The Band/Greatest Days - Tour/Theatre Royal Haymarket/Tour

That was a nice, impromptu moment though, it fit the moment and song.

People were asking ushers about photos and the official line is phones are not allowed but there's one point in the show where they are. Hence the photo above.

Hmm mixed message then. You can't use your phones but oh, you can in this bit. That will never work. They may as well just embrace it and abandon theatre etiquette for this one. They'll be fighting a losing battle. 

Does it? I don't remember anything in SoR where phones were allowed. Which bit is it?

Ahhh yes of course.

So is it official phones out only at the end of The Band then? Not mid-show?

The moment in question where it is allowed/tolerated is half way the second act.

Someone from the stage saying its ok right at the end of the show is very different from allowing it at one point mid act

Some changes being made before tonight's performance, according to Twitter

Interval point at tonight's showing. Expected to hate it but I just can't. It's pleasant enough. Full thoughts later.
The stalls are less than half full and the gallery is closed. Not great that they can't sell enough tickets in their hometown.

So all the way home I've been thinking how I felt about it. I didn't hate it, I didn't love it. it was an ok night out with some nice touches but ultimately I've come to the conclusion that I'm not the target audience so that's why it didn't really resonate with me.
My main thought was that, to me, the show is 'The Girls' part two. This is especially so in act two which focusses on the relationships between the older women. There's one scene in particular which could have come directly out of the other show. This I think is why the show isn't aimed at the likes of me (even though I do like the songs of Take That) and why, like The Girls it may struggle to find a market. Given that the audition process was aimed at the X Factor generation, the story itself is aimed at an older audience.
The staging didn't have the wow factor which I was expecting, given the extravagant nature of Take That concerts. There is a lot of use of projections, and wheeling things around the stage (mainly done by the band themselves!)There are a few stand-out moments- the two concert sequences are pretty good and I liked the little surprise at the during the first song in act two.
I was also surprised how little cast there is. The younger girls were ok, at least they sang better than they did at Pride the other week.
There must have been some alterations, as the mobile phone moment during act two that was previously mentioned didn't happen so at least they've taken that on board.
All in all, glad I went to see it, a pleasant evening out but wouldn't rush to see it again.

That's more the kind of price the tickets should have been originally, not the £55 they are charging.

Well just been to see this. I think I may have to try and be kinder than my thoughts walking out.

This is average. There, I said it. The cast were ok and I think the boyband were the best parts. The main female cast were ok but average.

My main gripe is that it looked cheap, rushed and shallow. The emotional impact it was aiming for just flew past like someone was reading a shopping list on stage.

Second half a bit better but still very average, clunky cheap set and the worst part, the songs didn't match the parts of the show. And as it's not meant to be about take that, why do they have the take that logo behind them when doing the 'concert' scenes.

Real shame but this needs far more work for it to be enjoyable.