Fun, friendship and the music of Take That are in abundance at the Palace Theatre in Manchester.
Greatest Days - The Official Take That Musical has been wowing audiences for a few years - it was originally called The Band after a group of lads auditioned on the 2017 TV show ‘Let It Shine’ to play the parts of a boy band on stage.
It is based on a book by Tim Firth.
Fast forward a few years and the show has been renamed after one of Take That’s biggest hits and undergone a few cast changes, with the latest offering on stage in Manchester.
Greatest Days centres on a group of school friends in Manchester who are obsessed with their favourite boy band.
We meet Rachel, Zoe, Debbie, Heather and Claire when they are teenagers, all hoping to see the group on stage, while promising to be good friends forever.
But fast forward 25 years and the girls now lead very different lives to their teenage selves.
The group, who were once so close, have now lost touch and their lives, which they had carefully planned out, haven’t gone to plan. But the one thing they still have in common is their love of the group and their love of each other.
The girls also have to come to terms with a tragic event which threatens to tear them apart, but ultimately brings them closer together.
The young group of friends, played by Emilie Cunliffe (Rachel), Mary Moore (Debbie), Kitty Harris (Heather), Hannah Brown (Zoe) and Mari McGinlay (Claire) are a force to be reckoned with. They are funny, feisty and command the stage.
They portray typical teenage girls with all their angst and ambitions and have the audience giggling along to their antics.
Many, I suspect, in the audience, will have had a teenage crush on one pop idol or film star back in the day, so they will be able to relate to the girls on stage.
The older versions of the girls also shine. The star of the show, Kym Marsh, plays the older Rachel (her real-life daughter Emilie Cunliffe plays her younger self). There are some touching scenes between the two as the older version tries to sooth the worries of Young Rachel.
Against all this is the music of Take That sung by a group of lads who put their all into their performance.
So we are treated to some of their best songs - Back For Good, It Only Takes A Minute, Never Forget, Pray etc and also some of their more up-to-date tunes including Shine, Rule The World, The Flood and These Days. All toe-tapping sing-a-long tunes!
I loved this show - the only criticism I have is that the set was a little sparse, with just steps leading up the centre of the stage, but the all-singing, all dancing cast more than made up for it.
Everyone was up singing and dancing and having a good time - it’s what a night out is all about!
This musical is about friendship, hopes, dreams and how we come to realise them. It is the ultimate feel-good show and one to catch if you can.
It plays at The Palace until Saturday.
review by Lydia Williams
