#1
Posted: 1/30/10 at 10:06am
Brian May was asked on his website about the possiblity of We Will Rock You opening on Broadway and he was asked what he was afraid of. Here is his reply:
"No. we're certainly not afraid ... but we ARE carefully choosing our moment and our strategy.
All of what you say is true ... but the perception of Queen music is definitely different in the USA from how things are in most of the rest of the world.
In Europe (plus probably Australia, Japan, and large parts of South America) we have been lucky to have had almost unrivalled continuity of awareness. It is impossible for pretty much any given person to have been unaware of Queen songs for at least two generations - probably more so than even the Beatles - even if the person didn't like us! In the States, where essentially Queen grew up as a band, we have a great body of real fans, and much deep appreciation, but in the eyes of the general public we probably fall somewhere below REO Speedwagon in terms of the degree to which our songs are embedded in most people's life histories! Although we have confidence in the quality of the music, and of the script and the production we have developed for the show, we're conscious that on Broadway all these things can be in place, but, because a few powerful critics don't 'get it', the show is dead in a week. We actually had bad critics in London, but we had so much momentum with the public, coupled with a few lucky breaks like me playing on top of the Queen's Palace(!) ... that we were able to overcome all resistance, and nine years later the show, continuing more or less totally on word-of-mouth recommendations, now plays to about half a million people a year. Basically we need the peripheral situation to be optimum before we strike.
We're pretty good at taking risks, but if you're smart, you bet on the horse when you know it can win!!! We have a responsibility, too. If it should fail, we would have have let down a whole team of actors, musicians, dancers, technicians and operatives.
I certainly have very much NOT forgotten Broadway ... and I think when the planets are in the best alignment we will go for it. I think it may be the crowning glory of WWRY when we do".
Thanks!!
Taken from https://www.brianmay.com/
What do you guys think (well I think I already know the answer)?
Personally I would love to see it...but then I'm a Queen fan (not that all Queen fans like the show).
"No. we're certainly not afraid ... but we ARE carefully choosing our moment and our strategy.
All of what you say is true ... but the perception of Queen music is definitely different in the USA from how things are in most of the rest of the world.
In Europe (plus probably Australia, Japan, and large parts of South America) we have been lucky to have had almost unrivalled continuity of awareness. It is impossible for pretty much any given person to have been unaware of Queen songs for at least two generations - probably more so than even the Beatles - even if the person didn't like us! In the States, where essentially Queen grew up as a band, we have a great body of real fans, and much deep appreciation, but in the eyes of the general public we probably fall somewhere below REO Speedwagon in terms of the degree to which our songs are embedded in most people's life histories! Although we have confidence in the quality of the music, and of the script and the production we have developed for the show, we're conscious that on Broadway all these things can be in place, but, because a few powerful critics don't 'get it', the show is dead in a week. We actually had bad critics in London, but we had so much momentum with the public, coupled with a few lucky breaks like me playing on top of the Queen's Palace(!) ... that we were able to overcome all resistance, and nine years later the show, continuing more or less totally on word-of-mouth recommendations, now plays to about half a million people a year. Basically we need the peripheral situation to be optimum before we strike.
We're pretty good at taking risks, but if you're smart, you bet on the horse when you know it can win!!! We have a responsibility, too. If it should fail, we would have have let down a whole team of actors, musicians, dancers, technicians and operatives.
I certainly have very much NOT forgotten Broadway ... and I think when the planets are in the best alignment we will go for it. I think it may be the crowning glory of WWRY when we do".
Thanks!!
Taken from https://www.brianmay.com/
What do you guys think (well I think I already know the answer)?
Personally I would love to see it...but then I'm a Queen fan (not that all Queen fans like the show).
Updated On: 1/30/10 at 10:06 AM
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