Gary brings it all back home...to Frodsham

Gary Barlow… A Different Stage (Frodsham Community Centre, Cheshire)

Verdict: Take a ride on a star! ★★★★★

THE big question in the Cheshire market town of Frodsham at the weekend was not only what the ‘GB’ on the jubilee bunting really stood for, but whether the 1960s-built local community centre was capable of containing the excitement generated by the return of Frodsham’s most famous son, Gary Barlow.

For three nights only (and one matinee), the Take That superstar had the (mostly female) audience of 216 jiving in the aisles and generally eating out of his hand, as he related the highs and lows of his life in songs and stories.

The one-man show (slickly scripted by Tim Firth) recalls Gary’s childhood on Ashton Drive in the 1970s, and early gigs playing Phantom of The opera in working men’s clubs, before Manchester impresario Nigel Martin-Smith snapped him up to become part of Take That, alongside Robbie Williams and co.

The band’s glory years of the 1990s followed — until Williams went his own way and Gary’s attempt to go solo turned to tumbleweed in New York. He makes light of blows to his ego and his soul-eating envy of Williams’s solo success. But even as the demons of self-loathing were circling, worse, much worse, was to come: the death of his dad, Colin; and then the loss of his baby daughter Poppy.

Moving as these tales are, Gary is clearly most at ease when sitting at the keyboard. And when he’s singing, he comes alive. Moving away from the piano, perching on the edge of the stage to deliver an intimate rendition of Rule The World, he has that showbiz gift for making everyone in the room feel like he’s singing straight to them.

out came the Kleenex; up went the cheers of ‘Come on Gary!’ from the ladies around me, including members of his mum Marge’s local choir.

What a delight it was to be swept up in such a blissful local reunion. Watch out for dates in York this week and the West End in September.