The Band
The Alhambra

A GROUP of teenage girls are perched on a rock, their northern town sprawled below. Bonding over boyband wristbands, they vow to stay fans - and friends - forever.

Returning to that rock 25 years later, via a European city break, the forty-something women reflect on friendships lost and found.

It was this poignant scene in lively new musical The Band that reminded me of The Girls, the glorious stage show about the Yorkshire WI whose nude calendar went global. Both shows are written by Tim Firth, and share his trademark blend of warmth, pathos and northern humour.

In The Band, he visits teenage friendship - the intense bonds we make in adolescence that are unlike any other friendships we ever have.

The setting is the industrial North West, and binding the action together is the music of Take That - from Do What You Like to These Days, their songs are the soundtrack to the lives of five friends - lives which change forever the night they go to a gig by their beloved boy band.

Does the title of the show refer to the band, or the wristbands linking the girls together? I guess you decide. What's clear is that this is not a show about Take That. As co-producers, they let their songs tell the story - and, along with Tim Firth's sparkling script, they tell it beautifully.

Naturally, a show featuring Take That's music is going to attract Take That fans, and the packed audience at last night's opening Alhambra show dutifully sang along, whooped and threw up their arms for the anthemic Never Forget. This largely female audience is the obvious demographic, but I found their enthusiasm one of the most moving aspects of this theatrical experience. These were the girls - now women, many with daughters of their own - who had Take That posters on their bedroom walls and still know every word to every song. It's very much their show.

The nostalgic tone is set before the curtain rises, with Ceefax (remember that?) unfolding on a giant screen. We're back in 1993; Jurassic Park has stormed the Oscars, President Bill Clinton is in office, and Thursday night is Top of the Pops night. And five 16-year-old friends are in love with 'The Band'.

We're just getting to know the teenage pals - each so distinctive they're practically the Spice Girls in school uniforms - when tragedy strikes, and suddenly their youthful lust for life is in pieces. A quarter of a century (and a Million Love Songs) later, we meet them as middle-aged women, whose lives have taken paths none of them expected.

This is a bittersweet homage to female friendship, which could have been twee in the wrong hands. Thankfully, it's in Tim Firth's safe hands - just when you think it's about to dip into sentimental cliche, he pulls out a knowing one-liner that has the audience in stitches. "Has the band got a song for a moment like this?" one of the girls asks, at a crucial point. "No," comes the reply.

An excellent cast played younger and older versions of the friends, with particularly strong performances from Faye Christall and Rachel Lumberg as central character Rachel. A particularly touching highlight is Back For Good, sung as a duet between the women and their younger selves. This familiar love song took on a whole new meaning in the context of regret and the folly of youth.

The songs come thick and fast, performed largely by Five to Five, the band put together on BBC1's Let It Shine. As the girls' cherished boy band, they take on a Greek Chorus role; appearing in various guises, from fountain statues to cabin crew. It's an effective device and a witty touch. On stage practically the whole time, with a bewildering array of costume changes, Five To Five were fabulous. Slick performances of numbers such as The Flood let them shine as a group, but their dancing and comic timing showcased impressive all-round skills too.

This is a hugely entertaining show, both funny and moving, which pays homage to female friendship - and it's told by the songs the fans call their own.

The Band runs until Saturday, October 28.