Public Servant Lifestyle

Robert DeNiro, Ben Elton & Queen team up for a show that The Guardian has called "A hi-tech extravaganza."

We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre, London

A fusion of songs by rock group Queen and a futuristic storyline could make We Will Rock You - which has been pulling audiences in continuously since it opened two years ago - could just prove to be the musical involving the most unlikely line-up of talent yet!

"Nigel Planer strikes the right note of self-irony as Pop, an ageing version of Neil the hippie. The songs are recreated meticulously." - The Guardian.

This musical extravaganza, created by ex-Blackadder script writer Ben Elton and rock supergroup Queen is described as a blend of science fiction, comedy and rock music – inspired by and featuring songs by Queen. Starring former Young Ones actor Nigel Planer - who played lentil-obsessed hippy Neil - and has the backing of cinema legend Robert DeNiro, who is producing the show.

The play is set on a future, fully globalised Earth where the media and entertainment have become monolithic and bland. People watch the same movies, wear the same fashions and think the same thoughts. Meanwhile, on 'Planet Mall' rock 'n' roll and all instruments have been banned.

Legend persists that somewhere on 'Planet Mall', instruments still exist. Somewhere, the mighty axe of a great and hairy guitar god lies buried deep in rock. The Bohemians need a hero to find this axe, but they must find this hero before the agents of the mysterious company does. If the 'Ga Ga Cops' get him first they will surely drag him before the 'Killer Queen', and consign him to oblivion across the 'Seven Seas of Rhye'.

“A rock musical with a crucial difference”

"We Will Rock You is a rock musical with a crucial difference... What distinguishes We Will Rock You is that it's about rock music. It doesn't take itself seriously, but it ends up taking rock music just seriously enough to be (surprise, surprise) moving.…Galileo and his spiky runaway girlfriend Scaramouche are romantic rebels in whom soul just keeps rising like a wellspring. The logic here isn't any too strict - everyone, baddies and goodies alike, sing Queen music, with scorching live guitars all round, but the numbers are organised so that we enjoy the baddies while knowing that the goodies drink at rock's true fount...The sheer power of the best Queen numbers strikes hard. The singing is outstanding..." - The Financial Times

The critic from The Express clearly found the show didn’t suit all tastes: "What with Bohemian Rhapsody voted the nation's favourite single of all time, this was a good week to open a musical about Queen. They've spent millions on it - lasers, state-the-art visuals, huge chorus, a band that sounds like Queen, a script by Ben Elton. But you know what? The show is so awful it's almost entertaining...Hardcore fans at the front rocked to it. The rest of you will need ear muffs and a good book..." - The Express

Sophisticated

"Sophisticated hydraulics and huge video screens bearing computer-animated scenes conjure up a colourful, if rather unimaginative, vision of the future. The choreography is similarly slick with dancers in cyber-punk outfits carrying out their duties for the mistress Killer Queen. Another One Bites The Dust is played out in front of a giant computer game. With each chorus, another alien ship is blown apart... Happily though, the songs stay largely true to the originals. Under Pressure, Killer Queen, Somebody To Love and I Want To Break Free all remind you how fabulous Queen were and will have even the most curmudgeonly punter tapping their feet..." - The Independent

The $10.7 million musical has taken six years to bring to the stage. "I think it is going to be terrific," De Niro said after flying in from New York for an initial run-through of the show.

Opened in 1929, the Dominion Theatre is a grade II listed building, designed by the architects William and T.R. Millburn. With a seating capacity of just over 2,000 - reduced from it's original of almost 3,000 when it opened the venue is nicely central, easy for Holborn, Tottenham Court Road and Euston Square tubes, though the location suffers from the usual central London manic traffic and pedestrian congestion. It has played host in the past to diverse musicals and productions, notably Cliff Richard's West End debut in Time and a three year long run of Grease in the 1990s.

We Will Rock You is currently reigning at London's Dominion Theatre, on the corner of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street - just across from Centrepoint tower. There is talk of an extensive UK provincial tour of the production set for 2007 - more details as they reach us.

More information available in On Stage