THE BAND is off to a fan-frenzy start - taking £2 million in the first two hours of its touring on-sale today! Check out our video and photos from the Take That musical's secret launch yesterday at Manchester Apollo to see what all the fuss is about. Then #GetSocial for THE BAND & its Let It Shine-winning stars on the show's new #StageFaves page...
David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers and Take That have announced that the UK tour of Tim Firth’s new musical THE BAND, with the music of Take That, will have a major UK tour, beginning at Manchester Opera House on 8 September 2017, with a national press night on Tuesday 26 September.
The producers made the announcement yesterday, Sunday 2 April, on stage at the Manchester Apollo (where Take That first performed in 1992), following a rapturous reception to a rehearsed reading of the new musical in front of an audience of invited guests, from fans to friends.
Take That said:
“We are incredibly proud and excited that our first production as theatre producers is THE BAND – a musical that we think will touch the hearts of not just our fans, but everyone.”
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. 25 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.
The Band will be played by AJ Bentley, Nick Carsberg, Yazdan Qafouri Isfahani, Curtis T Johns and Sario Watanabe-Solomon, who, as Five to Five, won BBC’s Let It Shine. Playing the parts of Rachel and Young Rachel will be Rachel Lumberg and Faye Christall respectively. Further casting is to be announced.
THE BAND will be directed by Kim Gavin and Jack Ryder, designed by Jon Bausor and choreographed by Kim Gavin, with lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, video design by Luke Halls and sound design by Terry Jardine and Nick Lidster.
THE BAND will be produced by David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers and Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen, Robbie Williams.
Following Manchester, THE BAND will visit Sheffield, Bradford, Southampton, Llandudno, Stoke, Cardiff, Liverpool, Norwich, Canterbury, Hull, Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol, Birmingham, Plymouth, Northampton, Nottingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh, where the launch tour schedule concludes on 14 July 2018.
THE BAND launch video
Take That's promo trailer for THE BAND
More photos
Scroll through the full picture gallery from yesterday's launch as well as other publicity photos of Take That and THE BAND stars on the show's #StageFaves page...
