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It’s time to give your fokin’ money all over again – the hit Live Aid musical ‘Just for One Day’ is transferring to the West End in 2025.
Having gone down a storm at the venerable Old Vic theatre at the start of this year, ‘Just for One Day’ retells the story of the Band Aid single and Live Aid concerts by focussing on various people who were involved, from stage crew to audience members to – naturally – Bob Geldof. We meet him as a grumpy present day version, and also flashback to as grumpy ’80s version as we see his shocked reaction to the Ethiopian famine start an unstoppable pop cultural movement.
The musical – which is directed by ‘& Juliet’ man Luke Sheppard – is a cunning dual pitch at an older audience nostalgic for the original music and concerts, and a younger audience that’s served by sexy modern reworkings of the many ’80s standards that make up its song list. Meanwhile, present day dialogue between Geldof and a cynical young woman named Jemma at least make reference to the various ways the initiative has been criticised in subsequent years.
To be honest, it feels a bit needy of Gen-Z approval, but whatever the case it seems to have worked as it’s apparently the Old Vic’s fastest selling musical ever, and demand has been such that it’s now set to soar into the West End next year in time for the fortieth anniversary of the concerts – it’ll replace ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ at the Shaftesbury Theatre (coincidentally both shows were written by British humorist John O’Farrell).
Quoth the actual Geldof: ‘My comment before I saw ”Just For One Day” was that “It better not be s***”. It’s not s***! It is FANTASTIC”.’
‘Just for One Day’ is at the Shaftesbury Theatre, booking May 15 2025 to Jan 10 2026. Buy tickets here.
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