The roof of the Theatre Royal Haymarket was the place to be today as Take That and cast members celebrated the six-week West End run of The Band at the theatre this Christmas.
Tim Firth’s award-winning new musical The Band, featuring the music of Take That, opened at Manchester Opera House on 8 September 2017 to hugely critical acclaim and has broken box office records around the UK. Now it’s confirmed that the musical will break its successful tour for a London season of 50 performances (from 1 December 2018 to 12 January 2019) after playing Belfast’s Grand Opera House in November. The show will be back on the road, beginning with a run at The Lowry, Salford from 16 January 2019.
The musical stars Rachel Lumberg as Rachel, Alison Fitzjohn as Claire, Emily Joyce as Heather, Jayne McKenna as Zoe, AJ Bentley, Nick Carsberg, Curtis T Johns, Yazdan Qafouri and Sario Solomon, winners of BBC’s Let It Shine, as The Band, Faye Christall as Young Rachel, Katy Clayton as Young Heather, Rachelle Diedericks as Debbie, Sarah Kate Howarth as Young Claire, Lauren Jacobs as Young Zoe, Martin Miller as Jeff and Andy Williams as Dave. The production is directed by Kim Gavin and Jack Ryder, designed by Jon Bausor and choreographed by Gavin.
David Pugh said of the West End transfer:
“Our co-producers, Gary, Howard, Mark and Robbie, are totally chuffed that London's glittering West End will see this award-winning production at the historic Theatre Royal Haymarket this Christmas season.”
The Band is a new musical about what it’s like to grow up with a boyband. For five 16 year-old friends in 1992, ‘the band’ is everything. Twenty-five years on, we are reunited with the group of friends, now 40-something women, as they try once more to fulfil their dream of meeting their heroes.
