REVIEW: Greatest Days musical's story of friendship shines

The show featuring a group of girls who absolutely idolise a 'band' in their childhoods but lose touch after a tragedy and then suddenly find themselves reconnecting as adults is currently at the Bristol Hippodrome down the M4. 

It has, of course, already been there under a different name - 'The Band', but just like the British musical group that has inspired it, it has reinvented itself for this new show hitting the stage shortly after a film of the same name hit theatres. 

Star of Brookside, a soap that was out at the height of Take That's popularity, Jennifer Ellison played the lead as Rachel who wins a radio competition for her and three other people to see the band she loved in her childhood and three other tickets. 

In a spur-of-the-moment decision, and haunted by the death of one of their childhood group, she invites the three friends that she went to see the nameless band with to join her, and during the trip, the group work out their unspoken trauma over their joint loss. 

The story is a touching one of grief and friendship, and perfectly utilises the extensive catalogue of Take That hits to compliment the emotional moments, which are all very powerful and affecting. 

The main group of friends are played by 'adult' and 'child' actors, and everyone involved in this is superb, from leading lady Ellison to her younger counterpart Olivia Hallett, although one standout was Mary Moore as Debbie, the lynchpin of the group. 

Greatest Days the musical (Image: Alistair Muir)The majority of the musical heavy lifting is played by the five deliberately vague boy band members who appear both in 'real life' and also in Rachel's imagination like a greek chorus, usually whenever she's feeling some sort of emotional turmoil. 

Some of the ways in which 'the band' appears and interacts with the characters are very amusing, and the five of them certainly looked the part. 

The whole thing, bizarrely, takes place on an admittedly clever but rather dull adaptable platform background that renders the whole show a little more dour than it perhaps needs, to especially when compared to the previous staging when the show was known as 'The Band'. 

But the story was still was powerful and well-written as ever, the performances were great and we love a bit of Take That don't we!