Gary Barlow OBE (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow also served as head judge of The X Factor UK in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and Let It Shine in 2017. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters, having written fourteen number one singles and twenty-four top 10 hits.
Musical theatre
On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score for the theatre project, which is being developed by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Barlow said of the project: "This is something I've always wanted to do so it's a real privilege to be involved. I'm really enjoying working with the team and I love the story; it's also great to be working with a legendary creative like Harvey Weinstein." Weinstein echoed the sentiment by expressing his admiration for Barlow, whom he described as "one of the finest songwriters in the world".  On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs from the musical score he had written for Finding Neverland. He played the lead role of Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie, and sung a duet with noted British musical actress Laura Michelle Kelly along with four back-up artists featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. Barlow's performance was well received, and after a successful performance run in Boston, Finding Neverland opened on Broadway in spring 2015. On its first Broadway preview, the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million.  Gary has also co-written a musical alongside hometown friend Tim Firth, titled The Girls, which opened at the Phoenix Theatre, London in January 2017.

Q: What was Barlow's role in musical theatre?
A: On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score

Q: Was this successful?
A: the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million.
What else is significant about his time with musical theater?
On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs
On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Awards party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs