Interview: Steps West End musical

Chart-toppers, ‘90s hit makers & dance-move single pioneers, Steps are back together again. Yay! Lee Latchford-Evans talks to Victoria Nangle about hitting the road again, gossip columns and a Steps West End musical

From their first hit ‘5, 6, 7, 8’ back in 1997, Steps made an impact on the charts and went on to have a further 14 top five hits together. Supporting Britney Spears on her ‘Baby One More Time Tour’, winning the Brit award in 2000 for best live act, selling over 20 million records – these are all acts of pop royalty, so it was hardly surprising that when PWL announced they were assembling their favourite acts together for a party in Hyde Park Steps were asked to headline the show despite this being their first tour in ten years. Reunited, filming their own documentary series for Sky Living and with a brand new album on the way, pop’s darlings have returned. And their fans are loving them for it…

How is it with all of you working together again?
“It’s fine. We are getting on great together and really looking forward to spending some time on the road.”

“It feels harder this time round, but I’m not sure if that’s just because we are 10 years older. Ha ha! ”

How does preparing for this tour compare to preparing for the first tour you ever did together?
“It feels harder this time round, but I’m not sure if that’s just because we are 10 years older. Ha ha! We have not been easy on ourselves and we all think this could be the best tour we’ve ever done.”

You’ve got a lot of dancefloor fillers – classics – in your repertoire. Which is your favourite to perform and why?
“Deeper Shade Of Blue is a band favourite. We love the video and we love performing it. We believe it was ahead of its time when first released and could stand up to the modern pop world of today.”

It was announced that you will be playing in the Hyde Park extravaganza of PWL acts. Who are you most looking forward to catching up with again, and who are you most looking forward to seeing perform?
“It’s fantastic to not only perform at PWL Hyde Park gig but to headline it is an honour. I’m looking forward to seeing Bananarama, Rick Astley, Sonia – and of course Kylie if she makes an appearance.”

You won the Brits Award best live act in 2000. Feeling the pressure much?
“I don’t personally feel the pressure from the industry. What is important is that we give our fans the best night they could ask for. We won awards because our fans wanted us and we are back because our fans want us again. We are all in a happy place right now.”

What are the best and worst aspects of touring?
“For me the best part of touring is travelling, meeting the fans and performing your own show every night. The worst is missing loved ones and my home.”

You all had a lot of gossip column inches in the past – are you all prepared for the scrutiny to return at such an intensity?
“I don’t feel the press really played a massive part in Steps’ success, we were never played on big radio stations and never really spoke about unless we had won an award or a number one. Our success spoke more than sleazy night club antic stories.”

What do you reckon to the idea of a Steps musical hitting the West End a la Mama Mia stylee?
“I would love a Steps musical to hit the West End – and I think we need to join forces with a top writer – a la Andrew Lloyd Webber maybe.
I also think a great concept for the first couple of months would be if we were all in it but not playing ourselves [laughs].”

Who would you cast as you five if it went to Hollywood?
“Cameron Diaz for Claire, Ben Affleck for me, Matt Damon for H, Christina Ricci for Lisa and Charlize Theron for Faye.”

Do you enjoy coming to Brighton, to sing and to play?
“Brighton is a great city and we have all enjoyed day trips and performances there over the years.”

I’ve been asked by a reader to include this, please forgive us: what Steps do you take to avoid Tragedy in your daily life?
“Ha ha! No matter what happens always try and stay positive and remember there is always someone worse off than you in the world.”

Steps – The Ultimate Tour comes to the Brighton Centre on Tuesday 17 April, £35, Box Office: 01273 290131, www.brightoncentre.co.uk