It’s been a bit of busy time in the Friend Bartlett household; there’s the ongoing back garden project and in my day job, full of many award shindigs. However, my Mum, went to watch the Band at Oxford’s New Theatre when the opportunity came up as both my parents had watched the BBC series Let it Shine.
If you don’t recall the TV series, it was a reality show which auditioned singers and dancers for the chance to win a place in a new musical which featured the music, of the greatest boyband of all time, Take That.
To be clear, it’s a musical that features a boy band – ‘The Band’ – and five of their adoring fans. It’s not actually about Take That. However, Gary, Howard, Mark, and Robbie have all been involved in the show’s creation, which took seven years to get off the ground and was written by Tim Firth.
My mum went with my dad and both really enjoyed the show – I mean it’s not like Take That hasn’t had enough number ones! I don’t want to give away too much of the plot line – but the musical follows the lives of five friends, all fans of the band (the one in the show) and about the hijinks this leads them too!
My mum says…
“With some musicals you watch, you often see one or two stars who have amazing singing voices or who have all the moves. However, all the members of the cast of ‘The Band’ were all really good with strong singing voices.
“Of course, the boys that played ‘The Band’ had that popstar vibe, reminiscent of Take That, Boyzone, Westlife and other boy bands that you recall.
“The other thing that I really enjoyed about the performance was to see such a range of people represented, it was a diverse cast (rather than all skinny twenty-somethings!) I imagine that Take That fans probably come from all walks of life.
“I was pleased to see Emily Joyce playing Heather, as I remember her from ‘My Hero’ and she played the part very well.
“I felt in many respects that The Band was a bit of a love letter from Take That to their fans, which is a nice touch.”
