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Here & Now has come to Norwich Theatre Royal as part of the UK tour, and as big Steps fan back in the day (and now, of course), I couldn’t wait to see this one. Read one to see what I thought.
About the show
COME AND STOMP THE NIGHT AWAY!
Get your party on with HERE AND NOW, the hilarious, brand-new musical based on the songs of multi-million-selling pop phenomenon, Steps. Hailed as the “biggest jukebox hit since MAMMA MIA!” (The Sun), don’t miss this feel-good celebration of love and friendship as it tours the UK & Ireland following a record-breaking world premiere.
It’s Friday night and the vibe is right as Caz and her fabulous friends dream of the perfect summer of love. But when Caz discovers her ‘happy ever after’ is a lie, and the gang’s attempts at romance are a total tragedy, they wonder – will love ever get a hold on their hearts? Or should they all just take a chance on a happy ending…
Move your feet and feel the beat to the iconic pop anthems of a generation in a night of “musical heaven” (The Star on Sunday). Produced by Steps, ROYO (Kinky Boots, The Cher Show), and Pete Waterman, HERE AND NOW includes the hits One for Sorrow, Better The Devil You Know, Deeper Shade of Blue, 5, 6, 7, 8 and more.
Now’s the time for feeling alright, so experience the joy of this brand-new, original British musical, directed by the award-winning Rachel Kavanaugh (Half a Sixpence, The Great British Bake Off Musical).
What I thought
As a relatively new show, only a couple of years old, I hadn’t really heard much about this one ahead of me seeing it. I loved Steps though and still have their music on a playlist that I currently listen to. That was enough to make me want to see Here & Now.
Certain aspects of the story I felt were a bit unnceccesary, such as the baby loss element. It felt a little bit too much for me, especially in something that was as bright and funny as this show was. However, I loved the supermarket setting and the story of it being sold. For me, this would have been enough plot wise, with it maybe being fleshed out a bit in other ways.
Here & Now has such a fun set. As it’s mostly set in a supermarket, there are shelves and stacked products all the way up to the top of the stage and down both edges. Everything is really bright and colourful, giving such a fun vibe even before the show starts. Throughout, the supermarket is used really well, with things like limited offers going on, and outfits and songs to match!
Of course, the Steps soundtrack plays such a huge part in this show. With 21 songs in total, there’s a nice mix of the more well-known songs and some I hadn’t heard of before. Sometimes I felt like the full song wasn’t needed, and we could have had a shorter version in certain places. You might thing some iconic dance moves are missing too, but wait until the end and you won’t be disappointed.
I really liked the mix in the cast and characters. Instead of all being similar, there are a range of ages etc. working at the supermarket. This really allowed for a lovely range in vocal abilities, with Lara Denning belting out the big notes throughout. She was defintiely going for a Claire from Steps vibe. Each main character had their own things going on throughout the show, meaning they all got a bit of the spotlight, which I appreciated.
One of the best ways to describe this show as a whole, is to say it felt bit like being in a Steps themed fever dream. Some of it was absolutely bonkers, but in the best possible way. Drag queens dancing on top of washing machines, bin companies called ‘Trash-Eddy’ aisle numbers 5, 6, 7 8 and nods to costumes worn in music videas, this one really has a bit of everything.
Here & Now was a bit of a mixed bag for me though overall. I enjoyed the show and it had loads of great moments, it just wasn’t my favourite.