By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Tuesday 14 October, tour runs through 16 May 2026 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

We catch this musical realisation of the Steps songbook shortly before the departure this week of its leading lady Rebecca Lock (Heathers, Other Palace) to musical Freaky Friday in Manchester.

• Read on for reasons including how you’d be a deeper shade of blue if you missed out

We 1st saw it in Birmingham last year and it’s lost none of its fizz, charm and zest for life 2 months into its UK tour where we catch it not far from London.

Lock’s final shows are at the New Wimbledon Theatre this week with this run seeing the 1st bow of Lara Denning, the performer who will replace her whose past credits have included the standby Norma Desmond to Nicole Scherzinger in Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre.

Lock and Denning play Caz, a fortnight before her 50th birthday, who brings a tear to our eye singing Heartbeat reflecting on her own stillbirth and failed adoption bid.

Here And Now is the story of staff at a seaside supermarket under threat of closure during a summer of love in which our heroine Caz is determined to sort out the love, or lack of love lives of her fellow co-workers.

Shaun Kitchener’s script is very funny and we enjoyed Blake Patrick Anderson’s (Be More Chill, Shaftesbury Theatre) Robbie explaining his commitment issues during Story Of A Heart and River Medway’s (Unfortunate, Southwark Playhouse) drag queen Jem’s Chain Reaction retort complete with washing machines and their own discoballs.

We also loved how unconvinced Robbie was while singing Love’s Got A Hold Of My Heart with his co-workers while hiding from Jem who gave an hilarious and withering: ‘I can hear you, you know’ as she waited for him outside the locked supermarket.

We’ve also never seen Finty Williams (The Baker’s Wife, Menier) – who leaves also in a few weeks – having so much fun onstage as unsympathetic supermarket manageress Patricia.

Jukebox musicals can sometimes struggle under the weight of having to crowbar unsuitable material into their story’s book but Here And Now is light enough on its feet and this audience so willing to go with it that everything’s carried off successfully with the cheekiest of winks.

We had so much fun here as did the predominantly female middle aged audience with a smattering of gays, ourselves included, that our description of this as a budget Mamma Mia is meant as the highest compliment.

We saw the band live onstage at Portsmouth Guildhall last century and more recently at London’s 02. Author Shaun Kitchener even wrote an unauthorised 1st Steps musical called 5,6,7,8 we reviewed in London.

It would be a tragedy if we didn’t have a cast recording to tide us over as we work out when we can next see this show. The UK tour runs through August 2026 – you’d be a deeper shade of blue if you missed out.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Here And Now Tickets
• Have you seen Here And Now before and what did you think of it? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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