For anyone who ever adored a boyband growing up, Take That musical Greatest Days is a wonderful chance to revel in those feelings once again. When this show was first launched by the band in 2017, they hailed it their "love letter to the fans" and it certainly remains that.
Indeed, the boyband who are brought to life in this new production utlimately play second fiddle to the fans - it is their story that is centre-stage. The anonymous five lads (they're never actually named as Take That or as individuals in the show) become like a Greek chorus, shaping the lives of the besotted young girls.
We are transported back to the 1990s, to a time when taping your favourite song off the radio and plastering Smash Hits posters in your school locker was still a thing.
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We are introduced to 16-year-old Rachel, who explains her love for the band, as her 46-year-old self looks on in present day. Due to some brilliant casting for this new run, we have the mother and daughter duo of Kym Marsh and Emilie Cunliffe playing these dual roles.
I didn't expect it to be quite so moving as it is, but there was something so special in seeing this pairing on stage.
We get to see very demonstrably how much the band mean to the 16-year-old Rachel - and to all her friends - while the band themselves perform a bouncing medley of some of Take That's biggest hits.
Rachel and her four school pals Debbie, Claire, Zoe and Heather hatch a plan to see the band in concert at the Manchester Apollo with plenty of laughs along the way.
Mary Moore as Debbie is the vivacious leader of the girls and brings a real star appeal to this role. It makes the tragedy that folllows even harder to bear, knowing we won't get to see how her life will pan out.
It breaks the once-strong union between the pals, until they are reunited some 25 years later by an unlikely competition win to see the band in their comeback shows in Athens.
An airport reunion brings with it all the raw emotions, as well as the hilarious on stage moments, of meeting up with friends for the first time in decades.
Jamie-Rose Monk as Claire excels in these moments, taking the mickey about her physical change - through to the the emotional reveal of how she has really felt about the friends break up all those years ago.
The band themselves - played by Regan Gascoigne, Alexanda O'Reilly, Jamie Corner, Archie Durrant and Kalfia Burton - morph from those excitable young lads in 90s white combats through to besuited manband with aplomb.
They bust some seriously impressive dance moves, while never letting one member outshine the other. Special mention too to Christopher D Hunt as "maximum Jeff" who wins the hearts of the audience as well as of partner Rachel.
It's fair to say that this new production from Adam Kenwright is a seriously stripped down version compared to the original glossy run from David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers, which originally played under the title The Band and premiered in Manchester back in 2017.
Now as Greatest Days, the show has a very minimal grey stairs stage set which ends up doing a hell of a lot of legwork to transform into everything from a jet plane to the rocks of a hilltop through the course of the show. Especially when you think the original show had an actual full on jet plane on stage.
Some of the stand-out moments of that original version, like when a fountain comes to life with the boys, is also a tad watered down here.
But luckily, it's the human drama and excellent performances that maintain the magic of this show - and of course the enduring soundtrack of Take That with 15 of their biggest songs peppered throughout. I enjoyed every minute, and for anyone who followed Take That as a youngster will make you nostalgic for the good old days.
The performers here are the beating heart, and they made me laugh and cry and fighting the urge to sing along. Fans will be pleased to hear that the show does come to an all-singing and dancing finale though - where you do get your moment to Shine.
Greatest Days is at Manchester's Palace Theatre until May 27
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