From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We Will Rock You
The Japanese We Will Rock You placard.
Music	Queen
Lyrics	Queen and Ben Elton
Book	Ben Elton
Productions	2002 West End 2003 Melbourne 2003 Madrid 2004 Australia tour 2004 Las Vegas 2004 Moscow 2004 Cologne 2004 Spain Tour 2005 Tokyo 2005 South Africa Portugal 2006 Zurich tour 2007 Toronto 2007 Australasian tour 2008 Vienna

We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. The musical was written by English comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor. The story takes place in a tongue-in-cheek dystopian future where originality and individualism are shunned, and a lone "Dreamer" appears who can fulfil a prophecy that will enable the return of rock 'n roll.

According to Brian May, Queen's manager Jim Beach had talked with the band on the idea of creating a jukebox musical with Queen's songs since the mid-90s. Initially, the intent was to create a biographical story of Freddie Mercury. About this time, Robert DeNiro's production company Tribeca voiced interest in a Queen musical, but found the original idea difficult to work with.

In the year 2000, Ben Elton was approached to start talks with Brian May and Roger Taylor on the project. Ben suggested taking the musical down a different path than initially imagined, creating an original story that would still be able to "capture the spirit of much of [their] music". He worked closely with Brian and Roger to incorporate Queen's songs into the story. Ben has also stated that he was in part inspired by the computer-controlled dystopia of the science-fiction film The Matrix. The script was eventually completed midway through 2001.^[1]

The original London production premiered on May 14, 2002 at the Dominion Theatre. The show is currently still playing there, where it recently celebrated its 5th year anniversary.

Of note, before working on We Will Rock You, neither Brian nor Roger Taylor were fans of the musical genre.

London's critics were almost uniformly hostile in criticising the concept and direction. The Guardian described the premise as "really is as sixth form as it sounds", the production as "ruthlessly packaged and manufactured" and the libretto as "sometimes funny" and existing mainly to "devise more unlikely ways to wring out another Queen song"^[2]. However some praise has made of individual performances ^[3] and the production remains a popular success.

The statue of Freddie Mercury above the entrance to the Dominion Theatre. (Photo taken in February 2007.)

The original production of We Will Rock You opened in 2002 at the Dominion Theatre in London, England. On August 17, 2005 it became the longest running musical at that venue, surpassing the previous record-holder Grease.^[4] This is notable as the Dominion Theatre is one of the largest theatrical venues in West End, with a seating a capacity of 2000 people. The London production was scheduled to close on October 7, 2006 but due to public demand, it has been extended to October 4, 2008.

Various international productions have followed the original. The first North American venue was the Paris Las Vegas hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show has also had successful runs in Australia, Tokyo, Moscow and Las Vegas, but these productions have since closed. Shows that opened in 2006 were in Portugal and a German language touring production in Zürich. A Toronto production opened in 2007 at the Canon Theatre. A production (most likely using the Cologne and Zurich translations) will open in Vienna, Austria in 2008. An Australasian tour celebrating the show's 5th year anniversary is active from October 2007 to mid-2008, with stops at Auckland (New Zealand), Singapore and Hong Kong. The tour is notable for having previous We Will Rock You cast members Mig Ayesa (London cast) and Annie Crummer (original Australian cast) reprising their roles as Galileo and Killer Queen respectively.

As of 2007 it is still playing in Great Britain, Canada, Spain, South Africa, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan. A North American tour and a UK nationwide tour are currently in the pipeline.

The story is set 300 years in the future in a vaguely Orwellian world. Earth's name has been changed to Planet Mall. As the name would suggest, mainstream commercial conformity reigns. Everywhere on the planet, people watch the same movies, listen to computer-generated music, wear the same clothes and hold the same thoughts and opinions. Musical instruments and composers are forbidden, and rock music is all but unknown. Representative government has been eliminated. All are controlled by the Worldwide mega-corporation Globalsoft, which is headed by the "Killer Queen" and the commander of her secret police, Khashoggi. Those who stand against Globalsoft's enforced conformity are kidnapped and "brain stormed" into submission.

However, a small group of "Bohemians" struggle to restore the free exchange of thought, fashion, and (most of all) live music. As with the classic quest stories that it spoofs, the musical includes a Messiah figure, the social outcast Galileo Figaro, and together with his love interest, another dissident whom Galileo calls Scaramouche, Galileo joins with the Bohemians to find the guitar, and overthrow Globalsoft. However, when the Bohemians are captured and brain stormed, Galileo and Scaramouche are forced to flee for their lives.

Eventually they meet Pop, an older, hippie-esque Bohemian who yearns for the "old days" when people were free and Rock & Roll was king...or Queen as the case may be. Again fulfilling the classic role of "Guide" for the two, Pop shows them a fragment of the Queen video (which ends after the opening lyrics), "Bohemian Rhapsody," further inspiring them. Impressed by the “heavenly music,” Galileo and Scaramouche eventually decide to search for the guitar at Wembley Stadium, the location of two legendary concerts by Queen. Though the Stadium is a ruin, they find the guitar hidden in a wall. With guitar in hand, and Pop serving as "roadie" for the two saviours, they perform a rousing rendition of the title song, "We Will Rock You," and conclude with an arrangement of "Bohemian Rhapsody" that includes the entire cast and serves as an encore.

Played for laughs, there is very little real story to We Will Rock You. While the musical is a spoof of the classic quest tale with some moments of clever dialogue, it exists predominantly as a framework allowing a vocally talented cast to perform covers of Queen's greatest hits. Songs included in the production may vary from theatre to theatre, but generally include favourites such as "Another One Bites the Dust," "Hammer to Fall," "A Kind of Magic," and more. On special occasions or anniversaries, additional songs are added to the encore, such "The Show Must Go On".

International productions of the musical feature changes in the story and/or song line-up in order to better reach target audiences. All the main characters retain their names and general personalities across productions, but the main female Bohemian is known by one of two names: "Meat" or "Oz", depending on what is perceived to be the audience's familiarity with Meat Loaf or Ozzy Osbourne. Additionally, the minor Bohemians have constantly changing names depending on the trend of the moment, and names that have been used include Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, Beyonce, Bob the Builder, Boy George and Cliff Richard. Other famous names as such as Crazy Frog were used in script changes. The comedic effect is stressed by occasionally assigning the names of female musical artists to male Bohemians, and vice versa - the 'Britney Spears' character is a man, for example.

The dialogue abounds with many many references to popular culture, and some are taken from the lyrics of other songs, such as The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". At one point 'Scaramouche' disables some of Globalsoft's technology by "reversing the polarity", a technobabble phrase associated with Doctor Who's Third Doctor.

On May 14th 2007, the show celebrated its 5th anniversary with a special show featuring both May and Taylor playing in the final section of the show. Writer Ben Elton also made an appearance to present a special plaque to the cast, May and Taylor. During the portion of the show based in Pops bar, the line "But the Pub Landlord has a Bike" was followed by a cameo appearance of British comedia Al Murray, who came up through the stage on a motorcycle.

A CD recording of the original London cast was released in May 2003, but omitted the songs "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Bicycle Race". In August 2003, the London cast recording was given an Australian edition re-release, containing a bonus track of the original Australian Killer Queen, Annie Crummer, singing a studio version of "Another One Bites the Dust". The Madrid and German casts have also released CD recordings of their individual original casts. In 2004, Kerry Ellis, who was the original Meat in the London production, worked with Brian May to record an instrumental studio version of "No One but You (Only the Good Die Young)". This version is made available through the official Queen website^[5].

Of note, in the original line-up of the London production, "Fat-Bottomed Girls" was only a short instrumental interlude prior to "Another One Bites the Dust", which is why the song was not included in the original cast album. Subsequent international productions expanded the song into a full-blown song and dance sequence. Due to the positive response, the change was transferred back to the London production.

Main article: List of We Will Rock You (musical) casts

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

We Will Rock You

• Official website
• Unofficial Fan-Site