Take That musical offers poignant treat at the Mayflower

The film version of Greatest Days a few months ago was one of the more disappointing trips to the cinema this year. And that’s now seeming a rather good thing. After all, we wouldn’t want anything to detract from just how poignant and how enjoyable Greatest Days the stage show is now, would we?

Tim Firth’s Take That-inspired musical has been to the Mayflower a couple of times before under its old name The Band; and clearly nothing is ever going to compete with that great night, first time round, when most of Take That turned up on stage at the end of it.

But even so, it’s absolutely on the stage that this show works best – the completely beguiling tale of five boy-band obsessed teenage girls who tragically become four after what should have been the greatest night of their lives, the night they finally got to see their idols.

One of their number dies in a ghastly accident – and all their vows never to lose touch pass away with her. Until 25 years later, one of their number wins tickets to see the band again and reconvenes the remaining four… only to discover just how much they have and haven’t all changed.

Interspersed with the songs of Take That, delivered by the boy band on stage, the piece becomes a heartfelt reflection on the hopes that aren’t realised and on the ambitions destined to remain unfulfilled as real life hurtles in on us, changing all our plans in ways we could never have imagined. The cleverness of the musical is the way we get the teenagers and then the 40-somethings – and sometimes we get them all on stage at the same time, past and present mingling. This is a musical with much to say and it says it beautifully.

It was a shame on Tuesday that the sound mixing was so poor for the biggest numbers. The bigger the number, the more it became an impenetrable wall of sound. A big shame.

But in the ballads, there was plenty of undulled emotion – all distilled in a second half with huge emotional oomph, Jennifer Ellison leading a talented pack with a genuinely lovely performance as Rachel. And in that respect, the emotional impact, the film doesn’t even come close.