We Will Rock You - Dominion Theatre

SYNOPSIS

We Will Rock You

We Will Rock You is the fusing of comical genius Ben Elton with the timeless rock classics of Queen in a 'Pythonesque' jukebox musical that is the toast of the West End. The show charts the journey of the 'Bohemians' - a small group of freedom fighters raging against the dystopian Killer Queen - on their quest to win back 'free thought' for the people, and, most importantly, live music. More than 25 of Queen's greatest hits feature in the show. Among them are classics like "A Kind of Magic", "Radio Ga Ga", and - of course - "We Will Rock You".

Bohemians v. Killer Queen

The story begins 300 years into a fictionally absurd future. Earth is now called Planet Mall and is governed by the authoritarian Globalsoft Corporation whose head is the Killer Queen. Conformity reigns; everyone is the same -- same clothes, same hairstyles, same thoughts. Music is manufactured by the Company's computers and everyone downloads it. There is no live music and no stepping out of line. If you do you are taken by the Company and brainwashed into submission.

But the rebel movement is growing. The Bohemians believe in free thought and creative music, and our heroes - Galileo and Scaramouche - embark on a quest to recapture the Golden Age -- a time they call 'Rhapsody'.

With the help of Pop, a Bohemian old-boy from a bygone era, our intrepid duo dodge detection by the Ga Ga cops to find the 'mighty axe (guitar) of the Hairy One' hidden in a wall of the now ruined Wembley Stadium. With guitar in hand and the quest complete the show ends with renditions of "We Will Rock You" and "Bohemian Rhapsody".

The Songs

We Will Rock You is a musical platform for some of Queen's biggest songs. Galileo and Scaramouche take on such greats as "I Want to Break Free", "Under Pressure", "Who Wants to Live Forever", and "Hammer to Fall". As head of the dystopian world, Killer Queen herself performs some excellently descriptive numbers, among them "Play the Game", "Don't Stop Me Now", and "Another One Bites the Dust". Included in the musical score are a couple of instrumentals too - "Death on Two Legs" and "Ogre Battle".

Bringing Queen to the Stage

We Will Rock You debuted in the West End on May 14, 2002 at the 2,000+ seat Dominion Theatre. Work began on the show in 2000 when Ben Elton was approached to develop the jukebox musical idea first talked of by Queen's manager, Jim Beach, in the mid-1990s. Queen band members Brian May and Roger Taylor collaborated with Elton on the project, and it was Elton who suggested the creation of an original, and rather bizarre, story line to which to set Queen's music.

The concept worked! In August 2005 We Will Rock You became the Dominion Theatre's longest running show. It was scheduled to close in the West End in October 2006, but popular demand dictated otherwise! Today, We Will Rock You is on an extended run to October 2008 at least.