These are our greatest days!

A touching, humorous story of love, loss, friendship and the power of a 16 year old’s favourite band, the Greatest Days is a show you won’t soon forget.

I was lucky enough to be invited to come and watch Greatest Days at the Wales Millennium Centre and this is a show that I think will stay with me for a long time. From award-winning writer, Tim Firth, this story follows a group of friends who share an obsession with a 90s boy band. But as time has gone on, the girls have drifted apart but are reunited in Athens to see their beloved band one last time. 

Going into this I was expecting a silly, light-hearted show about some girls who like a band. But I was shocked at the emotional depth and powerful performance of it. Perfectly capturing, not just the importance of friendship, but of music. It’s often a mocked stereotype of young girls who become obsessed with the latest popular band and even claim they will marry one of them one day. But loving a band growing up gives girls a sense of certainty and safety when the world around them gets dark. This show encapsulates just how important music can be in hard times. Kalif Burton, Jamie Corner, Archie Durrant, Regan Gascoigne and Alexanda O’Reilly, the members of the Boy Band portray an almost guardian angel role for the girls, especially our main character Rachel, played by award-winning actress Kym Marsh, best known for Coronation Street, Waterloo Road and as a presenter on the BBC’s Morning Live. The Boy Band are there when she needs them most, watching over her and helping her through her toughest times and reigniting her passion. 

Although there are obviously strong leanings to suggest that the Boy Band is Take That, but by not giving them a name it made them interchangeable for the audience, allowing them to connect to how the girls are feelings. We all had a band we were obsessed with growing up and this show gave us the powerful nostalgia of being 16 again. 

Hannah Brown as young Zoe, Emilie Cunliffe as young Rachel, Kitty Harris as young Heather, Mari McGinlay as young Claire and Mary Moore as Debbie, where all infectiously brilliant. There amazing portrayal of high energy, passionate 16 year olds had the audience in stitches. And Kym Marsh, Holly Ashton as Zoe, Rachel Marwood as Heather and Jamie-Rose Monk as Claire gave us a hilarious, heart-warming performance that had the audience in tears and jumping to their feet by the end. 

I can’t go to a Take That inspired musical and not talk about the incredible score. With more than 15 record breaking Take That songs, it made it almost impossible not to be dancing in your seat. Songs such as ‘Pray’, ‘Could It Be Magic’, ‘Relight My Fire’, ‘It Only Takes A Minute’, ‘Promises’, ‘Shine’ and ‘Greatest Days’ woven in seamlessly into the storyline. This was not like any other jukebox musical, where the story becomes secondary to the music. This show found the perfect balance between them and created remarkable show. 

Greatest Days is at the Wales Millennium Centre until the 1st July and tickets are selling out fast! So go get yours now at the Wales Millennium Centre website.

For more information about the Greatest Days tour, you can visit their website, Facebook and Instagram!

And for more incredible shows, visit the Wales Millennium Centre website, Facebook and Instagram.