If like me you were a teen in the 90s
And Take That were your guilty pleasure
Then Greatest Days is
The juke box musical for you

It is not the story of THE band
But the story of five friends
Bonded by their love of a boy band
Five fans who shared the ups and downs
Of their teenage years
Together with their favourite band
Providing the soundtrack

This story starts in 1993
When the girls are 16
Rather like the Spice Girls
Of the same era
Each girl has their own distinct
Look and personality
Their own hopes and dreams
But together they are a team

Until on the night their dreams
Should have come true
Tragedy strikes
And the terrible event
Leads to the girls
All going their own separate ways

We meet them again
25 years later
When one of the friends
Wins tickets to a reunion gig
For the band they all adored

The girls meet up
And through a mix of
Comedy and dramatic storytelling
Slick dance routines and
Take That tunes

We find out what has happened
To each of the girls
Through the past quarter of a century
As together
Reunited
They reform
And help one another find themselves again

For women of a certain age
This is an incredibly moving musical
It reminded me of Mamma Mia
With a dose of Ab Fab

I laughed a lot
I loved explaining the 90s references
To my 13 year old daughter

I was 13 when I first watched Take That
On Cool Cube!

I was 18 when I was Lulu
For five male friends being
Take That
In a sixth form show

I was 30 when my sister and I went
To see Robbie Williams at Roundhay Park

I was 35 when all the songs meanings
Changed for me
When Baby Tilda died

(All the stars are coming out tonight)

There were some magical moments in this show
My favourite being when
The middle aged women
Were conforted and supported
By their younger selves
When by looking back
They were able to move forward

Greatest Days cemented for me
The power of the music we love
To help us keep our memories alive
To take us back to specific moments
In our lives
To help us tell our story
To the ones we love
To the next generation

This was a brilliant night out
For Esther and I
For anyone who has ever loved a boy band
For anyone who finds themselves
Looking back through the lens of music
For any fans of The Boys
For readers of Smash Hits

Greatest Days is the musical you never knew you needed
But you do
It will put a spring in your step and a song in your heart

As you remember your own Greatest Days
The ones you will Never Forget
The ones of which we all
Hope for more x

Greatest Days is on at The Marlowe until Saturday 5th August