REVIEW | Greatest Days Musical

Written by Emmie

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review

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Advertised as the ‘official Take That musical’, Greatest Days is more than just that. This jukebox musical features over 15 of the band’s iconic songs from their backlog, but actually there is so much more to it. 

At the centre of it is a group of fans. Like many hundreds of others across the country, this group of friends laps up every opportunity to hear their favourite band play live. But one fateful evening will change their lives forever, and now 25 years later - will they be able to acknowledge what happened and mend their broken friendship?

Tim Firth has established a musical that will enable audiences to enjoy some brilliant music but actually unearth an emotional and powerful story. 

During its tour, it’s been commented on about the lack of impressive set design and lavish costumes which this production doesn’t have. It’s a production that is quite considerably stripped back, with a lot of the power coming directly from the book - but also the lighting and sound design - Greatest Days enables their cast to stand out instead.

However, the effects were in the detail. The costumes acknowledge the contrast between each of their characters in their teen and adult eras - whilst also sticking to their signature colour. 

Greatest Days is an emotional rollercoaster that’s for sure with ‘Rule The World’ particularly unable to leave a dry eye in the audience.

The young girls played by Hannah Brown (Young Zoe), Olivia Hallett (Young Rachel), Kitty Harris (Young Heather), Mari McGinlay (Young Claire), and Mary Moore (Debbie) make an impact almost immediately. Each of them portrays their individual characters in a way that will acknowledge the many complexities of being a teenage girl. We experience the pressures of that bridge from a hobby to a profession whilst one has a lot of trouble happening at home. As we see their transition to adults, played by Jamie-Rose Monk, Rachel Marwood, Holly Ashton, and Jennifer Ellison we are able to see what they become. It’s an incredibly moving story, not just about what happened on the fateful event that happened when they were teenagers but how their lives have developed around it.

There’s also an added thread that remains constant for this group of friends - the band. The handsome, well-dressed, and talented showmen are in the background through the majority of this production. 

Greatest Days is a brilliantly written story, with a soundtrack that supports this. The only downside is that having more of a set will stop the audience from having to do the hard work of understanding the time period and context of what was happening.

Greatest Days is touring until 11 November 2023.

★ ★ ★