Gary Barlow promises Take That musical will happen 'in next five years'
The singer-songwriter has been busy writing the score for Finding Neverland
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Your support makes all the difference.Gary Barlow has decided that a Take That musical has “got to happen” within the next five years.
The English singer-songwriter, 44, reckons the time is right to get started on a stage production about the Nineties pop group’s rise to fame.
“The Take That musical has got to happen. I think it’s a great story. I watched Jersey Boys and it’s not too dissimilar to our story. I would love to get that on stage,” he told The Sun.
Barlow has been busy working on the score for Finding Neverland, based on the 2004 movie starring Johnny Depp. It debuts on Broadway tomorrow before heading to London next February and tells the story of Peter Pan author JM Barrie.
He has been approached about bringing Take That’s journey to the stage before, after he repeatedly refused to back unofficial, short-lived musical Never Forget, which ran from 2007 to 2009, but has not yet taken up the offer.
No doubt Spice Girls movie Viva Forever was rather off-putting too when it closed after just six months.
“I understand it a bit better now. I think the West End, Broadway and musicals felt like a different art form and I wasn’t qualified. I didn’t know enough about it,” he admitted.
“But now I’ve been put in a big arena here [in New York]. If given a chance to do it I would take it on now, definitely. We’ve got 25 years of music so the hard bit is done. I’d look to put it on a stage in the next five years.”
But what of the challenges of balancing musicals and the band? Barlow isn’t worried. “This is definitely a great area for me,” he said. “I love being an artist and I love being in Take That but I love this too. I can do this alongside the band.
“Twelve songs a year is not enough for me. I write lots of music and musicals are a great way for me to put my music into something.”
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