THEATRE REVIEW: Never Forget [Theatre Buff]

Theatre Buff

Behind the scenes after the final curtain call...

THEATRE REVIEW: Never Forget

Posted on May 12, 2008 12:39 PM
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Never Forget
Savoy Theatre

First Night Review

Review by Zarina Raja

As an original Take That fan – although obviously excited - I was apprehensive about the re-enactment of the creation of the best boy band to emerge in the UK.

Seated amongst reams of hyper, middle-aged, women, I felt oddly at home. A tinkling excitement wrapped itself round the Savoy theatre as if we were about to witness the real Take That.

As a gorgeously old-school TT song pumped through the Savoy – possibly It Only Takes a Minute Girl, I was too excited to take note – the crazed women in my row let out a cackling and infectious whoop of delight. If anything, Never Forget managed to carry the ecstatic atmosphere that a real TT concert has.

Never Forget, the musical, could have gone either way. It could have been a poor production, trembling on the edge of offensive, or it could have been – and was – a fun filled night full of TT classics, with some early 90s memories in tow.

The musical didn’t try to be anything it wasn’t, and this was what made the production enjoyable.

The play is based on five guys entering a Take That tribute contest. It also managed to incorporate a love story.

If the storyline had been centred on the real Take That, the production would definitely have not worked.

Never Forget used all the best TT songs to showcase, and topped them off with some good old, cheesy boy band dance routines. Plenty of jokes were tossed into the script alongside a handful of Take That in-jokes for all those hard-core TT fans.

Never Forget is nothing like the real thing, but it is definitely worth a see if you are a dedicated TT fan.

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