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Post by Lynda on Aug 17, 2007 19:39:22 GMT
Never Forget is the story of Ash Sherwood, an aspiring singer-songwriter struggling to make it on the Manchester music scene. Along with Jake Turner - his best friend and brother of Ash’s fiancée, Chloe Turner –Ash auditions for a Take That tribute band, desperate to try anything that might elicit his big break.
At the auditions Ash and Jake meet band manager Ron Freeman. Ron, a budding pop Svengali, is searching for a group of willing and amenable lads so desperate for success he can mould them into his very own version of the ultimate boy band: Take That. Never one to dream small when big will do, Ron not only wants to enter the band into a big competition, he also wants his band to be capable of transcending their humble beginnings and “to change the face of pop”. However, instead of the fame hungry puppets he wanted, our Svengali soon realises that he has instead recruited five creative and original characters – each committed to the group for their own reasons.
There’s Ash, who after years of wasting his talent in dingy bars and clubs is chasing the prize money that might help save his mum’s struggling pub and pay for his wedding to Chloe; Jake ‘The Face’ Turner, a sharp witted, wannabe ladies man hoping the band will get him out of his dead end job; Adrian Banks, an introverted bank manager, hopelessly attempting to win over his adulterous wife; Dirty Harry, a dim yet endearing stripper looking to recover his self respect; and Jose Reize, a wide-eyed and optimistic Spaniard, who has travelled to England to make something of himself - away from the clutches of his overbearing mother.
Having been brought together by Ron with promises of world domination the boys quickly form a genuine bond, practicing long and hard for the competition they hope will launch them towards stardom. However, the arrival of ambitious record executive Annie Borrowman throws those bonds into doubt and tests the loyalty and friendship of all those involved.
Never Forget is a story of dreams, ambition and betrayal: because sometimes you can only really discover who you are by pretending to be someone else…
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Post by Lynda on Aug 25, 2007 20:29:44 GMT
Never Forget Top of the Pops may be no more, but with the first night crowd at Manchester Opera House weirdly being turned into a giant studio audience for the filming of the entire show, this was a retro night in more ways than one.
If, however, the all-pervasive cameras (and a bright purple glow thrown over the audience to light us, too, completely blew the effectiveness of James Whiteside’s stage lighting) were there to bring some kind of immortality to Never Forget, I was trying to erase it from my memory even as it unfolded.
Ed Curtis’s witless, pointless and largely joyless production may have been intended as a homecoming, of sorts, to a group that was actually launched in this city in 1990 and went on to become the most successful local British boy band since the Beatles. But though they officially disbanded in 1996, they re-formed last year, minus Robbie Williams, thus mitigating the need for fans to get a compensatory nostalgic fix with this contrived story about the formation of a tribute band to their idols; and in any case, the ads at the back of The Stage are full of tribute bands and Robbie look-a-likes already, so do we really need a musical to follow the trials and tribulations of the formation of another? (And if we do, the 1999 show Boyband got there first in any case - and should have been a lesson learnt, as it died a fast death at the Gielgud).
Though pop Svengali Nigel Martin-Smith, Take That’s original creator, was in evidence on the first night, the band themselves have allegedly been trying to suppress this musicalisation - Gary Barlow, composer or co-writer of the 10 of the 13 songs heard in it, has said it has “the smell of the end of the pier about it”. But that’s both being too kind to the muddled mess on stage and is an insult to what actually plays at the end of piers.
At least they only aim for honest entertainment; this show, by contrast, tries to expose the cynical opportunism of the pop business while being a living embodiment of precisely the same kind of theatrical opportunism that jumps onto the Mamma Mia! bandwagon to try to re-ignite the fire of Take That’s appeal to harness its own. But even as the stage literally catches fire during ‘Relight My Fire’, it extinguishes hope for the jukebox musical’s continuing viability.
“Tribute bands is big business”, says Teddy Kempner’s manager optimistically (if grammatically incorrectly); but even if this show harnesses a youthfully energetic cast to prove it, including goofy Rupert Everett-lookalike Craig Els as Jake (playing Robbie in the band) and an appealing Dean Chisnall as Ash (or Gary Barlow), this show is unlikely to be.
It is only in the inevitable, now-obligatory megamix finale that they and the show are finally able to deliver the all-singing, all-dancing, extravaganza that the audience want to join in on and do, released at last from the purgatory of what’s gone before.
Production information By: Danny Brocklehurst and Guy Jones Cast: Dean Chisnall, Craige Els, Stephane Anelli, Eaton James, Tim Driesen, Anita Booth, Alexis Owen Hobbs, Teddy Kempner, Nancy Sullivan, Suzy Bastone, Ben Skevy, Natalie Somerville, Adam C Booth, Ivan De Freitas, Leigh Anne Stone, Ashley Andrews, Laura Selwood, David O’Dell, Tamara Wall, Scott Maurice, Richard Taylor Woods, Elliot Nixon, Anna Woodside, Amber Rimell
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Post by Eunice and Roisin on Sept 4, 2007 16:50:57 GMT
We went to see Never Forget in Manchester on Saturday. It was a great show & it was good to see two ex Josephs - Tim & Eaton. Tim came on stage looking like Eugene in Grease! We also know Adam C Booth, who was in the ensemble, from Boogie Nights & Love Shack. The ensemble guys & girls were in the show a lot. If anyone is going to see the show they have a great brochure with lots of pics of the cast, a cast list & all the song lyrics - it's a good buy for £5. The smaller programme is £3. We'd like to see the show again but the 5pm Saturday matinee makes it hard to get back home from places.
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Post by Tanith Messenger on Sept 4, 2007 22:33:24 GMT
Ooooo sounds good! If anyone see's it PLEASE say hi to Tim and Eaton for me ;D
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Post by Lynda on Sept 4, 2007 22:36:31 GMT
Big hugs off me too.
xxx
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Post by Tanith Messenger on Nov 3, 2007 23:16:52 GMT
Oh yes, the rumours ARE true...
Never Forget will be coming to London from 7th May, taking residence in the Savoy Theatre on the Strand! Booking lines are open!
Prior to this there will be a short 6 week pre-London tour which is going to Bromley, Milton Keynes, stoke-on-trent, Brighton and Wimbledon...
So see you all soon!!
Tim Driesen x
p.s. don't forget the DVD release later this month!
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Post by Tanith Messenger on Nov 3, 2007 23:21:52 GMT
Info from Tim's wesbite:- * Never Forget will open at the Savoy Theatre in London's West End on the 7th of May 2008. Prior to that, the show will be touring again, starting from the 22nd of February! Watch this space for details! * The Never Forget dvd, filmed live at the Manchester Opera House, will be released on the 12th of November 2007, but you can pre-order it at www.play.com (£12.99 free delivery in the UK)
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Post by Tanith Messenger on Jan 15, 2008 14:29:26 GMT
Never Forget, the phenomenal musical featuring the songs of Take That, starts another tour of the country on 22nd February in Bromley. On May 7th they will then open in The West End for a long run which could see them there until 2009... at least!! We want you to send your messages of support to us so we can give them to the cast on the first night in Bromley! Get your messages into us by FRIDAY 8th FEBRUARY to ensure that yours is included!! You can include pictures, poems, songs, limericks... whatever you fancy!! You can write messages to individual members if you wish because they will each receive a copy of your messages! Once again, thanks for all of your support and we hope to hear from you soon!! The Never Forget MySpace www.myspace.com/neverforgetmusical
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Post by Tanith Messenger on Jan 30, 2008 22:32:32 GMT
Dont forget your messages need to reach the guys by 8th Feb!!
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Post by Eunice Roisin on Jun 19, 2008 13:19:46 GMT
After our afternoon in St Albans we decided to go & see Never Forget. When we were on the tube we got chatting to Dan who plays Ned in Neighbours & he was lovely. The theatre had some £25 day seats in row B of the stalls so we well impressed with that for a Sat night - that was less than what we'd paid for Jo in St Albans & our seats were very close to the stage as the orchestra were at the back of the stage. The show was brilliant - it's changed a bit since we saw it in Manchester. We were sat close enough to feel a few drops when it rained at the end of the first half in "Back for Good" & the words "Never Forget" were showing in the rain which we thought was clever & bits of the rain got turned off when the lead guys walked through but the ensemble got soaked!! It was hot when flames shot up twice in the 2nd half in "Relight my Fire". Eaton was smiling all the way through the show - don't know if that was part of his character or if he was just happy. When we met him & Tim after the show we had to explain why we were there again.
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Post by Roisin and Eunice on Jun 24, 2008 16:24:37 GMT
A piccie of 2 Josephs from the past ;D
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Post by Tanith Messenger on Jun 29, 2008 22:45:07 GMT
ooo fab my Tim and Eaton! Thanks you two :-) sorry im late in seeing it hehe xx
***PLEASE NOTE*** Tim will have a week off from July 7 till July 13 2008
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Post by Lynda on Jul 8, 2008 20:37:43 GMT
Never Forget Finishes at Savoy 15 Nov Before Move
Never Forget, the new musical based on the greatest hits of reformed Nineties boyband Take That, has extended its season at the Savoy Theatre until 15 November 2008, when it will finish there before moving on to another West End venue for Christmas and an open-ended run into the new year.
Following its world premiere last July at Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre and two regional tours, Never Forget opened on 22 May 2008 (previews from 7 May) at the Savoy Theatre, where it was previously booking until 25 October only (See 1st Night Photos, 23 May 2008). The show will transfer immediately to its new home.
Speaking to Whatsonstage.com, producer Tristan Baker said Never Forget will move to a theatre of a similar size to the 1,150-seat Savoy, with further details confirmed within the next week. “It’s in fantastic shape and we’re now looking to the long-term future,” said Baker. “We’ve had an amazing critical response and the public are loving it so we want to keep the show going in the West End as long as people want to keep seeing it.”
The musical centres on the members of the unlikeliest Take That tribute band and follows the rollercoaster journey of young Gary Barlow-like hero Ash (Dean Chisnall) and his mates (Craige Els, Stephane Anelli, Tim Driesen and Eaton James) in the pursuit of their dreams. Along the way, each of them discovers that pretending to be someone else can sometimes help you find out who you really are.
Never Forget includes Take That chart-toppers such as “Relight My Fire”, “Pray”, “Back for Good”, “Babe” and the title number. The Take Thatters are joined in the 28-strong cast by Sophia Ragavelas, Joanne Farrell, Teddy Kempner and Marilyn Cutts, as well as 20 members of the Never Forget children’s choir who accompany them in the finale.
Never Forget has an original book written by TV’s Danny Brocklehurst (Shameless, Clocking Off), Guy Jones and Ed Curtis, who also directs. The production is designed by Christopher Woods and choreographed by Karen Bruce, with Mike Dixon as musical supervisor. It’s produced by Tristan Baker, Bronia Buchanan and Charlie Parsons in association with Jason Haigh-Ellery.
No further productions have yet been announced for the Savoy.
- by Terri Paddock Whatsonstage
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Post by Lynda on Sept 30, 2008 15:10:27 GMT
Dont forget to catch Tim Driesen in Never Forget, he is only there until 15th November 2008. The show then goes on tour.
It is NOT transferring to the Lyric
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Post by rach22uk on Dec 12, 2008 0:56:43 GMT
Such a shame that this had to close on the West End It'll be very strange to see the new cast when it tours next year!
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