Review: 'The Band' at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield

Full of charm, wit and heartwrenching emotion, the Take That musical is simply divine.

The musical follows the lives of a group of 16-year-old schoolgirls who have bonded over their adoration for 'the band'. The girls’ dream becomes reality when they have the opportunity to see the boy band live but tragedy strikes and their friendship breaks apart. 25 years on, a competition win could rekindle the girls once more.

Featuring all the Take That classics from ‘Never Forget’ to ‘Rule the World’, this is a musical no 90s fan can miss.

www.thebandmusical.com

'The Band' are made up of the five winners from BBC One's Let It Shine AJ Bentley, Nick Carsberg, Curtis T Johns, Yazdan Qafouri and Sario Solomon who make up pop group Five to Five. The sublime quintet is on stage for the majority of the production, touchingly representing the fact that, deep down, the boys are there wherever the girls go. Each performer offers vocals just as strong as the other and, combined with their excellent dance skills and sincere acting, Five to Five truly do strive as a group.

The four leading ladies are Rachel Lumberg [Rachel], Emily Joyce [Heather], Alison Fitzjohn [Claire] and Jayne McKenna [Zoe], who all bring their own fun-loving eccentricity to each of the roles. Lumberg’s portrayal of Rachel as an honest and faithful individual enhances the credibility of this narrative, as the audience learns more of the character’s strength against her difficulties.

Playing the younger versions of each of the women are Faye Christall, Katy Clayton, Sarah Kate Howarth and Lauren Jacobs who do well as a group to establish each of their characters as people the audience cannot help but care about. Rachelle Diedericks performs particularly well as the happy-go-lucky Debbie.

The staging of The Band is exceptionally slick; the frequent and substantial set changes are consistently seamless through the production. The immersive lighting strengthens the audience’s reception to these four women’s lives and to the band that they admire.

Nostalgia and friendship are the key themes in this musical, making for an immensely relatable showing. As it turns out, boy bands wearing double denim and fan girls playing on statues form outstanding theatre. The Band concluded to rapturous applause and a standing ovation on opening night, and it is easy to see why.

The Band plays at the Lyceum until 14/10/2017.

Review based on production on Wednesday 4th October 2017.

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