We Will Rock You

Staying in London tonight for a Gartner Summit tomorrow. One advantage of being in London on your own is being able to get tickets for shows - single tickets are dead easy to get. I decided I wanted to see We Will rock You - the musical written by Ben Elton and based on Queen songs, and bought one last night and was on the 4th row in the stalls. Great view - could practically touch the cast!

Because I've worked backstage at theatres including The Lyceum and The Crucible as well as our own Drama Studio (albeit with amateur companies), I have a habit of watching the technology, from the guys who climb the ladders on the rigging to operate the spotlights, to the trapdoors in the stage, the scene changes and the musical director conducting the cast from the TVs fixed to the circle. Sometimes I have to force myself to watch the show. Not that it was difficult with this one.

This was a fantastic show, if you love Queen. Set in the future when live music has been banned and the only radio station plays synthesised music - Radio Gaga - it tells the story of Galileo and Scaramouche (aka Scary Bush) trying to find rock and roll and real instruments. The libretto was panned by the critics, but I loved it, probably because I've always liked Ben Elton's sense of humour. The cast were great, and made good use of a huge stage and a very minimal set. The choreography was by Arlene Phillips and was definitely reminiscent of Hot Gossip.  As a lifelong Coronation Street fan it was great to see Curly (Kevin Kennedy) playing Pop - I hadn't realised what a good singer he was. Don't remember him crooning to Raquel! I thought the women were particularly good.  Sarah French's (Scaramouche) performance of Somebody to Love was nearly as good as Freddie. By the end we were all on our feet.

I'm a real sucker for musicals, and this was a great night!