Greatest Days Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Lindsey Wilkins
As a Take That fan I was delighted to have been asked to review The Official Take That Musical Greatest Days at the Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury starring Jennifer Ellison. I took along my husband who isn’t a Take That fan but he really enjoyed it. We have been to the Aylesbury theatre several times, and our visit there is always nice. The theatre is situated in the centre of Aylesbury and is surrounded by a great choice of bars and restaurants. We stopped for food before the show; there is a car park directly opposite the theatre, so we got parked up, had food and then went to the theatre all in good time. There is a charge for the car park, but it’s not expensive.
As we made our way over to the theatre we couldn’t help but notice the queue outside. It was clear there were a lot of people waiting to see the show.
It was busy but the wonderful staff had everything in hand, as we made our way into the theatre. A friendly and very helpful member of staff was happy to direct us to our seats. Our view was great, the seats were comfortable with plenty of leg room. We could see the theatre was filling up fast.
The show started on time. As the curtain went up there on stage was the ex Brookside star Jennifer Ellison. Jennifer did amazing playing the main part of Rachel. Without giving too much away, the story was told very cleverly across 2 timelines. Rachel and her friends Zoe, Claire, Heather and Debbie as 16 year olds, were all obsessed with the boy band Take That (‘The boys’ as they called them) who are then reunited after 25 years, with several ups and downs along the way. Their acting, singing and dancing was all fantastic with some great humour thrown in. The audience loved it.
We didn’t know anything about the show before going to see it but were pleasantly surprised with how good it was. Being a similar age to the characters I could relate to the storyline. It made me feel quite emotional in parts. I felt the show was a celebration of friendship, along with heartbreak which proved to be a crowd-pleaser whether you like Take That or not, as the show isn’t really about them.
The band (‘The boys’) appeared out of nowhere throughout the whole show, singing and dancing. These guys definitely deserve a special mention. ‘The boys’ were played brilliantly by Alexander O’Reilly, Kalifa Burton, Jamie Corner, Archie Durrant and Regan Gascoigne. Their voices were excellent and their dance moves were choreographed perfectly. All their costumes were simple but very fitting.
The sets were very minimal but looked great with the bright lights and gorgeous light up stair case.
You could see the audience were having a fabulous time. The show was very uplifting and the finale was absolutely brilliant. Everyone was up out of their seats dancing and singing their hearts out to a medley of Take That songs.
This musical which features more than 15 record breaking Take That songs has bags of energy, and is not to be missed. It was an emotional but entertaining, feel good show.
I want to see it again!
Rating: 5/5
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/greatest-days/aylesbury-waterside-theatre/
Tickets available from £18.00 subject to a transaction fee of £3.80