We Will Rock You

[Buff]

I haven't seen this show ..... yet. I have to wait until 18 Sept. But one of the teachers here was in Melbourne over the weekend and saw the matinee performance.

She said it was amazing, couldn't speak more highly of it. The music, lights, choreography, costumes were fantastic. The story was very clever, using lines from (I assume) various Queen songs.

Her view was that a kid would enjoy the show for what it was, a good futuristic story with great music, while she also enjoyed the sub-text ("A social commentary on the world today" - her exact words).

The biggest highlight for her (as she is a big Queen fan anyway ) was the fact that Brian May (Queen guitarist) played the show

When I get to see the show myself, I'll put my review in. Is anyone else going?

Buff

[nadine]

I know they said on the radio for the opening night and the first week they would have Brian May on guitar for BR at the end.

But I'm not sure if it will continue for every single night though throughout the season.

[RoseFyre]

I saw this in London last summer, and, even though the music was quite good, the rest of the show was...umm...how to put this diplomatically? It was not the best show I have ever seen.

The jokes were funny, but they were the sort of jokes that go out in about three months, because they're no longer applicable.

Also, the plot was scarily farcical, and it was not done well - they just sort of smashed it together, and not all of the songs fit in very well...and sometimes the songs fit in because the plot was twisted to MAKE them fit in.

My advice? Enjoy the music, ignore the plot.

[Buff]

RoseFyre said:

My advice? Enjoy the music, ignore the plot.

I plan to I remember listening to Queen with my brothers during their hey day. When our Mum would annoy us, we would put on the song "Tie Your Mother Down" full blast

I kind of guessed that the plot would be fairly loose as it was done to fit in with songs already written. Would be a lot harder than writing songs to fit a plot.

Buff

[Talissa]

Buff said:

I kind of guessed that the plot would be fairly loose as it was done to fit in with songs already written. Would be a lot harder than writing songs to fit a plot.

Buff

Which explains a thing or two about Singin' in the Rain and, to an extent, Cats

~Julia

[Lana]

I don't know..
I know Singin' was written to fit songs, but I think they did a very good job with it. Not the most brilliantly original plot, but then again, it is a fairly old musical.

Cats, on the other hand, is just another example of ALW. *g*. I love that show, but really... yeah. He was hard pressed to find a storyline. Fortunately it doesn't much matter since the emphasis is on the dance ANYWAY, but still...

We've had a lot of musicals like WWRY lately. What happened to the 'old' forms of shows? Mamma Mia! is another one where the plot was written to fit songs. I believe Shout was as well, though I didn't see that. And there's another one as well, though I can't for the life of me think of what it is.

I'll see WWRY if only because Annie is in it... but I miss the other type of musical where there's a great plot and music written to facilitate it.

[RoseFyre]

Movin' Out is another example of this trend, though they made it easier by making an EXTREMELY simple plot and making dance the focus as well.

[magic8ball]

I don't mind musicals written to showcase wonderful music, so long as they're written well. I love Mamma Mia!, which has a great storyline in addition to great music...

-John

[Talissa]

lana said:

I don't know..
I know Singin' was written to fit songs, but I think they did a very good job with it. Not the most brilliantly original plot, but then again, it is a fairly old musical.

We've had a lot of musicals like WWRY lately. What happened to the 'old' forms of shows? Mamma Mia! is another one where the plot was written to fit songs. I believe Shout was as well, though I didn't see that. And there's another one as well, though I can't for the life of me think of what it is.

I'll see WWRY if only because Annie is in it... but I miss the other type of musical where there's a great plot and music written to facilitate it.

I had a feeling I'd get into trouble with you for saying that. When I saw SitR, though, I couldn't help but feel that it seemed a little contrived. That might be because it's the show that's either brilliant, or else looks like a budget school production, or maybe it's because I've been hanging around Babirra enough to be biased against Nova, but I just didn't overly enjoy it.

I know what you mean about missing the other type of musical. Is it just me, or have we been getting fewer of them in Australia lately, having them replaced by the song-compilation musicals. There was MolM and WoO last year of course (although we do not speak of the latter), but there hasn't been anything huge perhaps since Les Mis. I may have just managed to entirely miss hearing about some, though

~Julia

[Lana]

SitR is a good movie musical. But yeah, difficult to put on as a stage show..

[Buff]

I've seen it, and loved it. Definitely helps if you're a Queen fan.

When I get time I'll give a more detailed run down

Buff

[Buff]

As promised:

Overall, awesome show, although it helps if you’re a Queen fan. Some of the jokes might go over your head if you don’t know Queen lyrics.

Michael Falzon (Galileo) – great voice once the songs moved into his higher register. A problem for all performers was that when the songs went low, it was hard to hear and understand them. Maybe the band could have dropped the volume a bit in these instances, but I’m not sure that would have helped much. The only thing I didn’t like about Michael’s performance was his whiny American accent at the start when he was speaking. I don’t know whether was part of his portrayal but it was grating.

Lisa-Marie Charalamous (Scaramouche) – Lisa-Marie is the understudy for the role. If she’s the understudy the lead must be amazing. Lisa-Marie blew me away. So much power in such a small package. Couldn’t fault her – delivery of songs and lines totally believable.

Annie Crummer (Killer Queen) – great as the “bad guy” in this show. Awesome voice and great presence on stage – you knew she was in charge!

Ross Girven (Khashoggi) – Killer Queen’s commander. Again totally believable when dishing out punishment to rebels but always scared of Killer Queen. They worked well together. He had an excellent voice when we heard it – not a huge singing role.

Jason Chong (Brit) – played the rebel role to perfection. He has a great sense of humour and sense of timing and was a ball of energy, bouncing around the stage. Voice was pretty good too!

Amanda Harrison (Oz) – sang a beautiful ballad (the name of which escapes me) towards the end of the first Act. You could have heard a pin drop while she was singing. She worked well with “Brit” who was her boyfriend.

Robert Grubb (Pop) – a seasoned performer and it showed. Was the “wise, old sage” of the show and his acting was top notch. He didn’t have to sing much but the bits he did were fine.

The ensemble was so energetic. It seemed as if they were primarily dancers who could sing (and they could sing!) but the dancing was excellent.

The band was huge. You’d almost swear that it was actually Queen playing they were that good! The sets were amazing – they were flown in, moved from the sides or raised from under the stage. Lighting was like a rock concert in some scenes!

The story itself was not very deep and meaningful, but it worked. But the story was not the reason for the show, the music was. The effort to “Australianise” the show was excellent. It was originally done in the UK so a lot of the jokes wouldn’t have worked here, but the changes were extremely well done and topical.

Buff (with help from Mrs Buff )