UK pop band Steps are delighted to announce the world premiere of HERE & NOW, a brand-new musical using their iconic music, with an original book by Shaun Kitchener. HERE & NOW will open at The Alexandra, Birmingham for a limited engagement from 9 – 30 November 2024. Featuring Steps’ most beloved hit songs, HERE & NOW is produced by the band and ROYO with Pete Waterman, and will be directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, with choreography by Olivier Award winning Matt Cole.
Who’s in the cast?
The newly announced cast are Finty Williams (The Baker’s Wife, Menier Chocolate Factory, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre Tour), Dan Partridge (Danny in Grease, West End and Charlie Price in the upcoming UK & Ireland tour of Kinky Boots), Helen Colby (Sinatra The Musical, Birmingham Rep, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, West End), Gary Milner (Kiss Me Kate, Barbican, Peron in Evita, Curve), River Medway (fan favourite on the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, BBC) Edward Baker Duly (The King and I, Broadway & West End, The Third Man, Menier Chocolate Factory) and John Stacey (Kiss Me Kate, Barbican), My Fair Lady, The Coliseum), will join the cast as Patricia, Ben, Tracey, Gareth, Jem, Max and Lesley respectively.
They join the previously announced Rebecca Lock as Caz, Hiba Elchikhe as Neeta, Sharlene Hector as Vel and Blake Patrick Anderson as Robbie.
The cast is completed by Olivia Bella (professional debut), Jabari Braham (Hello Dolly, London Palladium), Michael Carolan (Wolf & Shrek in Shrek, UK Tour), Alex Christian (Disney’s Newsies, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre), Kade Ferraiolo (I Should Be So Lucky, UK Tour), Jemma Geanaus (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Palace Theatre London), Charlie-Jay Johnson (Joanne in Company, Bird College), Serina Mathew (The Time Traveller’s Wife, West End), Jago Mottart (Jesus Christ Superstar, UK Tour), Markus Sodergren (Heathers – the Musical, UK & Ireland Tour) and Genevieve Taylor (Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre).
What’s the show about?
Welcome to seaside superstore Better Best Bargains, where it’s Friday night, the vibe is right, and everyone’s dancing in the aisles. But when Caz discovers the shelves are stocked with lies and betrayal, the summer of love she and her friends dreamed of suddenly feels like a tragedy. Have they all lost their chance of a ‘happy ever after’? Or does love have other plans in store…
Steps (Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Ian ‘H’ Watkins’, Lee Latchford-Evans and Lisa Scott-Lee) are the UK’s most successful mixed sex pop group of all time, with 14 top five singles, 4 number one albums, 22 million record sales, 500 million streams & 11 sold-out national arena tours under their belts. The band’s hits include #1 singles Tragedy/Heartbeat and Stomp, the gold certified One For Sorrow & Better Best Forgotten, the silver certified 5,6,7,8, Last Thing On My Mind, Love’s Got A Hold Of My Heart, Chain Reaction, all of which will feature in the musical alongside many more.
Steps’ 2017 comeback tour sold out all 300,000 tickets, making it one of the biggest pop tours of the year. The band have since continued to release new music including two further iTunes #1 singles, the Sia-penned What The Future Holds in 2020 and the Michelle Visage duet Heartbreak In This City in 2022. In 2022 Steps celebrated their 25th anniversary with a headline summer tour and released the #1 album Platinum Collection which means they join ABBA, Rolling Stones and Stereophonics as the only groups in UK history to score #1 albums in four consecutive decades.
Creative team
Steps (Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Ian ‘H’ Watkins’, Lee Latchford-Evans and Lisa Scott-Lee) are the UK’s most successful mixed sex pop group of all time, with 14 top five singles, 4 number one albums, 22 million record sales, 500 million streams & 11 sold-out national arena tours under their belts. The band’s hits include #1 singles Tragedy/Heartbeat and Stomp, the gold certified One For Sorrow & Better Best Forgotten, the silver certified 5,6,7,8, Last Thing On My Mind, Love’s Got A Hold Of My Heart, Chain Reaction, all of which will feature in the musical alongside many more.
Steps’ 2017 comeback tour sold out all 300,000 tickets, making it one of the biggest pop tours of the year. The band have since continued to release new music including two further iTunes #1 singles, the Sia-penned What The Future Holds in 2020 and the Michelle Visage duet Heartbreak In This City in 2022. In 2022 Steps celebrated their 25th anniversary with a headline summer tour and released the #1 album Platinum Collection which means they join ABBA, Rolling Stones and Stereophonics as the only groups in UK history to score #1 albums in four consecutive decades.
Set design is by Tom Rogers, costume design is by Gabriella Slade, lighting design by Howard Hudson, sound design by Adam Fisher, wigs, hair and makeup design by Sam Cox, casting by Will Burton for Grindrod Burton Casting, associate direction by Matt Hassall, associate choreography by Jane McMurtrie, associate sound design by Ollie Durrant, Music Technology by Phij Adams with Production Management by Setting Line.
Assisted performances
There will also be an audio described performance on Tuesday 19 November and a signed performance on Thursday 21 November.
