REVIEW
TIM FIRTH’S NEW BRITISH MUSICAL
THE BAND
WITH THE MUSIC OF TAKE THAT
Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
19 – 29 September 2018
✭✭✭✭✭ 5/5
TIM FIRTH’S NEW BRITISH MUSICAL
THE BAND
WITH THE MUSIC OF TAKE THAT
Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
19 – 29 September 2018
✭✭✭✭✭ 5/5
What an absolute breath of fresh air The Band is. Yes, it’s a juke box musical which comes with a plethora of preconceptions, however, there was nothing to prepare me for the absolute joy this show delivers.
This weekend and all next week up until the 29th September, The Band will be playing at Southend’s Cliffs Pavilion.
Let’s set the scene. It’s 1993 and for five 16 year old girls, the band is everything. The group of girls who were once inseparable reunite after 25 years apart and try once more to fulfil their dream of meeting the boyband whose music became the soundtrack to their lives.
The Band features the music of Take That, Britain’s most successful boyband of all time, whose songs include Never Forget. Back for Good, A Million Love Songs, Greatest Day. The Flood, Relight My Fire, Shine and Rule the World.
There’s been a lot of hype over this show, not least because it stars Five to Five, the winners of BBC’s reality tv show, Let it Shine, where the five boys were ultimately whittled down from thousands to win the coveted roles of the boy band in the show. They are AJ Bentley, Nick Carsberg, Curtis S Johns, Yazdan Qafouri and Sario Solomon and they all look and sound amazing much to the delight of the Take That fans in the audience; even getting to wear some of those iconic outfits that will be familiar from their music videos over the years.
The Band has been beautifully written and crafted by a fabulous team. Tim Firth is an expert at writing scripts that bring the realness of everyday life on to the stage and providing real depth to his characters. Anyone who has seen The Girls musical will see a similarity in the way Firth writes - he seems to have a wonderful insight into the way women’s minds work.
Direction and choreography are also core to this production and Jack Ryder and Kim Gavin have done an outstanding job with the cast and the boys especially as they are ever present in the girls' lives and likewise ever present within the dramas which prevail in their lives too.
The show is ultimately all about the girls and their journey and friendship. Beginning with the younger versions of themselves with all their hopes and dreams; a tragic incident causing them all to go their separate ways but then reuniting later on in their forties. The constant in their lives, of course, is The Band and the music that is ever present throughout every emotional encounter that comes their way.
The Band boasts an outstanding cast; Faye Christall as the younger Rachel, is a little pocket rocket with wonderful comic timing and I loved the sassiness of Katy Clayton as the young Heather. Rachel Lumberg completely endears as the older Rachel and will have you laughing and crying with a powerful performance. Alice Fitzjohn playing the older Claire, is just hilarious. Her initial entrance, without giving away any spoilers, is fabulously unexpected and she is definitely a performer with some natural funny bones. Andy Williams certainly deserves a mention for the numerous roles he gets to play as Every Dave, not least the Prague policeman who gets a great one liner rebuff involving a defiled statue.
The Band is full of constant surprises with so many laughs to be had, all with the added bonus of having some of the best Take That songs thrown in for good measure. The staging is brilliantly inventive with some excellent projections forming some spectacular backdrops for scenes.
The Band will remind you just how important music can be our lives. We all have a "band' or singer whose record will come on the radio to evoke memories and emotions which will instantly take you back in time to a special moment.
It’s a cleverly written show which, unlike a lot of juke box musicals these days, has a storyline that is anything but shallow. Joyous is a word that seems to be bandied about all too frequently these days but I can honestly say that is exactly how I felt after seeing this show.
Don’t miss your chance to see the show at Southend’s Cliffs Pavilion. For tickets go online to www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135
More info on The Band here
This weekend and all next week up until the 29th September, The Band will be playing at Southend’s Cliffs Pavilion.
Let’s set the scene. It’s 1993 and for five 16 year old girls, the band is everything. The group of girls who were once inseparable reunite after 25 years apart and try once more to fulfil their dream of meeting the boyband whose music became the soundtrack to their lives.
The Band features the music of Take That, Britain’s most successful boyband of all time, whose songs include Never Forget. Back for Good, A Million Love Songs, Greatest Day. The Flood, Relight My Fire, Shine and Rule the World.
There’s been a lot of hype over this show, not least because it stars Five to Five, the winners of BBC’s reality tv show, Let it Shine, where the five boys were ultimately whittled down from thousands to win the coveted roles of the boy band in the show. They are AJ Bentley, Nick Carsberg, Curtis S Johns, Yazdan Qafouri and Sario Solomon and they all look and sound amazing much to the delight of the Take That fans in the audience; even getting to wear some of those iconic outfits that will be familiar from their music videos over the years.
The Band has been beautifully written and crafted by a fabulous team. Tim Firth is an expert at writing scripts that bring the realness of everyday life on to the stage and providing real depth to his characters. Anyone who has seen The Girls musical will see a similarity in the way Firth writes - he seems to have a wonderful insight into the way women’s minds work.
Direction and choreography are also core to this production and Jack Ryder and Kim Gavin have done an outstanding job with the cast and the boys especially as they are ever present in the girls' lives and likewise ever present within the dramas which prevail in their lives too.
The show is ultimately all about the girls and their journey and friendship. Beginning with the younger versions of themselves with all their hopes and dreams; a tragic incident causing them all to go their separate ways but then reuniting later on in their forties. The constant in their lives, of course, is The Band and the music that is ever present throughout every emotional encounter that comes their way.
The Band boasts an outstanding cast; Faye Christall as the younger Rachel, is a little pocket rocket with wonderful comic timing and I loved the sassiness of Katy Clayton as the young Heather. Rachel Lumberg completely endears as the older Rachel and will have you laughing and crying with a powerful performance. Alice Fitzjohn playing the older Claire, is just hilarious. Her initial entrance, without giving away any spoilers, is fabulously unexpected and she is definitely a performer with some natural funny bones. Andy Williams certainly deserves a mention for the numerous roles he gets to play as Every Dave, not least the Prague policeman who gets a great one liner rebuff involving a defiled statue.
The Band is full of constant surprises with so many laughs to be had, all with the added bonus of having some of the best Take That songs thrown in for good measure. The staging is brilliantly inventive with some excellent projections forming some spectacular backdrops for scenes.
The Band will remind you just how important music can be our lives. We all have a "band' or singer whose record will come on the radio to evoke memories and emotions which will instantly take you back in time to a special moment.
It’s a cleverly written show which, unlike a lot of juke box musicals these days, has a storyline that is anything but shallow. Joyous is a word that seems to be bandied about all too frequently these days but I can honestly say that is exactly how I felt after seeing this show.
Don’t miss your chance to see the show at Southend’s Cliffs Pavilion. For tickets go online to www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135
More info on The Band here
Our lovely dressing room chat with Rachel Lumberg and Faye Christall below
2018/19 TOUR SCHEDULE
|
Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
19 – 29 September 2018 His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen 3 – 13 October 2018 Sheffield Lyceum Theatre 16 - 20 October 2018 New Wimbledon Theatre 23 – 27 October 2018 New Theatre, Oxford 30 October – 3 November 2018 Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin 6 – 10 November 2018 Grand Opera House, Belfast 13 – 24 November 2018 |
The Lowry, Salford
16 – 26 January 2019 Grand Theatre, Swansea 29 January – 2 February 2019 Orchard Theatre, Dartford 5 – 9 February 2019 Regent Theatre, Ipswich 12 – 16 February 2019 Woking, New Victoria 19 – 23 February 2019 Wolverhampton Grand 26 February – 2 March Milton Keynes Theatre 5 – 9 March 2019 Mayflower Theatre, Southampton 12 – 16 March 2019 |