Greatest Days – celebrating the music of Take That, wrapped around a story of friendship and growing up – is back at Southampton’s Mayflower (September 26-30) under its new name.
Previous versions of the show were called simply The Band, but with the film released under the Greatest Days name, the stage show is now catching up.
As Jamie-Rose Monk, who is playing grown-up Claire, says: “On the first day of rehearsals (writer and co-director) Tim Firth said: ‘Here we are again with the right title now!’”
Previous versions of the show were called simply The Band, but with the film released under the Greatest Days name, the stage show is now catching up.
As Jamie-Rose Monk, who is playing grown-up Claire, says: “On the first day of rehearsals (writer and co-director) Tim Firth said: ‘Here we are again with the right title now!’”
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FunTranscript
00:00 Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor from Sussex Newspapers, and it's
00:06 lovely to be speaking to Jamie Monk this morning. Now Jamie, you're on the road with Greatest
00:11 Days, which I've seen twice under its own name, the band. Now it's heading back to Southampton's
00:17 Mayflower under the new name, Greatest Days. What difference does that name make, do you
00:22 think, obviously reflecting the film in the meantime?
00:24 Yes, yeah, I mean, as I said, unfortunately I didn't get to see the band, but the difference
00:31 seems to be very much in the staging. So our version is a bit simpler, I think, and focusing
00:38 on the story as much as possible. I'm really excited to go to Southampton and to see it.
00:44 I guess the main thing is, it's just such a lovely story, isn't it? It's so involving.
00:49 Just set the scene a little bit for those who haven't had the pleasure yet.
00:52 Yes, so if you haven't got to see it yet, it's beautiful. What I really love about it
00:56 is people come expecting one thing and then they get something completely different if
01:00 you don't know anything about it. People come expecting it to be maybe about Take That or
01:05 about the boys in some way, but it's actually really about the fans. So the storyline is
01:12 five young girls who bond over their love for this boy band, which lots of us can relate to.
01:21 And then you see them first when they're 16 and then something happens which I won't spoil,
01:25 but it means that they don't stay in touch. And then they reunite 25 years later to go to
01:31 a reunion concert of the same band. And it's just a really lovely story about female friendship.
01:37 And it's about growing up, isn't it? And about not going quite as you would hope as well.
01:42 Yeah, that's what I love about it. It's like everyone can relate to, you know, you have a
01:46 dream when you're younger and it doesn't quite go the way you planned or something you think you
01:51 want, you actually wanted something else. And that's just life, isn't it? And I think everyone
01:54 can relate. I remember being such a touching show, really quite poignant, wasn't it?
01:58 Yeah, it's really, it's really lovely show. I really enjoy it. And we get really lovely
02:04 comments from the audience that they can really relate to it, which is what you hope for when
02:09 you go, that people see themselves in it, you know. And it's a fabulous one for you,
02:13 doubly New Territory, first musical, first tour. This is quite something, isn't it?
02:18 Yeah, it's really exciting. It's so fun to be in a musical. It's like,
02:21 and take that. I mean, what great songs. And I'm not sick of the songs at all.
02:26 Everyone keeps asking me.
02:27 Why would you be? You've only got until November to go, haven't you?
02:31 I know. I just think it's brilliant. And it's just so nice to hear Shine every night and Relight.
02:36 And it's always exciting. So that's good.
02:39 Fantastic. And you've been on the road now for quite some time, six months or so, haven't you?
02:44 Yeah, we've done about two thirds now. So we've got one third to go, which it's felt like we've
02:49 been on the road for ages, but at the same time, it's gone really fast. So yeah.
02:53 If you're still visibly this happy, that's a very good sign, isn't it?
02:56 Yeah. And not too tired. So that's good.
02:58 Fantastic. Well, really lovely to speak to you. Thanks for your time. And so very much
03:03 looking forward to seeing you again in Southampton. Thank you.
03:06 Oh, thank you so much. That's so nice. So excited to see you in Southampton.
03:10 Thank you.