Summer 2012 Edition We Will Rock You Review by Andrew McEwan U66

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1 Nuntius On-line Summer 2012 Edition We Will Rock You Review by Andrew McEwan U66 Following on from the immensely successful production of Cabaret in 2011, the cast of the 2012 Wirral Grammar Schools Musical production were always going to have their work cut out to match the extremely high standards from the previous year, but as ever, they pulled it off, with their spectacular production of We Will Rock You, the futuristic musical based on the legendary song of the one and only Queen. Set 300 years in the future, it tells the story of a very different planet Earth than the one we live on. Renamed Planet Mall, it is controlled by the GlobalSoft Corporation, and its leader, the powerhungry Killer Queen, (Kathleen Holloway), with the help of her right-hand man, Commander Kashoggi (Ben Caveen). However, their desire for total contro l of the planet becomes increasingly difficult to

2 achieve thanks to the efforts of the somewhat unlikely hero, Galileo Figaro (Yyannis Johnson). When we first meet him, he is a nervous, and slightly strange young man, who is thought of as weird and unnatural by most people as he doesn t conform to the GlobalSoft way of life. He doesn t want to listen to t heir computer-made music, but instead wants to make REAL music. For his whole life, he has been the only person to have this dream, until he meets a girl who also suffers the same abuse and taunting. This girl is Scaramouch (Chloe Gleave), and together they embark on a journey to fight back against GlobalSoft and to create their own music. Along the way, they are discovered by the Bohemians, who are also believers in real, rock n roll music, taking their names from past musical icons. They are led by Britney Spears (Lewis Casella) and h is partner Meat Loaf (Charlotte Williams), and it is only than that Galileo begins to realise his importance. He is the Dreamer, and he is the only one who can bring back rock n roll. However, when Commander Kashoggi discovers the Bohemians and their Heatbreak Hotel, Britney sacrifices himself so that Gallileo and Scaramouche can escape. The rest of t he Bohemians are then rounded up and taken to be brainwashed by the GlobalSoft Corporation. Eventually, Galileo and Scaramouches journey takes them to the place of living rock, otherwise known as Wembley Stadium. Here, with the help of Pop (Kieran France), a hippie librarian who escaped from GlobalSoft after stealing from their forbidden archives, they are finally able to create rock music

3 once again, but only once Gallileo has proven himself to be the chosen one. Killer Queen is defeated, and the GlobalSoft cooperation is no more. Of course, this being a musical based on the songs of Queen, there were some classic songs which needed to be done justice. Of course, the talented cast was more than up to the job, whether it be Killer Queens rendition of cl assics like Another One Bites the Dust, and her brilliant duet with Kashoggi of It s a Kind of Magic, or Scaramouche s version of Somebody to Love, the vocal performance of the cast was exceptional. Particular highlights included Kashoggis performance of The Seven Seas of Rye, and the emotional No One but You, performed perfectly by Meat. However, it is fair to say that nobody envied Yyannis, whose reward for being entitled to play the lead male role was to sing 11 songs throughout the show, many of them either as solos or duets with Scaramouche. For someone who had never had singing lesson, and never harmonised before working on this show, Yyannis deserves huge congratulations for doing such a good job on the stage. As ever, the main characters were supported by a hugely talented chorus. Although they did not appear on stage as often as the principals, almost every song required off-stage singing, meaning that every song in the show had to be learned. Their hard work to achieve this, as well as the efforts of some of the less well co-ordinated members to learn a number of tricky dance routines is highly commendable!

4 The efforts of the backstage and lighting crews were also essential for ensuring that the show could even take place. Indeed, with the construction of a huge lighting rig in front of the stage, many wondered if they had bitten off more than they could chew. However, with very little time to work out how to use it before the week of the show, there were happily no major hiccups, and the same can be said of the complicated manoeuvring of the massive wooden boards depicting the various scenes, which needed to be erected and then removed with every scene change. Overall, it is fair to say that the 2012 Wirral Grammar Schools Production was as successful as ever. But of course, the cast and backstage crew can t take ALL of the credit for staging such a spectacular show. Mr Snowdon did an excellent job teaching the cast the songs that they would have to sing, quite an important factor in a musical, and they did also receive a little help from the ever hard working Geoff Hinde, who had the small task of organising and coordinating the entire production, motivating the cast, and trying hard not to pull all of his hair out as the pressure mounted in the final weeks of preparation before the live shows. All in all, it was a hugely successful production, and the cast can be proud that they have, once again, produced a school musical of completely professional standards well done to all involved!

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