Theatre News

Initial dates, venues and casting announced for Gary Barlow's new musical The Band

The musical will be about the lives of five girls told through the music of Take That

Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow
© John Swannell

Following the conclusion of BBC's talent show Let It Shine, initial details have been announced for the UK tour of Gary Barlow and Take That's new musical, The Band.

After seeing off competition from thousands of hopefuls, Five To Five were crowned winners on Saturday night. The group, put together on the show, is made up of AJ Bentley, Curtis T Johns, Nick Carsberg, Sario Solomon and Yazdan Qafouri. Out of the group, Solomon has the most previous theatre experience, including roles in productions of West Side Story and 13 with the National Youth Music Theatre.

After keeping details of the show secret, Barlow has now said that the story will be about the lives of five young girls, told via the music of Take That, and that the TV show winners will not actually have any spoken lines. Casting for the female leads is yet to be announced.

Producers have announced the first dates for the tour, which will open in Manchester on 8 September before touring to Sheffield (3 – 14 Oct), Bradford (17 – 28 Oct), Southampton (31 Oct – 11 Nov), Llandudno (14 – 25 Nov), Stoke (28 Nov – 9 Dec), Cardiff (9 – 20 Jan), Liverpool (23 Jan – 3 Feb), Norwich (6 – 17 Feb), Canterbury (20 Feb – 3 Mar), Hull (6 – 17 Mar), Leeds (20 – 31 Mar), Newcastle (3 – 14 Apr), Bristol (17 – 28 Apr), Birmingham (1 – 12 May), Plymouth (15 – 26 May), Northampton (29 May – 9 Jun), Nottingham (12 – 23 Jun), Glasgow (26 Jun – 7 Jul) and Edinburgh (10 – 14 Jul).

Tickets for the tour go on sale on 3 April. Further dates and venues to be announced.