Leicester Curve 0116 242 3595
5 – 10 May Leeds Grand Theatre 0113 243 0808
12 – 16 May Canterbury Marlowe Theatre 01227 787787