The Band

Well, I must admit one should never judge a show by its title and sub title. I had gone to the Angles Theatre to see The Band, a new musical with the music of Take That, expecting it to be about a Boy Band and just their music. Well yes it was, but it was much more than that, The Band was about a wristband that tied together five girls. The songs were themselves incidental to the storyline which was quite a moving story.

The Angles Theatre was a most suitable setting for this jukebox musical; despite showcasing five boys singing, the intimacy of the space allowed the emotions of the girls to surround and envelop the audience. These emotions were skillfully handled whether by the five younger girls who represented the girls as teenagers or the four older girls who represented the girls twenty-five years on (we soon realise why there are only four older characters).

This show was full of energy fully encompassing the singing, dance and movement. All backed up by the soundtrack to the songs provided by an excellent five-piece band led by Alex Kendall. They could not be faulted, the sound was effortlessly controlled considering that they were in a tightly packed box behind the stage, the singing was tight and the underscoring could not be faulted.

The boys, listed as boys 1 to 5 were Harry Bird, Josh Shippey, Rowan Fox-Noble, Liam Nixon and Ewan McConachie. There were great vocals from these boys, sharp and clear, it would be really unfair to pick any one out for their singing but the song ‘Million Love Songs’ sung by Harry really brought out the emotions in the audience (and cast). They also showed off their acting and movement skills, there was a great rapport between them, as there was with the entire cast.

As with the boys there were great performances from both the girls and the young girls. The younger girls - Danielle as Young Rachel, Aimee as Young Claire, Natalia as Young Heather, Maddie as Young Zoe and Melissa as Young Debbie gave great energy to their characters, cementing the everlasting friendship, they came across as a bunch of excitable sixteen-year-olds, well performed by all, the relationships were clear to see and then we have the loss of Young Debbie very sensitively played. The older girls now in their early forties were also well portrayed by Sam as Rachel, Sara-Jane as Claire, Abby as Heather and Laura-Jayne as Zoe, again the friendship and rapport were clearly shown. All these girls had good vocals, clear with good diction. I particularly liked the opening sequence with Rachel and Young Rachel. There were also five cameo roles that were used to complete the story.

With the direction there were some really well thought through scenes, On the bus as teenagers and then the adult coach journey set in Prague, the hiding of two of the boys who burst out of furniture in the opening scene set the standard. Simple set pieces, the school lockers, the setting of the stage in the funeral scene. Much use was made of the upper section of stage, as a bridge, airport sequence, the rocks out of town. There was no un-necessary movement, choreography was well designed and well performed. The lighting design was well thought through and the sound had no problems. All the costumes were appropriate to period, very humorous for the opening of act two with the boys costumed as statues in Prague. Then of course the wristbands which were the subject matter of the title of the show, wristbands that bound together all the girls.

This was a show that sang and danced its way into the hearts of all in the audience who saw it, Take That may not be my choice of music but it has made a very entertaining and enjoyable show, well done to all the team.

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