We Will Rock You Rocks Australia

We Will Rock You

We Will Rock You is a musical showcasing the hit songs of Queen. It is a delight for the ears to listen to and for the eyes to see. It is fast paced and very funny with lots of one line jokes in it.

I first saw We Will Rock you in London in 2009 on the very first night I flew in. I missed seeing the show when it came to Sydney several years ago, but I was fortunate to see it last week in Sydney. 

It is good to see that the show has been updated in this most recent production. The latest computer and internet jargon is used, reference is made to Australian cities and people and up to date happenings in the music world are referred to. 

The songs in the show are held together by a rather imaginative story set in the future in the year 2306. People live on iPlanet where all live rock music and musical instruments are banned. Music is now mass produced and controlled by the GlobalSoft Corporation. Nothing is left to chance, hits are scheduled years in advance. 

We Will Rock You

The keyword here is conformity. The two baddies in the show are Killer Queen, the head of the Globalsoft Corporation, and Khashoggi, the leader of the Ga Ga Cops, who is the Killer Queen's general dogsbody. Under their control The Ga Ga Kids watch the same movies, wear the same fashions and think the same thoughts. It is a happy, safe Ga Ga world. The first song in the musical, Radio Ga Ga, sets the show off to a bright energetic start. 

However, resistance to this controlled world is growing. There is a small renegade group of rebellious Bohemians who live underneath the gleaming cities, down in the lower depths. They fight to reinstate freedom of thinking and they want to bring back rock music in all its former glory. They believe that there was once a Golden Age where kids formed their own bands ands wrote their own rock songs. They call that time The Rhapsody.

The Bohemians believe in a legend that somewhere on iPlanet musical instruments still exist. Somewhere, the mighty axe of a great and hairy guitar god lies deep in a rock. The Bohemians need a hero to find this rock and draw it from the stone. 

Scaramouche - Erin ClareGalileo Figaro - Gareth Keegan

Here is where a young black t-shirt and jeans attired American named Galileo Figaro, played by Gareth Keegan, comes in. He is “The Dreamer”, a rebel who keeps on hearing fragments of lyrics from old rock songs in his head in normal life and in his dreams and spurts them out, but doesn't understand what they mean. Gareth is a solid performer and gets to sing some of Queen's most well known songs. His singing and acting is first class.

Galileo partners up with young East London rebel, Scaramouche, played by Erin Clare. These two have very different personalities, but bounce off each other well. Their first song together is a powerful rendition of I Want to Break Free. To me Erin was the star of the show. She made her character both believable and likable. 

Killer Queen - Casey Donovan

They rebel from the conformity of Ga Ga land and get away from the Killer Queen played by Casey Donovan. Casey is a wonderful choice to plays this role, as she is very powerful with her renditions of Killer Queen, Now I'm Here, Fat Bottomed Girls and Another One Bites the Dust. She has a domineering presence on stage just right for the role.

Two of the Bohemians, Brit, played by Thern Reynolds and Oz, played by Jaz Flowers, find Galileo and Scaramouche and take them to the Bohemians headquarters based at the Hard Rock. Thern and Jaz play their roles well, combining their sense of humour with their great singing voices.

Here they meet the Bohemians leader Buddy (named after Buddy Holly and the Crickets), played by Brian Mannix. Brian is well remembered from the 1980's rock group the Uncanny X-Men. His deep voice and very funny dialogue make him a very welcome addition on stage. 

Galileo begins to understand his purpose in life, and is encouraged to go to “the place of living rock”, a very ruined and deserted Wembley Stadium. He finds out what “the axe” is and it turns out to be the key to rock revival. Rock music is once again set free.

We Will Rock You is a musical in the fullest sense of the word. It features 24 of Queen's legendary hits including Radio Ga Ga, I Want to Break Free, Somebody to Love, Killer Queen, Under Pressure, I Want It All, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Flash, Fat Bottomed Girls, Another One Bites The Dust, and the last three mega hits in the show, We Will Rock You, We are the Champions, and Bohemian Rhapsody. All the songs were written by either Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon or David Bowie.

The expertise of a very creative music team shows up in the production of all the great music in We Will Rock You. This team consists of Musical Director Dave Skelton, Associate Musical Director Tim Cinniffe, Musical Supervisor Mike Dixon, Orchestrator Steve Sidwell, and the Australian Musical Supervisor Guy Simpson. The eight-piece band, consisting of keyboards, drums, guitars, percussion and bass are excellent. Sometimes they are even seen on stage as they belt out the rock numbers.

We Will Rock You

Yes, the standout feature of We Will Rock You is the songs and music. The principal singers are backed up by a great ensemble who take on the roles of Ga Ga Kids, Teachers, Teen Queens, Yuppies, Bohemians and Doctors. (They must be experts at changing costumes and wigs very quickly as they go from one scene to the next.)

Apart from the music and songs, We Will Rock is visually pleasing. It features stunning costumes, wigs, sets, lighting and choreography. The sets are somewhat simple and understated, in that they are make the singers and the lighting the main visual stars of the show.

There are two styles of costumes and wigs. There is the uniformity of the costumes and wigs of the inhabitants of Ga Ga Land, and the individuality of the costumes and wigs of the Bohemians. They are all bright, colourful and slightly crazy. 

The lighting is a wonderful mix of stage and stadium concert style lighting that makes each song come alive. Creative video animations are used as a backdrop for some of the songs.

The choreography brings movement to the stage in dazzling variety. The Ga Ga Land choreography is all very synchronised and uniform, wheres as the Bohemians choreography is very individualist displaying their anti-conformity.

We Will Rock You

Full credit must be given to the Creative Team of We Will Rock You - Ben Elton, the Director, and Brian May and Roger Taylor, the Worldwide Music Supervisors. The have put together the very best of Queens songs in a very entertaining 2 hour 45 minute show that will be enjoyed by lovers of good rock music of all ages. 

You could sense the delight of the audience on the night I attended. They laughed at the jokes, clapped along with the songs, waved their hands in the air, sang along, and gave a standing ovation at the end. The children, teenagers, young adults and older adults present at this evening performance of We Will Rock You all went away from the show singing its praises. 

We Will Rock You

By: Queen and Ben Elton
Presented by: John Frost, in association with Queen Theatrical Productions, Phil McIntyre Entertainment and Tribeca Theatrical Productions
Director: Ben Elton

Venue: Sydney Lyric Theatre, The Star
When: On now until 26 June 2016
Tickets: From $69.90
Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au | 1300 795 267

ALSO Touring

Brisbane From 10 July 2016

Melbourne From 30 August 2016
Perth From November 2016
Adelaide From January 2017

Visit: wewillrockyou.com.au