Here & Now – The Steps Musical: Review

I think it would be good if one day a pop group musical could make us all believe in ourselves and go out into the ether changing our world for the better. And today, I will carry that through and try and be the best me that I can be. Because Here and Now made me think, at least for today, that could really be a thing.

The story centres around four shift pals at seaside supermarket Better Best Buys. They rib each other, lift each other’s spirits and hope for the absolute best. Caz (fabulous captain of the Here and Now ship, Rebecca Lock), is going through the process of adoption with her sparky partner Gareth (Chris Grahamson). Gorgeous straight talking Vel (Jacqui Dubois) knows the light has gone out on her relationship with Lesley (John Stacey) and she needs to dump him (John Stacey absolutely living the dance routines in act two gave me joy). Young creative Neeta (Rosie Singha) makes avant garde food-based portraits of celebrities and finds every excuse not to tell affable fitty Ben (Ben Darcy) that she adores him. Then there’s young carefree gay Robbie (Blake Patrick Anderson), he’s free and easy although the girls believe he’s looking for more than that really. When we meet the gang, Caz is gearing everyone up ready for better days ahead, that may just be kickstarted by her upcoming 50th.

There’s a lot to get the gist of in the first 10 mins and thanks to the expertise of Shaun Kitchener, who is a multi-story master, we easily hold all these narrative threads.  I especially enjoyed the light touch of the love story of Robbie and drag queen Jem (River Medway giving Eartha Kitt via a tray of chips realness) not heavy with conflict, just naturally played out in a really sweet way. These threads are tied up with golden, well place Steps songs arranged by Matt Spencer-Smith, until we are fully stocked up on resolutions by the time we are on our feet for the finale.

Tom Rogers clever set frames the production with the whole proscenium arch holding concert lighting cleverly integrated as stocked up shelves. On stage, tills and shelves are wheeled around to indicate different places around the supermarket. The bright lights of BBB are complemented by a glimpse of real hope beyond the doors – the open ocean. This harmonises with the themes of putting yourself out there and embracing the chills and thrills of life in the hope of one day riding high on life. The cast rock tabards designed by Gabriella Slade all the way through the show from hot pink on the tills, to yellow with gold bananas on if they are doing the fruit and veg.

It’s not hard to see why people are calling Here and Now the new Mamma Mia. I liked it a bit more than Mamma Mia actually, because I can’t afford to go to Santorini, but I can defo go to a supermarket by the sea. And the stories were a mix of camp melodrama weighted underneath by the heartbreak of maternal Caz who knows she was, is, and always will be – a mum.

The show is something special and not least because with Robbie and Caz, it celebrates a beautiful connection between an important theatre demographic. With Robbie, gay men who may have loved Steps since they were their secret sanctuary, can see a story where the hatred of the world doesn’t go to do its shopping. With Caz, we have an archetype of the women who carry and tend to the world. They also, in my experience (cos I am one), like musicals that let them feel like girls again. I don’t think of this in a cynical way, I think of this as giving an audience a story that elevates them.  Here and Now puts a call out over the Tannoy – ‘could all the Robbies please go to aisles 5, 6, 7, 8 where the Cazs are waiting for them. Thank you.’

Here and Now is a really good time. And no one loved the evening more than Steps themselves. Right before the show started and the audience were settled, in they came to take their seats. Decked out in silver and white, waving, smiling and engaging with an audience that were enthralled to see them. They were best placed for everyone in the stalls to see them enjoying their songs and the show. I felt good for them. And for me. Everything turned out the best it could be.

My advice is – go and see it before it’s riding the seventh wave in the West End.

Here & Now the Steps Musical is at the Opera House, Manchester from 2 to 13 September 2025 before continuing on tour. Read our interview with the cast.