This could actually be the greatest day of our lives
All we do each night is pray, hoping that we’ll see a Take That musical in Manchester someday. Well, our prayers have finally been answered, its time to dig out your denim waistcoats, buy a pot of extra-hold hair gel, shove in a diamond earring, and relight your fire for your favourite nineties pop group.
The show will feature more than 15 of the band’s record-breaking songs whilst telling “a heart-warming and hilarious story of love, loss and laughter”
Take That’s endless realm of bangers is finally getting its chance to Shine from May 2023 as Greatest Days - The Official Take That Musical is set to head to The Palace Theatre for 9 whole days.
Stopping off on a UK-wide tour in the city that birthed the holy grail of boyband royalty, the show will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Take That’s first UK number 1 single Pray. That’s right, you’re that old.
Ok, whatever we said, whatever we did, we didn’t mean it, but we are brimming with excitement at the thought of belting out Could It Be Magic in the stalls of the Palace. The plot of the show follows five best friends in the nineties who are obsessed with their fave boy band. The girls then reunite 20 years later to see their favourite heartthrobs one last time, which sounds a lot like the team at Confidentials right now, to be honest.
Have a little patience, we’re about to give you the full inside scoop on Greatest Days - The Official Take That Musical before its 2023 debut.
A Million Love Songs
Greatest Days will continue the legacy of one of the most successful band’s in British chart history, and if the intro to Never Forget doesn’t give you instant goosebumps, you don’t deserve a ticket - sorry.
Take That have sold over 45 million records worldwide, written (almost) literally A Million Love Songs, and had 12 number one hits in the UK alone. With a history as hectic as the opening of Almost Famous back in 2013, Robbie was with them, then against them, then they all broke up, reunited, and now there are three of them. One thing’s for sure though, the This Is: Take That playlist on Spotify is always worth a shuffle.
The show will feature more than 15 of the band’s record-breaking songs whilst telling “a heart-warming and hilarious story of love, loss and laughter”.
You, you’re such a big star to me
Not just your bog standard "greatest hits" musical, Greatest Days is the brainchild of Tim Firth, one of the UK’s most beloved and award-winning writers and composers in film, TV and theatre. With past credits that include the Olivier Award-winning musical Our House, the UK Theatre Award-winning This is My Family, and Calendar Girls, which broke all British records for a professional and amateur play, Tim is a pretty big deal. Chuck in Kinky Boots, Neville’s Island and The Flint Street Nativity and you’ve only scratched the surface of Tim’s repertoire.
This isn’t Tim’s first time working with Gazza B either, as he recently co-created and directed Mr Barlow’s one-man show A Different Stage which has toured the UK and is currently running in the West End. Go see that if you can't wait til May for your next fix.
We can rule the world (well, the UK)
Casting for Greatest Days is to be confirmed, but we do know that further dates in cities such as Blackpool, Glasgow, Bristol, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Southampton, Truro, Leeds, Leicester and Birmingham are soon to be announced.
According to the Take That boys, “We are so thrilled that this new production now titled "Greatest Days" is launching next year. We had an enormous amount of fun working on the original version and can’t wait to help bring this new production to over 30 cities across the UK and Ireland from May 2023.”
The show was originally produced as The Band by David Pugh & Daffyd Rogers back in 2017, and closed in March 2019, breaking box office records along the way before a stint in the West End.
Sunday to Saturday
Ok, the show is actually running from Tuesday 16 May - Saturday 27 May 2023, but we had to shoehorn one final Take That pun in for good measure. It's guaranteed to "make you laugh, dance and sing your heart out", a true night at the theatre that you'll Never Forget.
All the info on casting, tickets and times is yet to be announced, but we'll keep you in the loop with The Flood of details to come. Sorry, that was actually the last one, now go and find some acid wash denim.
The Palace Theatre, 97 Oxford St, Manchester M1 6FT
Header Image: Take That Official Instagram
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