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Here & Now - The Steps Musical (Manchester Opera House, UK & Ireland Tour) - ★★★★ REVIEW
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Mickey Jo (Theatre Critic)
Having first seen Here and Now the new musical featuring the songs of Steps at the Birmingham Alexandra last year, when I had the chance to recently catch the opening night at Manchester Opera House ahead of a full UK tour, did I think the show was better or best forgotten? That is actually a fantastic opening line for a review. And if you're not familiar enough with the discography of Steps to appreciate that level of pun, then that is very much a you problem. Oh my God. Hey welcome welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Or hello to you if you're listening to this review on podcast platforms. My name is Mickey Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre. I am a professional theatre critic here on social media and today I'm going to be letting you know what I thought of Here and Now, the new musical set to tour the UK featuring the songs of the iconic late 90s early 2000s pop group Steps, who if you aren't familiar with them, perhaps because you're watching this from outside of the uk, sort of existed in a similar time to the band S Club 7 and Tonally were familiar a little bit of ABBA, like a slightly later ABBA, but they were an unapologetically campy five piece pop group, a handful of whom have now transitioned into musical theatre careers on stage, but whose songs have at last been given the jukebox musical treatment in a show a little bit familiar of Mamma Mia. Inasmuch as it doesn't tell their story or feature them as characters, but it instead uses the narrative within their songs to tell an original story. One written by Sean Kitchener. The show is called Here and Now. It may be playing at a theatre near you and I'm going to let you know what I thought of it today. Having seen the production twice and if you have seen it even once, I would love to know what you thought of it in the comments section down below. Perhaps by the time that you're seeing this it has already traveled around the UK to a theatre near you and you can let us know what you thought of the show. And if you enjoy listening to what I have to say and you want to hear more of my theatre reviews, make sure to subscribe right here on YouTube or follow me on podcast platforms. For now though, it's time to begin. Let's count it in. Here is my review of Of Here and Now. Okie dokie. So like I said, this is more the Mamma Mia. Of jukebox musicals rather than the Jersey Boys of jukebox musicals. We're not telling the story of Steps as a group. They do not feature as characters. They are not even acknowledged. It is theoretically possible that within the world of this show, Steps never existed. No, instead we have a fun and charming plot involving four protagonists. They are friends who work together at a supermarket. Our most central central character is Kaz. She is getting ready to turn 50. She and her husband are hoping to hear positive news about a pending adoption, or at least that they will be approved as a couple to adopt. And with Kaz seemingly set to finally get her full happy ending, the one that she has been taking a chance on, wink wink, nudge nudge. She encourages, nay demands that the other three all do the same for themselves and take a chance on their own happy endings. In fact, the four of them form a pact on a magic pineapple that they are going to have their own summers of Love and go after the things that make them happy. For Vel, who is Kaz's perhaps closest friend, that means finally biting the bullet and ending a stale and minimally satisfying relationship with a man named Leslie. Over the course of the show, Vel will discover why that relationship wasn't necessarily fulfilling her, as she realizes more about herself and, you know, dares to go after the things that make her happy and be completely fulfilled. For young Nita, who is working in order to raise enough money to go to art school, it means telling her crush at the store, Ben, that she has feelings for him even though she is painfully shy and expresses herself through abstract artistic projects where she recreates the images of unexpected celebrities using unexpected materials. And for Robbie, a young gay man who is decisively in his hookup era and who has internalized a lot of shame due to parental rejection and on some deeper level, fears that, you know, he isn't really deserving of love means agreeing to enter into any kind of a relationship and getting over his commitment issues. Only things get a little bit more complicated for these four, as well as the wider team of staff at Better Best Bargains, this being the name of the store where they are all working together when the plot develops a little bit and their jobs may be at risk. All of this perfectly suited to the back catalogue of Steps, because the vast majority, if not all of their songs really are about relationships, are about entering into relationships. A great many of them are about breakups and heartbreak, with a slightly interesting and sort of incongruous quality where the mood of the song musically feels very upbeat and is still very lively, though the lyrics are sort of full of existential despair. I mean, there are very few breakup songs in the world that come with their own prescribed dance moves, but it's a brilliant choice to marry all of those songs to an original plot that concerns itself with relationships and breakups and new relationships, relationships and flirtations, and the idea of what companionship and romance and self love would mean to each of these characters. And it's nice because we get to examine the importance of that from several different angles. We get to see a character and grow to understand that the best thing for them is to truly love themselves and to learn how to be alone and that they don't need to rely on anyone else. For another character, it's admitting that they deserve better than they currently have. For some characters, it's getting over issues that they've had. We see people who we long to get together and they find the strength to talk to each other. It's all very satisfying. It's deeply charming. It's more than a little bit Camp, which sort of ushers us towards a conversation about how we get the world of Steps into this show. Because it's not just putting the songs to this plot. The whole thing is entirely married to the Steps brand. And that brand is an aesthetic one, It's a tonal one. It is all very saturated in terms of the set design, in terms of the costume design. It's pastels, it's pinks, it's blues, it's bright, it's vibrant. I'm going to say the word camp 50,000 times throughout this review, but it's glittery, it's poppy, it's fun, and it's light. We also have a handful of visual puns as well as references within the script in the set design. You can see over the top, aisle five, aisle six, aisle seven and aisle eight. Referencing, of course, the song 5678, another of Step's biggest hits, one which was first recorded by the Bee Gees, is also referenced with a visual gag later on in the show that I'm not going to spoil for you, but there's little chance that you'll miss it. And there is almost a comparable, sort of a dynamic between the quartet of central characters that you see on stage and the quintet that is Steps. I think that may exist purely because it's a handy way of being able to adapt the music to the stage. These songs that were written for five voices singing together can now be performed in many instances throughout the show by four voices. And before I tell you a little bit more about how music works in this show and with this story, I do want to talk more about the Steps brand and how that exists within this production, because when I first saw this in Birmingham, there were a small handful of people in the audience who were such big Steps fans that they were from their seats doing all of the actions. And, you know, to say dancing in your seat suggests a very contained quality when the action is a gesture this high above your head, you do notice from a few rows behind. And there is an opportunity within the show to do that. There is a megamix on the end, as there is in many a campy jukebox musical, and it works very well here. But I was pleased to say that there was less of that when I saw the show in Manchester, because, especially for a couple of the songs, they've been reworked into a very emotional context in the story. And so it does sort of pierce the sincerity of that just a little bit when people are doing the actions from the music video. That being said, there's no guarantee that's not going to happen as the show tours around the uk. And also there are a couple of moments within the show, within Matt Cole's high energy choreography where the original dance moves that fans will know from the music videos from the tours etc are incorporated into the staging, from what I could tell and from what I can remember. But anyway, let's talk about the music. There are so many step songs in this show, there is just so much music in there. Unless you're pining for a real deep cut, of which there are a handful, chances are you will be satisfied that the song you're hoping to hear in this show makes it in, including many of their covers. Certainly all of their biggest hits are in there. Also a lot of their post cover comeback material as well, which I was really pleased by because I think some of those songs like Scared of the Dark and Story of a Heart are some of their best work. Really, really great. And when I say some of their best work, I also of course give credit to the people who wrote the songs, which is a whole host of different people throughout their career, but it includes a lot of like Stock, Aitken and Waterman, a little bit of Bee Gees and also in one instance Benny and Bjorn of ABBA. Now, 99% of the songs performed in the show are non diegetic which is to say that they aren't being perceived as musical numbers by the char within that world like the music in other jukebox musicals like in Beautiful, the Cow King musical or Jersey Boys etc or Tina. And because it steps, they are almost all reflective moments, the vast majority of which relate to romance, relate to relationships, those which are ending, those which are just beginning. And they are almost always accompanied by moments of choreography, either full cast doing crazy choreo or things happening in the background and people walking down supermarket aisles and customers at checkouts giving it a little bit of classic steps, choreography, those kinds of vibes. We very quickly understand the musical identity that the show is going to have. There is a very playful quality to it. There is very little from what I can tell and from what I could remember that has been changed about these songs in adapting them for the stage. I say this in contrast to shows like Mamma Mia, where some lyrics have been reworked. In fact, the lyrics of the title song Mamma Mia are different in the stage version than they are in the original ABBA Song. And there's been very little of that when it comes to here and now. I don't know if that's because Steps have been so involved in the process or just because it wasn't something that they really sought to do. And we'll talk a little bit more about the extent to which I think that's been successful. But essentially the overview I want to give you for this show is that it is a fun night out. It's everything that you're anticipating when you go and see a Steps musical. And there is room for you or I to stand in criticism of the depth of the thing and the extent to which you might be able to see the plot twists coming. But it's also, you know, it's very much not Sondheim. Like, I enjoy eating at all kinds of different restaurants, but if I'm going to McDonald's, I'm not going to complain about the salt on the fries. Do you know what I mean? And that's not to besmirch this show or to besmirch McDonald's. Sometimes a happy Meal is exactly what you need, and sometimes you want a musical that feels like a Happy Meal. This is a fun, camp, charming, sweet and upbeat night out. And while other theatres around the country may offer you comparatively complex and multi layered narratives, I like the idea, especially of something that's going to tour regionally and appeal to a lot of perhaps less frequent theater goers who love the music of Steps. I love the idea of that kind of a show being very culturally accessible because these are very relatable characters. They are real working class people with genuine, familiar problems, whose story together ultimately talks a lot about romance, but beyond that reminds us of the power of self, love and more than anything else, friendship, which is a lovely thing to want to say in this kind of a show. Moving on, then, let's talk in turn about the strengths of this musical and the shortcomings. So let's start with what I really enjoyed. I want to talk about queer representation. And this, again, I think, ties into the brand of Steps. Having had the chance to listen to them speak and briefly interview them during the return of this show, it's clear that their fans are hugely important to them and they understand the presence of the LGBTQ community within their fan base. Shaun Kitchener, the writer of the show, understands this as well. And so it's fitting, it's very fitting that there is earnest and genuine, charming queer representation within here and now. Some of which is clear from the outset, some of which Unveils itself. I told you about our central quartet of characters, but we also have a handful of supporting roles, including a drag queen character whose drag Persona name is Amanda Smooch, played by IRL drag queen River Medway. There is, and this is something of a spoiler, even if you can spot it from 200 yards. Skip ahead if you don't want to know. Probably for the next 20 seconds, a character called Tracy. She works for Better Best Bargains as a delivery driver and talks about spending a lot of quality time with her Sophie and not wanting to stereotype anyone but having spent a lifetime with the queer community. That particular character arrived on stage and I said, well, this is a lesbian. And they spoke once about Sophie and I said, and that is a cat. In terms of the themes and issues that the show chooses to focus on, there's also something else really interesting because the majority of the songs are like, I'm having a stressful day or I'm a little bit worried about this choice that I've made, or oh no, this relationship is freaking me out a little bit, or you like me, I like you. Let's sing a song about it. And nothing all that deep. There is one moment where the show suddenly attains a new layer of depth because Kaz is talking to a charming customer that she has met in the shop. They are each talking about their lives. He is talking about the fact that he has kids and tells him that she had had a son with her husband, but that he was born sleeping. She then sings the step song Heartbeat, reframed in a completely different context to the one in which it was originally performed. No longer a love song, but now one about losing a child as a parent at the moment of birth. It is heart wrenching stuff. It does arrive, and I've thought this on both occasions the littlest bit too abruptly. And it's a really difficult thing to try and pitch correctly, I think, because there is a clear sense from the character of Kaz, who wears her late son's name on a necklace at all times. His name is Jack. She talks about him as a motivator for her throughout the show later on, saying when she feels regret about some choices that she's made, that my Jack would be so ashamed of me, which made me almost burst into tears. That was really devastating. But anyway, she is admittedly very open in wanting to talk about him and wanting to acknowledge him, him as always a part of her life. And so there is no sense of stigma or shame or hesitation when she immediately explains the Circumstances of his birth in conversation. But there is something about this scene that leads into this song that just sort of flows a little too smoothly. It's such a tonal shift that something needs to indicate that. And if it's not gonna be a sense of her even taking a breath before making this segue into this very hard hitting emotional territory, it should perhaps be in the response of the gentleman who is talking to who expresses remorse for her, but isn't necessarily taken aback. There's just something that needs to alert us, the audience, to the fact that we are switching gears a little bit here and only slightly. It doesn't detract from the fact that the song is very moving and very powerful. And this is what I really like about jukebox musicals is when the writer will pay attention to these lyrics and consider a new context that would bring out even more from this material than, you know, the original interpretation. That is where you're going to find the really winning moments in jukebox musicals. Similarly, I think it's pretty ingenious to take a song like Better the Devil you know and have it be about someone, against their better judgment, getting back together with a former partner. Story of a Heart does something similar. That is a story about fond nostalgia. But it here exists in a context of a queer person talking about the trauma of their upbringing and allowing somebody else to better understand them by sharing an insight into how that experience has shaped them through song. And it's a very meaningful moment. There's a fantastic little mini mashup between Tragedy, of course, one of their biggest hits, and what the future holds. I love that this is a combination of steps, classic and new. But also it's a great way of using music to illustrate conflict between one character and the other group on stage who believes that character is aligned with them in spite of the fact that they aren't. Because that character knows a little bit more about the situation than the rest of them do and is internalizing this dreadful guilt. And so is singing from a different sheet. I also want to praise the absolute genius that is the inclusion of the song it's the Way youy make me Feel. Not to be confused with the way you make me feel. It's not that one. It's. It's the way that you make me feel. But the utter hilarity here is taking the little vocal echoes over the first few lines and turning them to a spoken response by another character. So it used to be a. It's the thing that you do. So physical. And that's now just a spoken line where the person's says, so physical and they don't all perfectly work. There is throughout the show the occasional sense of a lyric that doesn't exactly refer to the situation that the character singing it is experiencing, but it's close enough. And it's something that happens constantly in jukebox musicals for which they are very often forgiven by audiences. Because, you know, we, we know where those lyrics are coming from. We know how we got here, we know why that's happened, happening. And at a certain point you do have to just congratulate them for finding a way to work all of this material into the show. 5678 is a great example of that. Because how the heck are they going to get this cowboy hoedown into a supermarket set musical about dating and relationships and heartbreak and friendship? With the answer being the half price hoedown that the employees are forced to participate in, in which they all dress as different reduced items. When this was first explained to me during a rehearsal event months ago, I was kind of hoping the costumes for this would be more elaborate. And if someone was dressed like a washing machine, they would have a full three dimensional washing machine on them rather than a cardboard like sign that says washing machine. But it's still a fun moment. It's still a fun way of getting that song into a show that really defies its inclusion. That being said, I do sort of wish that we could rework the material as much as Mamma Mia. Seemed willing to do in twisting some of the lyrics, in just doing the tiniest of rewrites here and there. You would never go to Mamma Mia and say it doesn't feel like ABBA anymore. But you also can appreciate that those songs really belong to those characters in those contexts. They really work in the show. And that's because the material has been molded ever so slightly because, you know, it's. It's a square peg that you're putting into a round hole. So if you can smooth out the edges just a little bit, then the whole thing becomes a little bit more theatrically cohesive. I wonder sometimes when you, the original music producers are involved with the stage show. We've seen this not just in this, but in a couple of other ones recently when the original artists are involved, whether there is a little bit more unwillingness to do that and whether there are meetings happening where they're having conversations saying, like, you know, fans want to hear these songs the way that they remember them, and if you want to do that, then Ultimately, what you want to do is hear them performed by the original artists. Hell, if you want to hear the original versions of those songs, then you can stay at home and listen to them. But if people are going to see them performed in a different context, then I think they can be adjusted ever so slightly.
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Mickey Jo (Theatre Critic)
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Mickey Jo (Theatre Critic)
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Mickey Jo (Theatre Critic)
And it's therein that we find ourselves with a little bit of a challenge in this show. I think this is probably my biggest criticism of the entire thing and it has to do with the nature of these songs and how difficult it is to turn them two solos because these are songs written originally for a five piece group performing together multiple soloists, high and low vocal ranges, with the melody passing between different individuals. This doesn't just mean that it leaps over different octaves. It also means that you have occasionally songs that are too fast paced to be comfortably sung by an individual vocalist. But in this show, sometimes that is what it asks of its performers. The one that I'm thinking of here is is the terrific song Love's Got a Hold in My Heart. I love that song. I'm not going to try and sing it by myself at karaoke because I'm going to hyperventilate and fall down. And it's this climbing melody that goes from this really low place to this really high place, all the while not allowing you to breathe. And in the original track, it swaps between two different people. But here, Blake Patrick Anderson as Robbie has to sing the whole thing by himself. And it's a hugely challenging sing. And there are other people on stage at this moment. There are many moments of the song. There are lyrics from within that section that could be given to other people just to give him a little bit of respite because it's such a hard line to sing all the way through, like to go from. Baby, you took me prisoner I confess and now it's too late but up a fight I better stronger Trying to try love get little Da da da da Love's got a hold on my heart It's a range thing, but it's also an intensity thing. A lot of this pop music is relentless and it's fast and it's scarcely changed for the stage. I don't just mean that lyrics haven't been reworked, but it seemed to my ears, and I haven't investigated this thoroughly, that a lot of the keys were the same as the original versions. And when you're taking stuff that was originally performed by Claire and then giving it to a male performer, that then creates key challenges, it creates octave challenges. Because if you take a song originally in a higher vocal range and then you just throw it down an octave, it's going to sit in a slightly lower place. It's not as simple as just up an octave, down an octave. There's usually a little bit of difference in flexibility there. And I felt as though I. I was listening to songs being performed by fantastic vocalists, almost all of whom I have seen before in previous shows. I know how talented these people are as singers, not just as actors, and I felt as though it wasn't giving them the best opportunity to really shine vocally. Blake is a fantastic singer, but I felt as though he had been dealt a very difficult hand in terms of singing stuff that fell into an awkward vocal range area. And not because it was too high, which is normally what we talk about, it's because it was really too low, low. I almost felt similarly about Chain Reaction, which is performed here as a show stopping drag number by the wonderful River Medway as Amanda Smooch in an elaborate flamboyant outfit, a little bit familiar of the Deeper Shade of Blue music video. And as fantastic a number as I think this is, and as demonstrable as its reception is, everyone has gone nuts for this every time I've seen the show. I do have two gripes with it. One of them is sincere, the other is quite silly, but I stand by both of them. The Sincere complaint. Point is that it's just such a great song and I just long to hear it in the upper octave. And because this is a drag performance, I felt like it could have been a blend between live singing and lip syncing playfully to one of the other vocalists on stage. I felt like one of the adoring supermarket staff watching on, like, Nita or somebody could have been pulled in and, like, could have taken over the vocal and then river could have given us a little bit of more. More out there choreography while lip syncing to that vocal. That would have been fun. That would have been, you know, acknowledging the drag roots of it all. My silly complaint, you're going to hate me for this. Oh, it's like when I counted the Dalmatians on stage is when they announce this, they say something like, attention shoppers, Fabulosity happening in kitchen appliances. And then we transition the set to bring on these washing machines, like for laundry. In the background, there is an industrial supermarket fridge. Not the kind they're selling to be in your own home, but a supermarket fridge or freezer from which River Medway makes a fabulous entrance dressed as frozen goods. My issue is none of these things are kitchen appliances. I don't know where you keep your washing machine and you can technically put it in a kitchen, but I wouldn't call it a kitchen appliance. It's not a dishwasher, it's a washing machine. It's got a spin cycle. That's I have. And I've always had a different room where my washing machine is kept. Maybe that's just me. And, you know, it speaks to the kind of pedant that I am, but I was waiting to see kitchen appliances and there weren't any kitchen appliances. I also think by the time we get to the second act and we hear a song like something in your eyes, there's something to be said for the lack of musical diversity among some of the steps songs, where things start to sound a little bit samey. And again, allowing a little bit more room for newer, more novel orchestrations. The reworking of songs. I mean, you think about Moulin Rouge, you think about that version of Roxanne, the way that it was reorchestrated originally, of course, for the Baz Luhrmann film film, and then brought to the stage and how thrilling that is. You think about the new orchestrations that songs have had for just for one day. The Live Aid musical I wish in jukebox musicals. And I do think that this is probably the biggest constraint on the show currently that there was more freedom to musically rework these songs. I will say, when it comes to songs and how they are used, one of my absolute favorites, Scared of the Dark, which I think is inherently so theatrical. I don't even know if I could tell you what it was that they were singing about when they were singing this song. They were going home from work and they had reasons to be apprehensive and they were trying to face those fears a little bit. But it didn't. The circumstances didn't live up to the drama of the song. Like, we're gonna go and sing Scared of the Dark while sitting on a bench and waiting for a bus. This is a huge song that is dramatic and powerful, and there's so much more I felt it could have achieved if it had the opportunity to. The only other criticism I have about this show, that Undernight charms you and entertains you and makes you feel things and makes you care about these characters, which are four really important things for a story to do, is that a lot of. I think what would be really satisfying moments occur off stage. And we see the occasional scene in which a character is empowered to make a great, rewarding choice for themselves. But we also see the aftermath of a lot of stuff that has happened between scenes that we don't get to enjoy or experience. We find out after the fact that two characters have been in conversation to get payback against another and to enact revenge. And this is all sort of revealed after the fact. And a lot of things happen. A lot of things that would be more challenging to represent on stage happen off stage. And we just hear about the emotional fallout. That's pretty much how we spend the second act is just experiencing emotional fallout. There are a couple of little plot hole areas. There are a couple of things, as there so often are, that could be resolved if characters just had, like, two sentences, more of a conversation. But like I said, I said it's charming, it is sweet, it is campy, it's a little bit silly, and it's a lot of fun. It's also not particularly changed at all, except for a little bit of casting, which we'll mention in just a second, since I saw it last year in Birmingham. But I will say this is about the direction by Rachel Kavanagh, that the whole thing has become even slicker. I don't know if a couple of lines have been excised here and there, but it runs at a terrific pace. Now, anyway, let's talk about the performance. Performances.
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Mickey Jo (Theatre Critic)
In the.
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Show.
- [31:18]
Mickey Jo (Theatre Critic)
Now we scarcely have enough time for me to talk about how much I adore leading lady Rebecca Locke, who deserves to be one of the most celebrated women in British musical theatre. She is such an extraordinary talent and she is capable of of such comedy and such vocal prowess while also feeling like such a real and grounded human being. You know this woman, you have met this woman. You recognize this woman. You may have been this woman. She gives this show a real beauty by meeting this material with such honesty and warmth and vulnerability and heart and wit. She is so funny. She is such a believable friend to all of these other characters on stage. When she wrestles with these choices, we don't judge her. We understand what she is contending with emotionally, we understand the pain that she is experiencing and we root for her throughout. I also can't think of many more actresses age appropriate for this role who so authentically feel like this kind of human being. This kind of a woman who has survived challenges in life but continues to bring joy to the people around her in her day to day who could also sing the hell out of the step songs the way that she can. Her performance of One for Sorrow is so great. It's absolutely fantastic. She's a phenomenal vocalist. She's a brilliant actress. She's so funny. Rebecca Locke needs to be cast in everything. She has returned from the world premiere production in Birmingham as has Blake Patrick Anderson who I think is really charming as Robbie. This is a great part for him. I love the way that it's characterized. I love the way that he delivers all of his dialogue. There are discoveries that we make about his backstory and why his friendship with Kaz means so much to him. I sort of think we ought to find out some of those details earlier, and it would empower us to understand the choices that he makes a little better, because he comes across as a little shallow or a little thoughtless before we gain that insight. But he does a great job in finding enough depth in this character to elevate it beyond the stereotypical, which is what we like, like to see. Which brings us to the new arrivals in the cast. They are Jackie dubois as Vel and Rosie Singer as Nita. Jackie really nails the characterization of a steadfast friend who is hurt by what feels like a betrayal, who is also trying to make choices for herself and figure out a way to really be happy. Previously, this role was played by Charlene Hector. And it's just a reality of the industry that you're not. Not gonna find that many people, if anyone who can sing this material as well as Charlene Hector could. Charlene Hector, who came from the music industry before transitioning into being a really fabulous actress. One of my enduring memories of seeing the show in Birmingham was her singing the hell out of these songs in a way that was effortless. And there's not quite that same quality in Jackie's performance, though she's still doing a great job. Rosie, I thought, was really, really charming as Nita. I think thought she was very endearing in the way that she's playing this character. She reads really young on stage, which really works for this very naive girl who is scared to admit that she has a crush. I thought her voice was really exciting. I would love to hear her singing something a little bit more exposed because it's all very upbeat and poppy. There were some great riffs in there. There's clearly a lot of great vocal technique and a big voice, but, yeah, I'd love to hear it, but more just sort of a little more stripped back to really hear what she sounds like. River Medway, I enjoy an awful lot as Jem. River has been doing a couple of musicals now. I like their performance in this because of the characterization in the scenes and the line readings. I think river has a really great comic delivery of a lot of these sort of deadpan lines. It is interesting, I suppose, that we're now seeing a phenomenon of more and more and more drag performers, like real drag performers cast in drag queen roles in musical theatre, where in years gone by, you would have simply had musical theatre Performers playing drag characters. But now we're seeing more and more actual drag queens getting put in these shows to do those parts. I think a big part of that is RuPaul's Drag Race UK having arrived and having elevated a lot of these drag performers to more mainstream awareness and recognition. So, you know, killing multiple birds with, with multiple stones. But I do think that as we do that, we can probably develop a slightly more realized drag performer character than just, you know, queer love interest who is then gonna be sassy and perform a drag number and have a name that is a pun. And once again, I know we're doing the Steps musical here, but there can just be a little bit more detail and reality to it. If we're going to the trouble of bringing an actual drag queen onto the stage and not just so that they can do their own really quickly. Like, I'm sure that there's more that River Medway could bring to this character if they had the opportunity. Edward Baker. Julie giving one of the finest acting performances on the stage as Max, a character who becomes more and more important in the show, but the real scene stealer and one of my absolute favorites in this production. Finty Williams as Patricia, who is the manager of Better Best Bargains. Who is this sort of tyrannical presence in this elaborate pink and blue outf outfit, designed as all of the very hyper saturated colorful costumes are, by the way, by the wonderful Gabriella Slade, who intermittently speaks in French and makes extraordinary demands of her employees while naming herself Employee of the Month. And she's just this absolute diva played brilliantly well by Finty Williams. It's a perfectly calculated performance and characterization. She's fantastic in this genuine scene stealing stuff and a big contributor to the overall tone of the show, which is something sort of soap adjacent like an EastEnders or an Emmerdale or a Coronation street on a sugar high at a gay bar on a night out with half a bottle of Prosecco down it. That is pretty much the vibe of Here and Now. It's like going out for drinks with friends that you haven't seen together in six, six months. It's also like taking your eccentric aunt shopping in Poundland. Like it's all of the above mixed together. It is more or less exactly what you're expecting it to be when you hear Musical featuring the songs of Steps. If you're anything like me, then you appreciate those songs and getting to hear them performed by an exceptional cast of vocalists, complete with Matt Cole's gravity defying, high energy choreography. If you don't know Matt Cole's work from the likes of New Newsies, then you should know that we are dancing, dancing with a capital D in this show and in all of his shows. It's a great night out at the theatre which I believe achieves exactly what it sets out to very well. And if you would like to see it for yourself, check out here and now a new musical featuring the songs of Steps at a theatre near you as it tours around the uk. And if you already have by the time that you are seeing or listening to this review, then let me and everyone else know what you thought in the comments section down below. Below. In the meantime, thank you so much for listening to my review. If you want to hear more of what I thought about other shows, make sure to subscribe right here on YouTube or go follow me on podcast platforms. I hope as always, that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day.
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Mickey Jo (Theatre Critic)
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