Brian May wrote “We Will Rock You,” the hit anthem by Queen, after the audience sang all their hits back to the band at a concert in London. Now, “We Will Rock You” is a hit stage musical in London, and is slated for a run in Toronto starting in March of 2007.
At a press conference today attended by May, Queen bandmate Roger Taylor and writer Ben Elton, members of the press were given a sneak preview in the form of a clip of the show from London.
“I actually think that shapes up pretty well, because let’s face it, the film of stage always looks a bit crap,” said Elton. “So if you can imagine that in a live context, with all the bells and whistles actually coming to you, then I think you can imagine why people are actually getting on their feet. It is a live gig, in every sense of the word: 36 fabulous, sparkling vocal artists and an incredible live eight-piece rock and roll band.
When Elton was first approached, “We Will Rock You” was going to be a biographical musical of the band and the late Queen lead singer, Freddie Mercury, who died from complications due to AIDS in 1991.
However, Elton saw a different story for the musical set to the hit songs from the band. He let Queen know of his intentions and they gave him the go-ahead.
“I suggested that we start a legend of our own,” Elton said.
The show tells the story of a society 300 years in the future, where no musical instruments remain, and the music the society listens to is dictated to them by the higher ups. A Killer Queen runs the Globalsoft Corporation, which controls the society. The Killer Queen is served by a henchman named Khashoggi. Live music has been banned.
However, one lone guitar remains, buried in rock, for the chosen one to retrieve and perform with and reclaim music for themselves. The two leads are Galileo and Scaramouche, two rebels who fall in love and reclaim music.
“We’re thrilled to be here, we spent the last two days completely immersed in auditions and we have a fantastic new all-Canadian cast and completely Canadian band,” May said.
May also noted that Canadian audiences will be treated to a different show than what is currently running in London, because “We Will Rock You” takes on a local feel, and incorporates local references. He would not elaborate on what those changes, or references, will be though. Elton said Toronto audiences will also see new changes in the play and if the response is good, they may take the changes over to London.
“We hope it will make you laugh,” he said, “and make you cry.”
“But in a nice way,” Elton chimed in.
Taylor said that one of their main objectives with the show is to have a real, live, rock and roll band play the music.
“We like to think that ‘We Will Rock You’ is not a title, it’s a promise,” Elton said to great applause from the crowd.
May said writing a musical was not in the band’s long-term plan.
“We did have insane dreams at the beginning, we did. We had precocious thoughts, we thought we could conquer the world in a sense, but we were just four kids. We didn’t know anyone and it was very difficult in the beginning,” May said.
Although they had high hopes, they never thought they would be putting their songs into a musical context.
“Both Roger and I would certainly admit that we were both quite cautious about going into musical theatre. Musical theatre, in a sense, is what we reacted against. This is very much not ‘My Fair Lady’ or ‘The Sound Of Music,’ not that I put that down, but we’re rock musicians, and we were very conscious that this had to be a rock event. This had to be something that still has spirit, has passion, has spontaneity, and doesn’t become sort of run of the mill,” May said. That is why he and Taylor were in Toronto for the casting, because they wanted to be involved with the show the whole way through.
May credited Queen’s manager, Jim Beach, who always told the band that one day they would write a musical. “And we would say, ‘nah, we don’t want to write a musical.’ But here we are, and I tell you what, we like this musical.”
 Pictured from left to right: Ben Elton, Evan Buliung, Alana Bridgewater, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Erica Peck and Yvan Pedneault
Photo credit: Sarah Millar, andPOP |
May said it was important to have the songs incorporated into the action of the play, instead of the songs just coming out of nowhere. He said they had to stand alone, and in “We Will Rock You,” they do.
“I hope I’m not being presumptuous in saying this, but I have never seen this show fail to raise people to their feet,” he said. He explained that the audience is an important part of the show, and even takes over the show at one point, reminiscent of the relationship Queen had with their audience at their concerts.
The show features 32 of Queen’s hits; many of them remain unchanged, but some of them had to be altered lyrically to fit the mood of the show.
“The songs are pretty much as were, and the sound as was, except perhaps slightly better than could be. But ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was never performed in its entirety live by the members of Queen because they didn’t have the voices to do it. We do,” Elton said.
Elton said that although Mercury did not live to see the premiere of the musical, his mother did send a note to him saying that above all else, Mercury loved to love, and would have loved the musical. To this day, Elton treasures the note.
“The spirit of Freddie is very strong in the musical, and consciously so. Roger and I, and Ben as well now, I know, always think of Freddie when we’re making a decision. ‘Well, what would Fred think?’ And in some cases, I think we know, because he was like a family member, we were very close,” May said.
After Mercury’s death, Taylor said the band was unsure of whether to go on together, but the spirit of the band has been reborn in new fans, which makes Taylor proud.
“For quite a few years, I think Brian and I sort of really had given up on the idea of the band. But the flames seemed to keep itself alive and our music still seems to be very popular, which we’re very, eternally grateful for,” Taylor said.
Four of the 36 cast members were announced at the press conference: Yvan Pedneault, from Sept-Îles, Quebec, as Galileo; Erica Peck, a 20-year-old midway through the theatre program at Sheridan College, who will play Scaramouche; Alana Bridgewater as Killer Queen; and Evan Buliung, who has appeared in classical and musical theatre, will play Khashoggi, the Killer Queen’s henchman.
“This has been one of the most satisfying castings that I have been a part of,” Elton said. “The young, fresh, new Canadian talent that I have seen during the auditions has just sparkled and we have assembled a truly electrifying, all-Canadian company.
May said the Toronto show puts extra pressure on him because of family he has living in Brockville, ON.
“We have to succeed here,” May laughed, “or I’m dead.”
I can’t sing. Not well, anyway. But I feel that puts me in the norm rather than outside of it. With that in mind, I sat down last week with a couple of friends who can sing, to enjoy a little SingStar: Queen.
Guess what is in stores now? Singstar Queen, the newest title in the series that has been trying to fill the big shoes of Guitar Hero and Rock Band with it’s vocal-only styles. Being released for the PS3 and PS2, this game promises to bring the thunder Freddie Mercury-style. What may push this newest title and give it the edge is right there in the title: Queen.
