BIRMINGHAM Hippodrome has announced that Tim Firth's new musical, the Band, will visit the theatre in May 2018 as part of its UK tour.

The producers, David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers and Take That recently announced details of the new UK Tour. The production will open at Manchester Opera House on September 8.

The Band is a new musical about what it is like to grow up with a boyband. For five 16-year-old friends in 1992, 'the band' is everything.

Twenty-five years on, we are reunited with the group of friends, now 40-something women, as they try once more to fulfil their dream of meeting their heroes.

Take That said: "We are incredibly proud and excited that our first production as theatre producers is the Band - a musical that we think will touch the hearts of not just our fans, but everyone."

The Band will be played by AJ Bentley, Nick Carsberg, Yazdan Qafouri Isfahani, Curtis T Johns and Sario Watanabe-Soloman, who, as Five to Five, won BBC's Let It Shine.

The show will be directed by Kim Gavin and Jack Ryder, and produced by David Pugh, Dafydd Rogers, Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams.

The Band comes to Birmingham Hippodrome between May 1, and May 12, 2018.

For tickets, call 0844 338 5000 or visit birminghamhippodrome.com.