While Gary Barlow and Tim Firth have been celebrating their Olivier nominations for THE GIRLS this week, preparations are already under way for their new Take That inspired musical THE BAND that's had casting help and a major publicity boost thanks to TV's Let It Shine. We've now loaded 'The Band' in THE BAND onto #StageFaves so you can #GetSocial for all five (even while they take a reported Twitter break!)...
With the Let It Shine TV talent search concluded with much fanfare, work has already begun on the less glamorous work of preparing the show itself. THE BAND premieres at Manchester Opera House on 8 September 2017, and then launches a year-long tour ahead of a hoped-for West End transfer. Tickets for the tour go on sale on 3 April.
The fast turnaround means rehearsals have already begun for the stage show, which will feature 14 Take That tracks performed by the winners of the Saturday night BBC TV competition: AJ Bentley, Curtis T Johns, Nick Carsberg, Sario Solomon and Yazdan Qafouri, who competed as Five to Five.
While the search for the five male singers who would play ‘The Band’ on stage was the focus of small screen attention, the team behind the stage show were assembling the group of female actresses who would take on the leading roles in the musical. That casting has yet to be announced.
Unveiling details of the show which has been written by Tim Firth, Barlow’s writing partner in his most recent critically acclaimed - and now Olivier nominated - foray into musical theatre THE GIRLS, Barlow revealed THE BAND is actually the story of five 16-year-old girls whose story is played out to the soundtrack of Take That. The news prompted outrage from some TV fans suspecting that the boys may not have speaking parts. Barlow's response on Twitter: "Utter rubbish".
Utter rubbish https://t.co/0hnoin1ej4
— Gary Barlow (@GaryBarlow) March 7, 2017
Co-directed by former EastEnder Jack Ryder, THE BAND reunites Barlow and Firth with producers David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers, the team behind THE GIRLS.
Following Manchester, THE BAND will visit the following cities with further dates still to be announced: Sheffield, Bradford, Southampton, Llandudno, Stoke, Cardiff, Liverpool, Norwich, Canterbury, Hull, Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol, Birmingham, Plymouth, Northampton, Nottingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Also still to be confirmed, dates and venue for the planned West End transfer...
We trust that, wherever and whenever, fellow #StageFave and #OlivierAwards nominee, Dreamgirls leading lady Amber Riley, will be invited to THE BAND's opening night? She worked alongside Barlow, Dannii Minogue and Gary Kemp (pictured above right) as a judge on Let It Shine, of course.
Meet the band
Meet #TheBand! @MrDanWalker & @LouiseMinchin talk to AJ, Sario, Curtis, Nick and Yazdan (a.k.a #LISFiveToFive) - #LetItShine champions! pic.twitter.com/anBV3eSaRX
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) February 27, 2017
