Here & Now, the new musical based on the songs of pop group Steps, will visit New Wimbledon Theatre this year as part of its UK & Ireland tour.
Welcome to seaside superstore Better Best Bargains, where it’s Friday night, the vibe is right, and everyone’s dancing in the aisles. But when Caz discovers the shelves are stocked with lies and betrayal, the summer of love she and her friends dreamed of suddenly feels like a tragedy. Have they all lost their chance of a ‘happy ever after’? Or does love have other plans in store…
The cast features a number of performers returning from the show’s original run in Birmingham, with Rebecca Lock (ELF – The Musical) as Caz, Finty Williams (The Baker’s Wife) as Patricia, Blake Patrick Anderson (Emojiland) as Robbie, River Medway (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK) as Jem, Edward Baker Duly (The King and I) as Max and John Stacey (Kiss Me Kate) as Lesley.
Joining the principal cast are Jacqui Dubois (Ghost The Musical UK tour) as Vel, Chris Grahamson (NOW That’s What I Call A Musical UK and Ireland tour) as Gareth and Rosie Singha (& Juliet UK and Ireland tour) as Neeta.
Featuring Steps’ most beloved hit songs, Here & Now has an original book by Shaun Kitchener and is produced by the band and ROYO with Pete Waterman. It will be directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, with choreography by Matt Cole and Matt Spencer-Smith as musical supervisor, orchestrator and arranger.
Musical supervision, orchestrations and arrangements are by Matt Spencer-Smith, set design by Tom Rogers, costume design by Gabriella Slade, lighting design by Howard Hudson, sound design by Adam Fisher, wigs, hair & makeup design by Sam Cox, casting by Will Burton for Grindrod Burton Casting, music technology by Phij Adams with production management by Setting Line.
Steps (Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Ian ‘H’ Watkins, Lee Latchford-Evans and Lisa Scott-Lee) are the UK’s most successful mixed sex pop group of all time, with 14 top five singles, 4 number one albums, 22 million record sales, 500 million streams and 11 sold-out national arena tours. The band’s hits include #1 singles Tragedy/Heartbeat and Stomp, One For Sorrow, Better Best Forgotten, 5,6,7,8, Last Thing On My Mind, Love’s Got A Hold Of My Heart, Chain Reaction, all of which will feature in the musical alongside many more.
With the tour beginning in August, the show will visit New Wimbledon Theatre from November 4-9. Tickets: Here & Now
Top image: Hear & Now: LtoR Blake Patrick Anderson, Jacqui Dubois, Rebecca Lock, Rosie Singha & River Medway, credit Rich Lakos (image supplied)