If you were a teenager or a uni student during the early-mid nineties like I was, then Take That will no doubt have formed part of your weekend repertoire. In those days, the boys in my class liked Oasis and Blur and the girls LOVED Take That. I mean, those ballad lyrics were just so RELATABLE! And the fantastically poppy sound of anthems such as Relight My Fire (which I know was a remake) made for much memory-making in road trip singalongs with friends.
The Band Musical, which is written by Take That and Tim Firth, follows the story of a group of teenage girls who were obsessed with a boy band back in the day - and how going to a concert to see them one night changed everything. Their friendships, their hopes and dreams and ultimately the path of their lives. It takes a stroke of luck, a reunion concert and a weekend away twenty-five years later to re-ignite flames of friendship and deal with long-buried emotions and fears.
The show made me laugh, sing out loud, dance - and also cry. So many pieces of the storyline struck a chord with me. And singing along to the lyrics brought me back to the Take That concert in the SSE in 2015, which was such a happy time for me. As for performances, there were some cracking deliveries from the cast - notably Alison Fitzjohn and Emily Joyce (playing grown up Claire & Heather respectively) had some of the best lines (outside of the boys’ singing lines of course!).
If you want to relive moments like that, then get booking at the Opera House now at www.goh.co.uk
The Band continues until 24 November.