You Will Be Rocked
Queen musical sounds great, but cheese factor too much
We Will Rock You, the musical by Ben Elton and featuring the music of Queen opened this week in Toronto.
In a press conference in December announcing the leading cast members, Ben Elton told us that "the title isn't just a song - it's a promise!". He was right. This show will rock you - however - a theatregoer will likely wind up disappointed with the show as a musical, or even a theatrical experience.
What bogs this show down is mediocre direction, and boring, repetitive choreography. Throw in countless cheesy jokes and a flimsy plot structure, and you have a recipe for disaster. Sadly, that's what We Will Rock You is. A musical theatre disaster.
What makes this show, and ultimately saves this show is the music. Led by an 8-piece band, the vocals in the show are some of the strongest we've seen in Toronto in a very long time. The music is memorable, because they are songs that we know. It's an interesting concept, albeit a tired one, to use an established catalogue in a musical. It worked for Mamma Mia with ABBA, and failed miserably with Good Vibrations, the musical using the music of the Beach Boys. We Will Rock You is also one of the loudest musicals you will ever hear. At times, your chair shakes with the sheer volume of the music. What is different about We Will Rock You however is that you can understand every word, unlike other rock musicals that have played in Toronto in the last little while.
The cast have their moments to shine, and for the most part, they are superb. Yvan Pedneault does an admirable job as the young dreamer, Galileo, despite his Quebecois accent sometimes getting in the way of his dialogue. Erica Peck, who plays Scaramouche, sings her heart out, but plays the role more like a spoiled brat rather than an outcast searching for her purpose in life. Jack Langeduk plays the old hippie Pop with the right amount of angst and bitterness, and Sterling Jarvis, despite his characters flaw of loving karate too much, handles his featured song, Crazy Little Thing Called Love with ease. Suzie McNeil does a solid job in her first theatrical role, playing Oz.
The cast really do sound incredible - it's such a shame though that Ben Elton, Roger Taylor and Brian May have allowed this work to get so badly out of control. It's hard to imagine the story working on any level, but it should have and could have been better than what they have thrown together. Most of the fault has to be pointed to Elton, who is responsible for the script and direction of the work. The script is riddled with bad cliches and cheesy one liners that were somewhat funny to begin with, but after another 2 hours of them, your eyes begin to tire from rolling so often. Arlene Phillips' choreography is static and aerobic, but doesn't suit the vast stage of the Canon Theatre. The lighting design of Willie Williams is more suitable for the likes of a concert arena, and the videos used in the production are something you would see on MTV - in the 1980's.
If you want to listen to some great musicians performing some of Queen's best music, go to your local music store and pick up a Queen CD. If you want to watch it, pick up a DVD of Queen in concert. Think of the money you'll save! Plus, you'll be able to control the volume you will listen to it, and chances are, your ears won't be ringing the next day.
We Will Rock You
Now playing at the Canon Theatre
** (out of five)
For ticket and show information, click here.
