Here and Now - the Steps musical is stomping around the UK

★★★

The local shop is an absolute hive of energy. Mine, for example, has seen me during the good, the bad and the ugly.

Photo by Pamela Raith

Shaun Kitchener's decision to set Steps musical Here and Now in a supermarket setting is undeniably kitsch. The usual clinical white lighting is here illuminated neon blue (sorry) and pink with high shelves stacked with Better Best Bargains products - from beans to haemorrhoid creams. In combination with Howard Hudson's brilliant lighting, Tom Rogers's set turns the shopping aisles into a catwalk, with characters from all walks of life parading in Gabriella Slade's stylish and striking costumes. To do the weekly shop in this small seaside town, the locals don platform heels and crop tops, and the staff wear checked pink pinnies with glitter eyeshadows, all adding their own personal touch and individuality.

In that sense, Here and Now is a complete celebration of love in all of its varieties and glory. Director Rachel Kavanaugh has a soft touch and leans into the high camp cheese that has come to be associated with jukebox musicals. Steps tunes slot into place fairly effortlessly, but are heard through the ears of adults in storylines (flimsy, but it's obvious what they were aiming for) of chosen family, ageing, and relationships. It's a shame then that they're sandwiched between a clunky book littered with TikTok-speak and obvious jokes.

Leading the charge of a campaign for a summer of love is Caz. Recently single and longing for another child, Lara Denning's central performance ties everything together well with her "One For Sorrow", a particular stand-out. She's supported by her store colleagues and besties, nervous Neeta (Rosie Singha), commitment-phobe Robbie (Blake Patrick Anderson) and strong-minded Vel (Jacqui Dubois), as well as the local drag queen (River Medway), a Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones-type love interest (Edward Baker-Duly) and selfish manager Patricia with a penchant for all things Parisian (Sally Ann Matthews).

Alongside a flurry of Steps references hidden in plain sight across the production, fans will be delighted to hear all of the hits. The ensemble put in a proper shift with Matt Cole's energetic choreography, which turns conveyor belts into '80s workout video walking pads, sees some free-wheeling trollies, and harks back to the golden age of musicals with an umbrella routine. At times, the vocals suffer in favour of the movement, and the singing just sounds like noise.

Here and Now is at its best when it’s most ridiculous - a half-price hoe down to "5, 6, 7, 8" is a particular highlight, and there are plenty of fun-filled frolics with flamingo beach floats and rubber rings. But the end effect all feels rather like holiday park entertainment.

Better Buy Bargains is the heart and soul of the community, just like Steps are for an entire generation. That's really all that counts.