#1
Posted: 6/21/03 at 12:26pm
OK, I went to see We Will Rock You on Wednesday and thought I'd post up my review of it, especially as it's supposedly opening in the States in 2004 (I think National Tour first, not too sure).
I saw the show with a website called whatsonstage.com who offered very cheap tickets for top price seats in an audience of Brian May, Roger Taylor, Bob Geldof, Tara Palmer Tompkinson and David Furnish amongst others including the cast of the British soap EastEnders.
So, the show. I really don't know where to start, because it's a bit of a mess. Firstly, three(!!) principals off out of SIX, Nigel Planer and Tony Vincent (the ones I wanted to see most) were two of them.
There are some funny opening credits which is set out like a timeline but the show is very historically inaccurate. It's set in the year 2300 and they make references to all the great artists who had died but they only made reference to ones who have died up until 2002! Do they think Elton John, George Michael, Madonna, etc, are not going to one day pop it? How come none of these other 'greats' had died?
The set was good, I liked some of the things such as the Killer Queen going into the audience and the giant pod that one character came down in. There are these giant $2m screens that have images on, they were impressive for some of the first act and then it was like 'come on, show us something new'. They have a disused run-down subway station set which was good but yet again, do they not consider the fact that the station will advance itself technologically before becoming disused.. I mean we have some great subway technology already, this set is already behind yet is supposed to be advanced!
I'm moaning about it being inaccurate but that is because the script and story is DIRE, and I don't think there is one person who would say otherwise. It's written by English comedian Ben Elton, who is a very funny writer, but has written the worst script in the world. You can read it online, I'll post the link afterwards. It has lines like this:
Teacher : What more could you possibly want?
Galileo : (sings) I want to break free, etc.
The only character I found amusing, Scaramouche (stupid character names include Britney Spears, Cliff Richard and Killer Queen), eventually became irritating and from where her sarcasm was laugh worthy at first, by the end they couldn't churn out one line without a sarcastic backlash from her.
You wonder why they even bothered to hire a scriptwriter, especially such a highly paid one! You could have given it to a poor University student who could do with the cash off this show, cos the script is obviously not a reflection of box office sales. Ben Elton is merely there for his name. I cannot wait to see what a mess he makes of the Rod Stewart musical Tonight's the Night if it's along the same lines as this.
Sharon D Clarke as the Killer Queen is the star of the show for sure, and if you thought Queen Latifah's assets in Chicago were eye-popping, you ain't seen nothing until this! Hannah Jane Fox, Scaramouche, worked the best with what she had to work with, eg, a very terrible attempt at writing an amusing book. I wondered why people were laughing, but then again, if you'd paid fifty quid ($90) to see it, you'd laugh too.
At the end of the day, it makes me annoyed that shows like Ragtime and Witches of Eastwick which had such great scores and books closed and shows like We Will Rock You are kept open by lunatic Queen fans. My Dad spoke to one guy and asked him if he was a fan and the guy said 'not really', 'have you seen it before then?' I asked, 'oh yeah, six times'. Hmm.. the show has only been open 12 months already.
Kudos to the website Whatonstage.com, and in particular beacuse they arranged an unprotected signing with Brian May and Roger Taylor in a room full of crazed Queen diehards, very brave!
I enjoyed the music and the singing no end, but just wished it could have been more of that and less of 'blah blah blah' that came in the long dialogue scenes that *progressed* the *storyline*. They concentrated more on the script when it wasn't needed, they just should have churned out the songs which is what we wanted to hear.
So a show to see for the music, for the powerful singing, just to see the screens, but for absolutely nothing else.. and I very much doubt I will return in its future. If We Will Rock You 2 opens then I will be cross because it doesn't deserve a place in the West End, you have to work at a show, not just throw it together for cheap laughs and high box office takings.
This show will bomb on Broadway. The script is dire and the critics, like in London, will hate it. It's only stayed open in England because it had the biggest ever publicity when the cast performed at the Queen's Jubilee Party - watched by millions on TV. In New York, bad reviews close a show..
Jake.
We Will Rock You script
I saw the show with a website called whatsonstage.com who offered very cheap tickets for top price seats in an audience of Brian May, Roger Taylor, Bob Geldof, Tara Palmer Tompkinson and David Furnish amongst others including the cast of the British soap EastEnders.
So, the show. I really don't know where to start, because it's a bit of a mess. Firstly, three(!!) principals off out of SIX, Nigel Planer and Tony Vincent (the ones I wanted to see most) were two of them.
There are some funny opening credits which is set out like a timeline but the show is very historically inaccurate. It's set in the year 2300 and they make references to all the great artists who had died but they only made reference to ones who have died up until 2002! Do they think Elton John, George Michael, Madonna, etc, are not going to one day pop it? How come none of these other 'greats' had died?
The set was good, I liked some of the things such as the Killer Queen going into the audience and the giant pod that one character came down in. There are these giant $2m screens that have images on, they were impressive for some of the first act and then it was like 'come on, show us something new'. They have a disused run-down subway station set which was good but yet again, do they not consider the fact that the station will advance itself technologically before becoming disused.. I mean we have some great subway technology already, this set is already behind yet is supposed to be advanced!
I'm moaning about it being inaccurate but that is because the script and story is DIRE, and I don't think there is one person who would say otherwise. It's written by English comedian Ben Elton, who is a very funny writer, but has written the worst script in the world. You can read it online, I'll post the link afterwards. It has lines like this:
Teacher : What more could you possibly want?
Galileo : (sings) I want to break free, etc.
The only character I found amusing, Scaramouche (stupid character names include Britney Spears, Cliff Richard and Killer Queen), eventually became irritating and from where her sarcasm was laugh worthy at first, by the end they couldn't churn out one line without a sarcastic backlash from her.
You wonder why they even bothered to hire a scriptwriter, especially such a highly paid one! You could have given it to a poor University student who could do with the cash off this show, cos the script is obviously not a reflection of box office sales. Ben Elton is merely there for his name. I cannot wait to see what a mess he makes of the Rod Stewart musical Tonight's the Night if it's along the same lines as this.
Sharon D Clarke as the Killer Queen is the star of the show for sure, and if you thought Queen Latifah's assets in Chicago were eye-popping, you ain't seen nothing until this! Hannah Jane Fox, Scaramouche, worked the best with what she had to work with, eg, a very terrible attempt at writing an amusing book. I wondered why people were laughing, but then again, if you'd paid fifty quid ($90) to see it, you'd laugh too.
At the end of the day, it makes me annoyed that shows like Ragtime and Witches of Eastwick which had such great scores and books closed and shows like We Will Rock You are kept open by lunatic Queen fans. My Dad spoke to one guy and asked him if he was a fan and the guy said 'not really', 'have you seen it before then?' I asked, 'oh yeah, six times'. Hmm.. the show has only been open 12 months already.
Kudos to the website Whatonstage.com, and in particular beacuse they arranged an unprotected signing with Brian May and Roger Taylor in a room full of crazed Queen diehards, very brave!
I enjoyed the music and the singing no end, but just wished it could have been more of that and less of 'blah blah blah' that came in the long dialogue scenes that *progressed* the *storyline*. They concentrated more on the script when it wasn't needed, they just should have churned out the songs which is what we wanted to hear.
So a show to see for the music, for the powerful singing, just to see the screens, but for absolutely nothing else.. and I very much doubt I will return in its future. If We Will Rock You 2 opens then I will be cross because it doesn't deserve a place in the West End, you have to work at a show, not just throw it together for cheap laughs and high box office takings.
This show will bomb on Broadway. The script is dire and the critics, like in London, will hate it. It's only stayed open in England because it had the biggest ever publicity when the cast performed at the Queen's Jubilee Party - watched by millions on TV. In New York, bad reviews close a show..
Jake.
We Will Rock You script
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