Boy bands come and boy bands go but Take That seem to last forever, albeit in truncated form, with two of the original members having left – one of them twice! They were formed in 1990 in Manchester and have had 28 top 40 singles, including 12 number ones, as well as eight number one albums. None of the aforementioned facts has anything to do with this show. The only link is the music, most of which was written by the band members. The poster for the show bears the legend ‘Book by Tim Firth and Music and Lyrics by Take That.’ I think that Barry Manilow and Adrienne Anderson, Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, and Dan Hartman would have something to say about that as Could it be Magic, It Only Takes a Minute and Relight My Fire are included. At least it gave me an excuse to play the original of the latter whilst typing this.
The story is of five girls who are besotted by an unnamed boy band whose latest video, shown on Top of the Pops the night before the story starts, is the catalyst for the events which follow. The teenagers decide that they will make excuses to their parents and go to the band’s next gig. Their, already strong, bond gets deeper due to the access all areas wristbands that Debbie, played by Mary Moore, blagged from the doorman after the show, and which they used as a badge of membership from then on. The evening is ruined by an accident on the way home in which she is killed.
The teenage version. Left to right; Hannah Brown, Zoe; Mary Moore, Debbie; Emilie Cunliffe, Rachel; Kitty Harris, Heather and Mari McGinlay, Claire.
Twenty-five years later, Rachel played by Kym Marsh, enters a competition run by the local radio station and wins a trip for four to see the band play in Athens. Although having not been in touch for many years, she decides to contact the remaining members of her gang to see if they would like to go with her as a kind of reunion, much to the chagrin of her partner Jeff, played by Christopher D Hunt, who has already asked his mate and wife to go with them to celebrate his fortieth birthday. So, when the girls unanimously agree, she sneaks off once again to the band’s gig, this time leaving a note on the kitchen table.
Kym Marsh and Emilie Cunliffe as the two Rachels
When they meet at Manchester Airport, and on the trip, there are big reveals from her three friends but, she feels unfulfilled at being the only one not to have had anything happen to her worth mentioning. There is a series of incidents in Athens which causes them to miss the gig but the trip reinforces their relationship, so all is well. It also, ironically, brings Rachel and Jeff closer together.
There is always going to be a happy ending and also, thankfully, a bit of audience dancing as I was itching to get up and throw a few shapes after listening to all those bangers.
I found the story to be much better than I expected and the way in which it was told was also very inventive. The first scene comprised an adult Rachel taking in the washing as one of the band’s old records is being played on the radio. Her daughter tells her to turn it up as, for her, it is more than a record and, as she does so, the band appear, singing and dancing to the tune. The action quickly rewinds to the girls’ teenage years, morphing to the present day when Rachel wins the competition.
The current version, front left to right; Kitty Harris, Heather; Holly Ashton, Zoe; Jamie-Rose Monk, Claire and Kym Marsh, Rachel.
This structure means that there is a huge cast, so apart from the above, there is Emilie Cunliffe as Young Rachel; Heather is played by Kitty Harris (young) and Rachael Harwood; Zoe is Hannah Brown (young) and Holly Ashton; Claire, Mari McGinlay (young) and Jamie-Rose Monk. The other actor is Alan Stocks who plays ‘Every Dave’ – each of the incidental male characters is called Dave, geddit?
The girls, both in their present day and teenage incarnations, were superb, their singing, dancing, acting and comedy timing, perfect. This also applied to Christopher D Hunt and, especially Alan Stocks, whose range of parts went from janitor to Greek policeman, the comedy having a natural delivery in each case.
The Boy Band, left to right: Regan Gascoigne, Archie Durrant, Jamie Corner, Kalifa Burton and Alexanda O’Reilly.
Ironically, I found that the only element which let the show down was the boy band. Although not referred to as Take That, they had the outfits, and the moves, but the singing, especially in the first half, was well below par. It took me almost until the song had finished before I realised it was Could It Be Magic – another reason that Barry Manilow and Adrienne Anderson should be ticked off, although they may have wished to have remained anonymous on this occasion. In the lads’ defence, the dancing was very energetic in the beginning, which might have been detrimental to their vocal range, and they were depicting a group in their formative years, but I remember Take That having quite good voices, even from the start, rather than shouting as happened here. I don’t think I was alone as there were only one or two small groups of obviously die-hard fans who were in any way animated during the early songs, and, even then it looked forced.
The full cast, as before but with Alan Stocks, Every Dave, bottom left and Christopher D Hunt as Jeff, bottom right.
The pit band was superb under the Direction of Josh Cottell with Assistant MD, Robert Wicks on Keys, Gareth Lieske, Guitars, Nathan Finn, Bass Guitar and Drums played by Dave Stewart, no – not the Eurythmics one, nor, I think was it Alan Stocks playing another Dave.
The end result was a show which presented the music of one of Britain’s best selling groups with a feel-good story, it is just a shame that the latter was let down by the former.
Feature image provided by Leeds Heritage Theatres. Photographs by Alastair Muir
Tyke It To The Limit 