Musical’s launching on our doorSTEPS!
SIMON BUTTON STEPS (CLAIRE RICHARDS, FAYE TOZER, IAN ‘H’ WATKINS, LEE LATCHFORD-EVANS AND LISA SCOTT-LEE) ABOUT THEIR NEW MUSICAL HERE & NOW
WITH 22 million record sales and 500 million streams under their belts, Steps are the UK’s most successful mixed-gender band ever. Since coming to fame in 1997 with 5,6,7,8, Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Ian ‘H’ Watkins, Lee Latchford-Evans and Lisa Scott-Lee have notched up 14 top five singles and four number one albums, and have sold out arenas across 11 tours. All of which begs the question: Why has it taken so long for a Steps musical to reach the stage?
It turns out they’ve been biding their time, waiting for the dovetailing of the perfect story with the right creative team. The band is co-producing the show with ROYO and Pete Waterman, the producer who helped launch their career with one smash hit after another.
Premiering at The Alexandra, Birmingham, for a limited engagement from November 9-24, the musical is written by Shaun Kitchener, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and choreographed by Matt Cole.
“So we’ve got the dream team,” Lisa says. “We’ve all been talking and dreaming about this for around ten years, but we haven’t rushed the process. It’s taken time to find all the right components.”
Claire shares Lisa’s enthusiasm for what she promises will be “a heartwarming night”. The singer adds: “You can expect exactly what you’d expect from a Steps concert coming away from it feeling uplifted. It’s really important for us that people leave the theatre feeling like they’ve been moved by the show, that it’s given them a really good laugh and that they’ve been able to sing along at the top of their voices at the end.”
Shaun Kitchener’s book for Here & Now revolves around a seaside superstore called Better Best Bargains,
which has customers dancing in the aisles every week. But when Caz discovers that the shelves are stocked with lies and betrayal, the summer of love she and her fabulous colleagues dreamed of suddenly begins to feel more like a tragedy. Have they all lost their chance of a happy ending? Or does love have other plans in store?
Steps fans will spot the references to some of their signature hits in that plot summary. However, as Lee points out, Shaun has crafted a strong storyline in what will be far from just another jukebox musical. “We’re not trying to shoehorn songs in there just for the sake of it,” he elaborates. “It’s been about getting the story right, then seeing which song fits which scene lyrically and emotionally. We’re so lucky to have such a huge back catalogue where we can have a good look at the songs and think, ‘Which one really is going to work here?’.” H takes up the thread with: “Lyrically our songs have many, many layers. I think that’s why we as a band and our music have had massive success and longevity. Although they’re often very upbeat, happy, uptempo songs, sometimes they have kind of a dark undertone and that makes for great storytelling.”
Faye nods her head in agreement. “When we’ve had feedback from our fans, a lot of them will say that our music has been sort of the theme of the journey of their lives. It’s been like a diary, with songs that they’ve gone to when they’ve been down and songs they’ve gone to when they need to be elated and lifted again.
‘‘With this show, we were very conscious of making sure that the story and the characters were exactly right and that our fans, as well as everybody else, would be able to relate to it.”
Steps have had quite the journey, conquering the UK and Europe and enjoying huge success in Australia too. Formed through auditions in 1997 and scoring a Brit Award and two number one albums in their original era, the band reunited in 2011 and went on to achieve a host of new career highs.
But Here & Now, which draws its title from their 2001 single of the same name, isn’t the Steps story. It’s an all-new narrative.
Among the band’s numerous hits are Tragedy/Heartbeat, Stomp, One for Sorrow, Better Best Forgotten, Last Thing on My Mind, Love’s Got a Hold on My Heart, Chain Reaction and so many more. With such an embarrassment of riches, how have they decided which ones to include in the show?
H grins proudly. “That’s the problem but it’s a nice problem to have. It’s the same as when we go on tour. We have a big meeting and it’s really difficult knowing which songs to perform and which songs to leave out.
‘‘With this musical the only difference is thinking about the lyrical content of how they fit within a narrative. We’ve been very careful not to choose songs just for the sake of including them.”
Lee adds: “Everybody needs escapism in their life at some point and that’s what we’re bringing with this musical’’’
Here & Now launches at The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, from November 9 to 24.
Although they’re often very upbeat, happy, uptempo songs, sometimes they have kind of a dark undertone and that makes for great storytelling
H of Steps, right, in the ‘90s