Iconic songs from pop group Steps’ repertoire provide the backdrop for a brand-new musical premiering at Birmingham theatre The Alexandra next month. A celebration of love and friendship, Here & Now is helmed by former Birmingham Rep artistic director Rachel Kavanaugh.
What’s On recently caught up with Rachel to find out more about the new musical...
Midlands theatre The Alexandra will next month host the world premiere of new musical Here & Now.
Based on songs by pop band Steps, the show tells the tale of four friends - Caz, Vel, Neeta and Robbie - as they steer their way through a summer filled with happiness, heartache, hurt and humour.
Written by Shaun Kitchener and helmed by former Birmingham Rep artistic director Rachel Kavanaugh, the musical features a host of hit Steps tracks, including Last Thing On My Mind, Heartbeat, Tragedy, Chain Reaction, One For Sorrow and 5,6,7,8.
Rachel, who has directed West End blockbusters including Half A Sixpence and The Great British Bake Off Musical since her time at The Rep (from 2006 to 2011), says that the songs are the perfect backdrop to the show’s storyline.
“Here & Now is a completely original story with new characters. It’s not about Steps, but we use their songs to tell the story. It’s brilliant for people who love Steps, but I think that even if you don’t know the songs, you’ll still enjoy it.
“Shaun has very cleverly interwoven the songs and the story. It’s set in a British seaside town and is about four friends who set themselves a task over one summer. The thing that is incredibly appealing about it is that the characters are incredibly recognisable. They’re just ordinary people with ordinary everyday dilemmas to do with having children, marriage breakups, commitment issues in relationships, not being able to tell someone that you’ve had a crush on them for ages, issues to do with sexuality - all kinds of stuff, but it’s presented very lightly and is great fun.”
The show also explores how friendship can bring together people with very diverse life experiences.
“Because it’s set in a supermarket, and all kinds of people of all ages work in a supermarket, the friendship group is two early-middle-aged people and two younger people, all from different heritages, so it’s incredibly inclusive in so many ways.
“We use the songs to express all these emotions, but it’s mostly about those four people trying to achieve something for a party by the end of the summer. It’s really saying, seize the day, have fun, hold your loved ones tight, and have a good dance!”
Here & Now follows in the tradition of productions like Mamma Mia!, set to Abba hits, Greatest Days, based around Take That songs, and We Will Rock You, featuring Queen tracks. Rather than telling the story of the bands, these shows use their songs as a backdrop to a totally different story. And, says Rachel, the beauty of such shows is that they not only follow a narrative but also bring something new to the songs themselves.
“I think there’s always a challenge, when the songs are very well known, to make people hear them in a new setting. In a musical, if we get it right, you hear the lyrics more. The audience will hear the songs they know and love - they might be sung in a slightly different way, but they will be recognisable as those pop songs - but what the musical should do is make you hear the words in a slightly new way because they are connected to a particular moment in a story.
“With good pop songs, you love them not just because they’re musically catchy but because you connect to the sentiment in them. And lots of pop songs are about love: disappointed love, or hopeful love, or a celebration of love.
“Part of the task which these four friends are set over the summer is to do with love. So when one of them falls for someone, it makes great sense to sing Love’s Got A Hold On My Heart, or Say You’ll Be Mine, or It’s The Way You Make Me Feel. They all work brilliantly at certain moments in the show. It’s all about placement and about who sings them.”
Featuring Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Ian ‘H’ Watkins, Lee Latchford-Evans and Lisa Scott-Lee, Steps formed in 1997. They went on to have 14 top-five singles, release four chart-topping albums, sell 22 million records, and pack out arenas on 11 sold-out tours.
As co-producers of the musical, along with ROYO and Coventry-born pop legend Pete Waterman, the band have been heavily involved in the creation of Here & Now.
“I’ve been meeting with them at every stage of the development,” says Rachel. “I met them first of all just to meet them. Then we did a workshop earlier in the year, which they all came to, and they give notes on the show. They’ve all got opinions and they are incredibly supportive.
“I think people have been talking to them for a long time about doing a musical using their music, but it’s never felt quite right until this proposal [was put] to them. And it’s great to have Pete on board because his wisdom and knowledge of the music is extraordinary.”
Beginning her career as an assistant director in the 1990s, Rachel has worked on countless shows - many of which were premiered at Birmingham Rep. These included A Doll’s House with Tara Fitzgerald, Hapgood with Josie Lawrence, and Arthur And George, based on a true story set in the West Midlands.
Her career has featured musicals and both classic and new drama.
“I really like doing new musicals. It’s both the hardest and the most rewarding kind of theatre to do because there’s so much at stake - but if you get it right, you can create something that’s really joyous or really moving, or hopefully both.
“I also love Steps, and I think for people of my age the band have come round a second time. I think that’s one of the very clever things about doing this musical now - that hopefully people of different ages will enjoy the music, and that parents will take their children, or groups of friends will go.”
With her strong links to Birmingham, Rachel is delighted Here & Now will be premiering in the city.
“I’m thrilled it opens at the Alex because I love Birmingham. I’ve never worked at the Alex, so it’s great to have a show originate there. I think it’s great that it’s going to be done first of all in a city, and also a diverse city, and also a city that has such a good history with musicals and new writing. It’s a perfect home for it.
“It would be lovely both to tour it and take it to London afterwards, but at the moment this is the premiere and we want to get it right for Birmingham first. People will have a really, really good time, a proper fun night out. They might cry a bit, but they’re mostly going to laugh and want to sing along and dance.”
Iconic songs from pop group Steps’ repertoire provide the backdrop for a brand-new musical premiering at Birmingham theatre The Alexandra next month. A celebration of love and friendship, Here & Now is helmed by former Birmingham Rep artistic director Rachel Kavanaugh.
What’s On recently caught up with Rachel to find out more about the new musical...
Midlands theatre The Alexandra will next month host the world premiere of new musical Here & Now.
Based on songs by pop band Steps, the show tells the tale of four friends - Caz, Vel, Neeta and Robbie - as they steer their way through a summer filled with happiness, heartache, hurt and humour.
Written by Shaun Kitchener and helmed by former Birmingham Rep artistic director Rachel Kavanaugh, the musical features a host of hit Steps tracks, including Last Thing On My Mind, Heartbeat, Tragedy, Chain Reaction, One For Sorrow and 5,6,7,8.
Rachel, who has directed West End blockbusters including Half A Sixpence and The Great British Bake Off Musical since her time at The Rep (from 2006 to 2011), says that the songs are the perfect backdrop to the show’s storyline.
“Here & Now is a completely original story with new characters. It’s not about Steps, but we use their songs to tell the story. It’s brilliant for people who love Steps, but I think that even if you don’t know the songs, you’ll still enjoy it.
“Shaun has very cleverly interwoven the songs and the story. It’s set in a British seaside town and is about four friends who set themselves a task over one summer. The thing that is incredibly appealing about it is that the characters are incredibly recognisable. They’re just ordinary people with ordinary everyday dilemmas to do with having children, marriage breakups, commitment issues in relationships, not being able to tell someone that you’ve had a crush on them for ages, issues to do with sexuality - all kinds of stuff, but it’s presented very lightly and is great fun.”
The show also explores how friendship can bring together people with very diverse life experiences.
“Because it’s set in a supermarket, and all kinds of people of all ages work in a supermarket, the friendship group is two early-middle-aged people and two younger people, all from different heritages, so it’s incredibly inclusive in so many ways.
“We use the songs to express all these emotions, but it’s mostly about those four people trying to achieve something for a party by the end of the summer. It’s really saying, seize the day, have fun, hold your loved ones tight, and have a good dance!”
Here & Now follows in the tradition of productions like Mamma Mia!, set to Abba hits, Greatest Days, based around Take That songs, and We Will Rock You, featuring Queen tracks. Rather than telling the story of the bands, these shows use their songs as a backdrop to a totally different story. And, says Rachel, the beauty of such shows is that they not only follow a narrative but also bring something new to the songs themselves.
“I think there’s always a challenge, when the songs are very well known, to make people hear them in a new setting. In a musical, if we get it right, you hear the lyrics more. The audience will hear the songs they know and love - they might be sung in a slightly different way, but they will be recognisable as those pop songs - but what the musical should do is make you hear the words in a slightly new way because they are connected to a particular moment in a story.
“With good pop songs, you love them not just because they’re musically catchy but because you connect to the sentiment in them. And lots of pop songs are about love: disappointed love, or hopeful love, or a celebration of love.
“Part of the task which these four friends are set over the summer is to do with love. So when one of them falls for someone, it makes great sense to sing Love’s Got A Hold On My Heart, or Say You’ll Be Mine, or It’s The Way You Make Me Feel. They all work brilliantly at certain moments in the show. It’s all about placement and about who sings them.”
Featuring Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Ian ‘H’ Watkins, Lee Latchford-Evans and Lisa Scott-Lee, Steps formed in 1997. They went on to have 14 top-five singles, release four chart-topping albums, sell 22 million records, and pack out arenas on 11 sold-out tours.
As co-producers of the musical, along with ROYO and Coventry-born pop legend Pete Waterman, the band have been heavily involved in the creation of Here & Now.
“I’ve been meeting with them at every stage of the development,” says Rachel. “I met them first of all just to meet them. Then we did a workshop earlier in the year, which they all came to, and they give notes on the show. They’ve all got opinions and they are incredibly supportive.
“I think people have been talking to them for a long time about doing a musical using their music, but it’s never felt quite right until this proposal [was put] to them. And it’s great to have Pete on board because his wisdom and knowledge of the music is extraordinary.”
Beginning her career as an assistant director in the 1990s, Rachel has worked on countless shows - many of which were premiered at Birmingham Rep. These included A Doll’s House with Tara Fitzgerald, Hapgood with Josie Lawrence, and Arthur And George, based on a true story set in the West Midlands.
Her career has featured musicals and both classic and new drama.
“I really like doing new musicals. It’s both the hardest and the most rewarding kind of theatre to do because there’s so much at stake - but if you get it right, you can create something that’s really joyous or really moving, or hopefully both.
“I also love Steps, and I think for people of my age the band have come round a second time. I think that’s one of the very clever things about doing this musical now - that hopefully people of different ages will enjoy the music, and that parents will take their children, or groups of friends will go.”
With her strong links to Birmingham, Rachel is delighted Here & Now will be premiering in the city.
“I’m thrilled it opens at the Alex because I love Birmingham. I’ve never worked at the Alex, so it’s great to have a show originate there. I think it’s great that it’s going to be done first of all in a city, and also a diverse city, and also a city that has such a good history with musicals and new writing. It’s a perfect home for it.
“It would be lovely both to tour it and take it to London afterwards, but at the moment this is the premiere and we want to get it right for Birmingham first. People will have a really, really good time, a proper fun night out. They might cry a bit, but they’re mostly going to laugh and want to sing along and dance.”