Boyband Take That Tackle West End Musical???

Following in the footsteps of Abba, Queen, Madness, Rod Stewart and UB40, boy band pioneers Take That are looking to capitalise on their recent reunion success with a stage musical based on their back catalogue. Formed in Manchester, in the first half of the Nineties Take That dominated the UK pop charts with dance tunes and soulful ballads such as “It Only Takes a Minute”, “Pray”, “Relight My Fire”, “Back for Good”, “Never Forget”, “How Deep Is Your Love” , selling 15 million records between 1990 and their split in 1996. After a TV documentary last year and the release of a greatest hits album, original band members Gary Barlow, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Howard Donald (Robbie Williams being the one exception) reunited for this summer’s Ultimate Tour. The tour was first scheduled for 11 stops in the UK and Ireland, but after the initial dates sold out within half-an-hour of going on sale, extra dates – in stadiums – were added. The band is now working on its first studio album in more than a decade. The stage musical, which the band is co-producing, is expected to premiere in the West End in mid-2007. Incidentally, do you know what the term is for fans of Take That? Thatters. We don’t know why that amuses us, but it does.

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