by Georg Purvis
D. WE WILL ROCK YOU ... THE MUSICAL
The genesis of We Will Rock You: The Musical can be pinpointed, depending on whom you believe, at either 1986 or (more realistically) 1997, shortly after the Bejart Ballet that January. While Brian had indicated in the past that the idea for a musical was thrown about following the conclusion of the Magic tour, it’s possible that no actual work was started as the band became increasingly busy, with the next decade occupied by Queen albums, Freddie’s death, Made In Heaven and various solo projects. Brian commented in March 2001, when official news first hit that such a project was becoming a reality, that “We’ve actually been working on this damn musical for about four years and been through various ideas, some of which were biographical, which in the end we didn’t want to do.”
In December 1998, MTVnews.com reported that “The life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury is the basis of a new Broadway musical scheduled to open late this year or in early 1999. The play, tentatively titled Queen, uses that group’s music to tell Mercury’s life story from childhood through his untimely death from AIDS in 1991. The other members of Queen are co-producing the show, which was written by Craig Lucas, the screenwriter of the Meg Ryan/Alec Baldwin movie Prelude To A Kiss. The show will be directed by Chris Renshaw, whose credits include the most recent Broadway revival of The King And I. No word yet on who’s in the running for the starring role.”
With the benefit of hindsight, this information, no matter how accurate it may have been at the time, turned out to be false: the autobiographical idea was dropped, with a more absurdist and humorous angle being taken by another writer. Enter Ben Elton, a renowned British humorist who had made a name for himself with the TV comedies The Young Ones and Blackadder. His television-writing career faltered after that, though he went on to write a series of novels that were well received. He was contacted late in 2000 about writing a musical for Queen and promptly accepted, thus beginning one of the most controversial periods of Queen’s post-Freddie career.
While many have argued that Freddie would have loved it, initial criticism centred around the fact that Brian was too involved with the project; when word of such censure received Brian, he justified his involvement with the musical by arguing that he loved the script and concept so much that he wanted to immerse himself in it as he felt it was such a personal undertaking. Roger was initially supportive of the musical and became fairly involved, but pulled out after its premiere in May 2002 to concentrate on other aspects of his life, while John was not involved in any way except to offer his blessing, though he did attend the premiere.
“The rumour is that we’re doing a musical, which is true,” Brian confirmed in March 2001. “Ben Elton has written us a fantastic script ... [He] came up with this great idea, so we’ve been workshopping it privately and possibly by the end of this year or the beginning of next year we hope it’ll be on in the West End.”
The synopsis of We Will Rock You was vaguely Orwellian in tone: kids of the future subscribe to uniformity, enjoying their simple lives, with music programmed by computers and sung by puppets. A group of rebels discovers that musical instruments, which have been banned, may still lurk in the depths of Planet Mall and that the only way to save the children from their automaton lifestyle is to find the instruments and start their own rock band. Part science fiction and part biting satire, the plot of the musical is admittedly thin, but it suited Queen’s music and Elton’s sense of humour perfectly. As Bob Wegner, who played guitar in the Canadian residency and runs his own spectacular Queen website (http://queenlive.ca), stated, “It’s Rush’s 2112 except they win in the end.”
In September 2001, Brian and Jim Beach attended auditions for the show. Towards the beginning of December, early reports of cast members surfaced, with former Young Ones star Nigel Planer cast as Pop, while the next month saw confirmation of Kerry Ellis as Meat. Also in January 2002, Tony Vincent confirmed on his website that he would be cast as Galileo, the lead in the musical. On the production side, Robert De Niro (of all people) was named as a producer in March 2002, with Tribeca, his personal production company, handling the promotional and distribution side.
Meanwhile, rehearsals were moving along well, with the cast getting ready for the public previews on 24 April at the Dominion Theatre, where the musical was planned to start its residency. A Fan Club voicemail message two weeks before the previews stated that “The musical is taking up everyone’s time and Brian and Roger are throwing themselves into the technical and band rehearsals, which have now begun down at the Dominion, so lots going on down there, and we think Brian is taking his bed down there and sleeps there most of the time as well, poor chap.” Unfortunately, the previews were postponed due to technical difficulties and slated to start two days later than intended, but last-minute script tweaks were needed too, so they were cancelled completely.
In an effort to make up lost promotion, Brian, Roger and the musical band appeared on Parkinson on 2 May, performing ‘Somebody To Love’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’. The show finally opened on 14 May 2002 at the Dominion Theatre, with initially mixed reviews. The Sun ran a review reading “Queen’s Musical Is A Kind Of Magic”; “What an evening – magnifico,” it concluded. One of the more scathing reviews, in The Observer, ran with a title decrying the musical as “Very, Very Frightening”.
“Queen’s memorable songs,” it went on, “may have been preposterously overblown – hence the coinage ‘pomp rock’ – but the point was that these guys (and their fans) were having gloriously indulgent, stadium-sized fun. They were bloody good at what they did and you either loved it or, if you had no sense of camp, loathed it. They weren’t making absurd claims about ‘meaning’, they just did it. In the show’s defence, the band play hell for leather and the cast have serious voices. Alex Hanson’s wonderfully droll bad guy looks like Max Headroom in Armani (‘actually it’s Marks and Spencers’ – the jokes are that good) and sings up a storm. Likewize Sharon D. Clarke’s lethal Killer Queen could raise the dead. Hannah Jane Fox’s Scaramouche comes over as a young, stroppy Anita Dobson and sings like – and I mean this as a serious compliment – a young Lulu. When Tony Vincent’s sincere Galileo opens his mouth to sing, the hairs go up on the back of your neck.”
While the reviews were caustic, the fans enjoyed it and it became one of the top draws in the West End. In January 2003, not quite a year after its London premiere, the design concept for an Australian version was signed off, with auditions starting the next month, while tickets for a Madrid premiere went on sale later in February; the Australian premiere came on 7 August 2003, the Madrid one on 3 November. Further openings in Moscow and Brisbane occurred through 2004, while Las Vegas was the site of the show’s US premiere on 8 September that year. Reviews were predictably mixed, but fan reception was positive and the show ran for a good year before closing down to make way for other musicals. Apart from these cities, Cologne, Tokyo and Johannesburg, with Zurich coming at the end of 2006, were also given their own productions, though Brian wasn’t quite as involved in these as he had been in the others (mainly due to the Queen + Paul Rodgers concerts).
In November 2002, a CD of two London performances from 12 and 13 July was released to modest acclaim (but not exceptional sales); a Spanish version, from performances between 16 and 27 January 2004, followed in August that year. As if that wasn’t enough, a book was also published, chronicling the series of events and featuring not only the complete script but some truly spectacular photographs as well.
Repertoire:
Act I: ‘Innuendo’ (Freddie Mercury and ensemble), ‘Radio Ga Ga’ (Ga Ga Kids), ‘I Want To Break Free’ (Galileo), ‘I Want To Break Free’ (reprise) (Scaramouche), ‘Somebody To Love’ (Scaramouche and Teen Queens), ‘Killer Queen’ (Killer Queen and Yuppies), ‘Play The Game’ (Killer Queen and Yuppies), ‘Death On Two Legs (Dedicated to......’ (instrumental), ‘Under Pressure’ (Galileo and Scaramouche), ‘A Kind Of Magic’ (Killer Queen, Khashoggi, and Yuppie
s), ‘Here Comes Santa!’ / ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ (Ga Ga Kids), ‘I Want It All’ (Brit and Meat), ‘Headlong’ (Brit, Meat, Galileo, and Scaramouche), ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’ (Meat and Bohemians), ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ (Brit, Meat, Galileo, Scaramouche, and Bohemians), ‘Ogre Battle’ (instrumental).
Act II: ‘One Vision’ / ‘Radio Ga Ga’ (reprise) (Ga Ga Kids), ‘Who Wants To Live Forever’ (Galileo and Scaramouche), ‘Flash’ (Bohemians), ‘Seven Seas Of Rhye’ (Khashoggi and Bohemians), ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ (Killer Queen and Sex Yuppies), ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ (reprise) (Killer Queen), ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ (Killer Queen), ‘Hammer To Fall’ (Galileo and Scaramouche), ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’ (Pop and Bohemians), ‘Bicycle Race’ (Bohemians), ‘Headlong’ (reprise) (Galileo, Scaramouche, and Pop), ‘Brighton Rock Solo’ (instrumental), ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ (instrumental), ‘We Will Rock You’ (Galileo and Bohemians), ‘We Are The Champions’ (Galileo and ensemble), Encores: ‘We Will Rock You’ (fast) (ensemble), ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (entire cast)
UK
Cast, principals:
Galileo: Tony Vincent (May 2002–November 2003), Mig Ayesa (November 2003–August 2005), Peter Johansson (August 2005–October 2007), Ricardo Afonso (October 2007–September 2009), Peter Murphy (September 2009–July 2010), Ricardo Afonso (July 2010–August 2011), Alex Gaumond (August 2011–present)
Scaramouche: Hannah Jane Fox (May 2002–February 2006), Jenna Lee-James (February 2006–October 2007), Sarah-French-Ellis (October 2007– September 2010), Sabrina Aloueche (September 2010–present)
Killer Queen: Sharon D. Clarke (May 2002–April 2004), Mazz Murray (April 2004–June 2010, 8–20 August 2011), Lucy Tapp, Hannah Levane and Tricia Adele Turner (alternating between 6–18 September 2010), Brenda Edwards (20 September 2010–present)
Khashoggi: Alexander Hanson (May 2002–November 2002), Clive Carter (November 2002–April 2005), Alex Bourne (April 2005–present)
Brit: Nigel Clauzel (May 2002–April 2005), Colin Charles (April 2005–October 2007), Lain Gray (October 2007–September 2008), Ian Carlyle (September 2008–present)
Meat: Kerry Ellis (May 2002–April 2004), Jenna Lee-James (April 2004–February 2006), Rachael Wooding (February 2006–October 2007), Rachel Tucker (October 2007–September 2008), Louise Bowden (September 2008–September 2009), Amanda Coutts (September 2009–May 2010), Lauren Varnham (May–October 2010), Rachel John (November 2010–present)
Pop: Nigel Planer (May 2002–April 2004), Mark Arden (April 2004–April 2005), Jeff Shankley (April 2005–October 2007), Julian Littman (October 2007–September 2008), Garry Lake (September 2008–September 2010), Kevin Kennedy (September 2010–present)
Robbie Williams: Dean Read
Performances:
May 12, 2002–present: Dominion Theatre, London
Tour cast, 2009:
Galileo: Alex Gaumond, Michael Falzon
Scaramouche: Sarah French–Ellis
Killer Queen: Brenda Edwards
Khashoggi: Jonathan Wilkes, Darren Day (Edinburgh)
Pop: Kevin Kennedy
Brit: Wayne Robinson
Meat: Georgina Hagen
Teacher: Ashley J. Russell
Tour cast, 2010–2012:
Galileo: Noel Sullivan
Scaramouche: Amanda Coutts
Killer Queen: Tiffany Graves
Meat: Jenny Douglas
Brit: Leon Lopez
Pop: Ian Reddington
Khashoggi: Rhydian Roberts (Cardiff and Birmingham), Earl Carpenter (Manchester), Jonathan Wilkes (Glasgow)
Teacher/1st Cover Killer Queen: Ashley J. Russell
Australasia
Cast:
Galileo: Mig Ayesa
Scaramouche: Talia Kodesh, Sivan Raphaely
Killer Queen: Annie Crummer, Lucinda Shaw
Khashoggi: Neels Clasen
Brit: Stephen John Van Neikerk
Oz: Carly Graeme
Pop: Malcolm Terrey
Performances:
October 26–December 2, 2007: The Civic, The Edge, Auckland, New Zealand
February 2–24, 2008: Seongnam Arts Centre, Seoul, South Korea
March 28–April 27, 2008: Esplanade Theatre, Singapore
May 16– June 22, 2008: The Lyric Theatre of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong, China
July 12–27, 2008: Bangkok, Thailand at the Muangthai Ratchadalai Theatre
Repertoire changes:
‘Play The Game’ swapped out in favour of ‘Now I’m Here’
Australia/Japan
Cast:
Galileo: Michael Falzon, Peter Murphy
Scaramouche: Kate Hoolihan, Pippa Garndison
Killer Queen: Annie Crummer
Khashoggi: Liam Burden
Oz: Amanda Harrison, Rebecca Jackson Mendoza
Brit: Daniel Fletcher, Daniel Fletcher
Pop: Robert Grubb
Jack: Damien Aylward
Teacher/Charlotte: Tracy Wilson-Stewart
Performances:
August 7, 2003–March 4, 2004: Regent Theatre, Melbourne
April 27–June 2004: Burswood Theatre, Perth
July 27–September 25, 2005: Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane
October 9, 2004–March 13, 2005: Star City Lyric Theatre, Sydney
May 27–August 24, 2005, November 14–December 17 2006: Shinjuku Koma Theater, Tokyo
January 5, 2007: Umeda Arts Theater, Osaka
Canada
Cast:
Galileo: Yvan Pedneault
Scaramouche: Erica Peck, Breanne Arrigo (March 2009–May 2009)
Killer Queen: Alana Bridgewater
Khashoggi: Evan Buliung, Adam Brazier (February 2008–November 2008), Camilla Scott (November 2008–June 2009)
Brit/Duff: Sterling Jarvis
Oz: Suzie McNeil, Valerie Stanois (August 2007–June 2009)
Pop: Jack Langedijk
Burton: Danny Balkwill, Darren Voros (May 2009– June 2009)
Teacher/The King: Jewelle Blackman
Teacher/Arethra: Cleopatra Williams
Performances:
April 10, 2007–May 11, 2008: Canon Theatre, Toronto
July 16, 2008–June 28, 2009: Panasonic Theatre, Toronto
Repertoire changes:
‘Play The Game’ swapped out in favour of ‘Now I’m Here’, ‘One Vision’ removed
Italy
Cast:
Galileo: Gianluca Merolli, Salvo Vinci
Scaramouche: Marta Rossi, Martina Ciabatti
Killer Queen: Valentina Ferrari
Khashoggi: Salvo Bruno, Carlo Spano
Brit: Paolo Barillari
Oz: Loredana Fadda, Mary Dima
Pop: Massimiliano Colonna
Performances:
December 4, 2009–March 2011: Allianz Teatro, Milan, Italy
Spain
Cast:
Galileo: Momo Cortés, Miquel Fernández, Juan Dávila, Daniel Diges, Julián Fontalvo, Carlos Solano
Scaramouche: María Blanco, María Adamuz, Erika Albero, Ruth Calvo, Xenia García, Dulcinea Juárez, Elena Medina, Carolina Serrato
Killer Queen: Sheilah Cuffy, Tessa, Nieves Val León
Pop: José María Guzmán, Juan José Pardo, Diego Falcón
Khashoggi: Javier Navares, Carlos Fernández, Fernando Samper
Meat: Eva María Cortés, Lara Alcázar, Lorena Calero, María López, Silvia Martí, Carmen Rodríguez, Esther San José
Brit: Ángel Padilla, Juan Félix Bejarano Rua, Julián Fontalvo
Performances:
November 3, 2003–May 30, 2004: Teatro Calderón, Madrid
November 12–December 12, 2004: Barcelona
December 17, 2004–January 16, 2005: Bilbao
February 3–27, 2005: Valencia
February 12, 2007–January 6, 2008: Teatro Calderón, Madrid
North America
Cast:
Galileo: Ton
y Vincent, Jason Wooten
Scaramouche: Aspen Miller, Kacie Sheik
Killer Queen: Patti Russo
Pop: Douglas Crawford
Khashoggi: Rich Hebert
Brit: Ty Taylor
Oz: Carly Thomas
Performances:
September 8, 2004–November 27, 2005: Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Repertoire changes:
‘Who Wants To Live Forever’ swapped out in favour of ‘You’re My Best Friend’
Norway
Cast:
Galileo: Espen Grjotheim
Scaramouche: Mari Haugen Smistad
Killer Queen: Reidun Sæther
Khashoggi: Daniel Engman
Brit: Eivind Dundas
Ozzy: Anna Lidman
Jan Fredrik Karlsen: Håvard Bakke
Oddie (Pop): Mads Henning Jørgensen
Teacher: Linda Holmgren
Performances:
January 23–April 26, 2011: Folketeateret, Oslo, Norway
South Africa
Cast:
Galileo: Francois Schreuder
Scaramouche: Helen Burger
Killer Queen: Vicky Sampson
Khashoggi: Neels Clasen
Brit: Murray Todd
Oz: Helen Goldberg
Pop: Malcolm Terrey
Performances:
May 9–October 29, 2006: Civic Theatre, Johannesburg
July 25–October 29, 2006: Artscape, Cape Town
September 29–October 29, 2006: Playhouse Opera, Durban
Switzerland/Austria
Cast:
Galileo: Serkan Kaya
Scaramouche: Jessica Kessler
Killer Queen: Brigitte Oelke
Polo: Maciej Salamon
Khashoggi: Jon Agar
Ozzy: Rahel Fischer
Brit: Darryll Smith
Gölä: Mischa Mang
