Stone Revellers brought heart, humour and a touch of 90s nostalgia to Crown Wharf Theatre with their powerful opening night performance of The Band, the musical by Tim Firth featuring the hits of Take That. This is a real scoop for Stone Revellers as this is the first time the musical has been performed by a group outside of the original production company.
The show, which runs until Saturday 5th April, was met with a full house, and the atmosphere was buzzing from the moment the lights dimmed. A Little Bit of Stone was kindly invited to the opening performance and can confidently say the audience laughed, cried, clapped and danced their way through a touching and funny journey of friendship and growing up.
More than a musical tribute
For those unfamiliar, The Band isn’t a show about Take That themselves. Instead, it follows a group of teenage girls in 1993 and again as adults 25 years later, with the music of the iconic boy band woven throughout to soundtrack their story. It’s about friendship, loss, and rediscovering the people we once were.
The magic of this particular production was in the moments when everything clicked. The realisation of what “The Band” represents, and the deeper emotional reason why a character isn’t ready to marry, caught us off guard in the best way. These emotional beats were perfectly balanced with plenty of laughs and uplifting moments.
Standout performances and clever staging
While the cast delivered strong performances all round, Matt Wright was a highlight with his many comedic cameos, appearing throughout the show in different guises as “Every Dave” and never failing to get a laugh as he sang (a Take That song of course) to himself. Also worthy of high praise were the musicians, Lucas Elliott, Matthew Wright, Lewis Wareham, Tom Preston and Jake Tuck, who brought Take That’s music to life with infectious energy and polish. Their performance added real depth to the production and had the feel of a live concert at times.
Both sets of female cast members delivered funny, emotional and powerful performances. A standout for us was when all of the cast members were performing together, you could see and feel the energy bouncing off each of them.
The staging was simple but cleverly used, with clever transformations that helped the story move through time. It was a nice touch to get a glimpse of the musicians during the transitions that kept the music front and centre.
Accents, atmosphere and a final flourish
The musical is set in Leeds, and the northern accents were a great fit. With team ALBOS originating from Hull, the lyric “Never forget where you’ve come here from” struck a particular chord and brought a smile.
Costumes were on-point, especially the 90s fashion that helped set the scene. There were some sound issues and a bit of visible opening-night nerves, but these faded as confidence grew and the cast settled into the rhythm of the show. This is live theatre; it’s raw, and you’re going on a journey for the whole performance.
The night ended with a rousing standing ovation, a fitting tribute to the hard work of the cast, crew and the ever-dedicated Crown Wharf Theatre volunteers, who once again created a welcoming and vibrant space for local theatre.
Final tickets available
Performances continue nightly until Saturday 5th April, with an additional matinee on the final day. A handful of tickets remain and can be booked via the Crown Wharf Theatre website. Whether you were a Take That fan or not, this is a show worth seeing, funny, heartfelt, and joyfully performed.
Book now and prepare to never forget a night at the theatre in Stone. – https://www.crownwharftheatre.org.uk
Cast Listing
Cast of The Band
- Kath Stanway
- Emily Badger
- Emma Wilson
- Charlotte Davies
- Bethan Stapleton
- Lauren Turner
- Jen MacEachan
- Angela Whitney
- Mandy Gauge
- Matt Wright
- Rob Davies
The Band
- George Harratt
- Matt Williams
- Joe Mellor
- Brett McIntyre
Musicians
- Lucas Elliott – Keyboard & Musical Director
- Matthew Wright – Keyboard 2
- Lewis Wareham – Guitar
- Tom Preston – Bass Guitar
- Jake Tuck – Drums
2 comments
Graham
Yet again, the team that is ‘The Stone Revellers’ pulled off a thoroughly entertaining event.
This time, joining forces with the beautifully and newly constructed Crown Wharf Theatre and volunteers for the first time.
This is a significant step for this much loved community voluntary initiative, and forever may it continue.
I am lucky to know one of the cast members, and through that friendship have met many of the team. If anyone in the Stone area is looking for something a bit different to get involved with, and guarantee meeting many of the community’s decent people, they should give The Revellers a call.
Carol MacEachan
A truly outstanding performance which I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish.