We Will Rock You

Music and Lyrics by Queen
Story and Script by Ben Elton
Directed by Christopher Renshaw
Choreography by Arlene Phillips

Dominion Theatre, London
Friday June 28th, 2002

Being a huge fan of both Queen and Ben Elton I knew that I would have to find We Will Rock You at least a little entertaining. When the show opened with the ensemble dressed in silver Jetson’s-like school uniforms singing Radio Ga Ga complete with new “internet goo goo” and “Globalsoft ga ga” lyrics I must admit that I was really worried about what I had just spent over 90 pounds on two tickets to see. I am happy to say that this number was, in my opinion, by far the worst in the show.

Fortunately the rest of the songs were not quite so badly ‘adapted’ to fit he show’s storyline. We Will Rock You is set in the not too distant future and Killer Queen and her company ‘Globalsoft’ rule the world. ‘Real’ music has been completely replaced by computer generated (for want of a better word) crap and all musical instruments have been destroyed. The story is completely wacky, as can be expected of young Ben, but is also extremely funny and very, very clever. The cast were generally excellent and the band were, well… gods (any other word wouldn’t do them justice).

Tony Vincent (Simon from the modern movie version of Jesus Christ Superstar) played the leading man, Galileo Figaro (yes, it’s true). Tony has an incredible voice, was an absolute delight to listen to (and look at) and certainly did Freddie justice without trying to emulate him, but I felt that his acting was just a little over the top for my liking (but what would I know, he’s the big West End star!)

Hannah Jane Fox, who also starred in Rent on the West End, played the female lead Scaramouche (I can hear Eliot groaning now) and was the standout performer for me. Among other positives her voice was to die for and her comic timing was impeccable.

Another highlight for me was seeing Nigel “Neil” Planer live on stage and singing! He played Pop, the ageing hippy (a bit of a stretch for him huh?) and I thought he was fabulous. Aussie Amanda Harrison, who some of you may have seen as Liza Minelli in the Perth run of The Boy From Oz was part of the ensemble and is understudy to the two young female lead roles. (I’m not jealous at all!)

The whole spectacle of We Will Rock You was awesome and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone heading to London in the near future. Although if you’re not a fan of Queen or Ben Elton I’d probably give it a miss because for all it’s talent, humour, flashy electronic effects and amazing costumes it’s pretty much a long Ben Elton sketch come Queen tribute concert.

Happy theatre going,
Gill

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