Mayflower Theatre Southampton – until 16th March 2019
Reviewed by Leanne Caplis
5*****
Wow just wow! I bow down to Tim Firth for his writing of the musical The Band. Bringing together the well-known music of one of my all-time favourite boy bands Take That with a spectacular story line makes this a first-class production.
Growing up in the North West of England in the 90’s five young girls look forward to Top of The Pops every Thursday, so they can sing along to ‘The Band’. Their Smash Hit posters cover all available wall space and after seeing ‘The Band’ in concert the young girls make a pact to always stay in touch. But that night tragedy strikes, and they lose touch for 25 years.
Fast forward to present day when the adult Rachel (Rachel Lumberg) wins a radio competition to see ‘The Band’ again. Is meeting up with her old friends the right thing to do? Will they be able to put the wrongs of the past right?
This true to life production, which will see everybody being able to relate to the life events, brings out every emotion. One minute I was singing along to Take That songs, the next snivelling into a tissue and the next laughing out loud. It really does have something for everybody.
Hats off to the creative team for the staging which was astonishing. It was wonderful to see the scenes change between a bedroom, a school locker room, a concert venue and a jail. The cast shifted the set about the stage with ease. The way the many props were used was thrilling to watch and two that really stood out for me were the aeroplane and the bus.
The cast were all superb. Not surprisingly the boys had the audience singing and dancing; it was like being at a real concert at times although the lights could occasionally be dazzling. It was clear to see why they won Let it Shine in 2017. AJ,Curtis, Yazdan, Nick and Sario are boy band material.
For me the star of the show was Andy Williams who played every Dave. I looked forward to him appearing on stage to see what he would do next. Andy received one of the biggest cheers at the end, so I would say a lot of the audience thought the same. I also thought adult Rachel (Rachel Lumberg) was able to delivery very believable emotion with Alison Fitzjohn having impeccable comedy timing.
The sing-a-long finale was my favourite part. The whole theatre was on its feet and the floor in the circle was shaking with the feet stamping, hand clapping and dancing!
This shows is absolutely first class. It will have you singing, crying and laughing. A concert and a real-life story that is not to be missed. Having watched many shows this show sits firmly in my top 3!