Here & Now – Review – Hull New Theatre
By Rachel Howard, April 2026
The year was 1997. I was 16 going on 17. Pop music was in full swing – the Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys and Boyzone were tussling at the top of the charts. You’d think we couldn’t take anymore pop… but you’d be wrong. Enter Steps – a five-piece British group that took the charts, and dance floors, of the UK by storm. As someone just entering their “going out-out” era, the music of Steps still transports me back to dimly-lit nightclubs, sticky floors and well-rehearsed dance routines with my girlfriends. Those were the days!
Thankfully, the music of Steps hasn’t been left behind in the 90s and 00s archives. Quite the opposite. It’s being rolled out to theatres across the land with the musical Here & Now. And now, here I am, taking my seat for the opening night at Hull New Theatre.
First things first, this isn’t a musical about Steps, and they don’t actually appear in it. They did, however, help to create the show, alongside pop-music legend Pete Waterman. Here & Now is what’s known as a jukebox musical (using previously released music to underpin a newly created story). In my experience they can be a little hit or miss, but within minutes of the show starting, I know this is going to be a hit.
The set is the first thing that hits you. Clearly, we are in a supermarket – Better Best Bargains (BBB) to be precise. Floor to ceiling aisles of produce fill the stage (cleverly we can only see aisles 5,6,7,8 – if you know, you know!) and the neon colours and lights set the tone for the rest of the show.
“Broken heart”
It is here, amongst the beautifully stacked shelves, that we meet our cast. Caz (Lara Denning), Vel (Jacqui Dubois), Neeta (Rosie Singha) and Robbie (Blake Patrick Anderson) all work at BBB but aren’t especially happy with their lot. Caz, being the matriarch figure, wants them all to “take a chance on a happy ending” and challenges them to have a “summer of love” in time for her 50th birthday – all she wants as her birthday gift is to see her friends happy. Oh, and she’d quite like her and husband Gareth (Chris Grahamson) to be approved for adoption. That would make the perfect ending.
But of course, things don’t go to plan. Gareth decides to leave Caz, jeopardising her own happy ending. So, whilst nursing a broken heart, she puts her full support behind her colleagues and encourages Vel to end her loveless fling with car-park attendant Lesley (John Stacey). Neeta must try to admit her feelings for crush Ben (Ben Darcy) and Robbie must give his potential boyfriends more of a chance before dismissing them as a dating disaster.
To add insult to injury, while trying to secure her future and potential adoption approval, Caz puts her faith in the wrong person and ends up risking everything for everyone.
“Flamboyant”
As with many jukebox musicals, the storyline isn’t deep or gritty, in fact it’s wafer thin at times. But Here & Now doesn’t need a hard-hitting plotline, it simply needs a vehicle for the most important part – the music of Steps. However, that’s not to say we don’t have a talented cast on stage because we certainly do. The main players are all fantastic in their roles, bringing sass, vulnerability and humour to their characters. Lara Denning as Caz is the standout performance, with a voice that could quite frankly blow the roof off, and Blake Patrick Anderson is brilliant as the sensitive Robbie, anxiously trying to deal with grief at the same time as falling in love for the first time.
“Special mention must go to supermarket manager Patricia, played by Sally Ann Matthews (best known as Jenny Bradley in Coronation Street). Cheeky, humorous and a little bit naughty, she brings plenty of laughs to proceedings. And no review of Here & Now would be complete without mentioning Jem (River Medway). As Robbie’s drag queen love interest, Jem is outrageously fabulous. Sashaying across the stage in all manner of flamboyant outfits, Jem is camp as Christmas and we, the audience, love it!
Speaking of which, this is quite possibly the most camp musical I will ever have the joy of seeing. The stage is a permanent riot of neon colour and flashing lights that assault the senses in the best possible way. I’ll give a big shout out to Costume Designer Gabriella Slade who must have been in her element designing the most extravagant, garish and glitzy outfits I have seen in a long time. Alongside the aforementioned set design (kudos to Tom Rogers), the delightfully disco-style lighting (thanks to Howard Hudson) helps bring everything together to form the perfect backdrop to those classic Steps tunes.
“Energetic”
And what a back catalogue they have. Even if you aren’t a die-hard fan, you’ll know the vast majority of tracks and your toes will be tapping before you can say 5,6,7,8…
Smash hits including ‘Stomp’, ‘Summer of Love’, ‘One for Sorrow’, ‘Deeper Shade of Blue’ and of course, everyone’s favourite, ‘Tragedy’, are belted out one after another, barely giving the cast, or us, time to breathe. Accompanied by a live orchestra, the songs really are the making of this show. The story might be a little flimsy but the music is powerful and energetic. It really does take me back to the halcyon days of the late 90s/early 00s – what a time to be alive!
The icing on the cake of a fun-filled night at the theatre is the Steps megamix encore, where we all get the chance to jump to our feet and sing and dance along with the cast. A surprise confetti cannon seals the deal and makes sure this is one show that is definitely not Better Best Forgotten.
Here & Now is at Hull New Theatre until 26th April
images: Pamela Raith
After studying English at university and having a lifelong love of writing, Rachel, a full-time editor, came to On Yorkshire in 2017 where she started off reviewing theatre productions in and around the East Yorkshire area. That love of theatre soon expanded into hotels, restaurants and travel, not to mention becoming one of On Yorkshire’s resident beauty editors, reviewing the latest products, spas and treatments. Rachel loves to sample the very best Yorkshire and the UK have to offer in order to bring you the low down on the high life!
