We Were Rocked (We Will Rock You)

Member Name: adambrown400

Product:	We Will Rock You
Date:	27/07/09 (34 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great singing

Disadvantages: none

Never being a massive fan of 'musical theatre' as they like to say, I have never really WANTED to go and see shows like 'Cats' and 'Les Miserables' but there has been a recent spat of shows that incorporate pop music into their stories. These shows have become increasingly popular due to the success of 'Mama Mia' and 'We Will Rock You'. I've seen Mama Mia before in London with my girlfriend's family. It was OK if you like the music of ABBA, but if it's not your cup of tea it can be a bit tiresome. So on my birthday weekend in London we went to go and see We Will Rock You.

We Will Rock You is much more up my street. Firstly it combines the excellent rock music of Queen and the sharp wit of Ben Elton, who wrote the script. The story is set many years in the future where rock music no longer exists and the world has to listen to formulated synth beats and terrible boy and girl bands. This leads to many clever observations about how music has been on the wane recently. In the midst of this landscape, Scaramouche and Galileo are outcasts in a world devoid of the music that they can hear in their heads. They join together and go off in a search to find the music that has been lost. They are followed by the rulers of this Orwellian world Killer Queen and Khashoggi who want to put a stop to their quest. This leads to many Queen songs being performed throughout the show in the lead up to the mystical instruments being found, so that they can 'rock out'.

The show at the Dominion Theatre in Tottenham Court Road has been running for quite a number of years now and the performance that we saw was a sell out. To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. The show was excellent in every respect.

The script was funny and clever. The usual Ben Elton style was unmistakable and his style of jokes permeated the script and cleverly tied in all of your favourite Queen songs. I was interested to see how they were going to fit in songs like 'Bicycle Race' and 'Fat Bottomed Girls', but they managed it!

The stage show itself looked excellent and incorporated some clever use of large screen that used animation throughout. It was visually exciting, never a moment went by when there wasn't anything to look at. The dancing was spot on with the singing absolutely excellent. There was a lot of usage of a trap door in the stage where the characters came up and down from the 'underground'. They also used a large revolving section of the stage so that characters like the Killer Queen could come right out into the audience. The scenery was also very good, in particular an underground station that housed the rebels.

The cast were amazing in their roles. The singing was operatic - as it had to be to match up with the originals - but never annoying. The songs hadn't been changed at all, so there was cringeworthy moments. The show lasted for about three hours with a break halfway through, so you really do get your moneys worth as well.
The show was excellent and is highly recommended. If you can get yourself a ticket then it's an evening of great entertainment.

Summary: A fantastic evening's entertainment