The vocals are superior, the choreography is energetic!

The Dominion Theatre is the home to a very loud collaboration between Ben Elton and the members of Queen that has recently celebrated its 10th Anniversary.  Wonderfully haired Brian May, flamboyant Freddie Mercury and company have been making music since the 1970s and obviously the time had come to bring that music to the West End.  In terms of a critical reception it received a virtually unanimous negative response, which isn’t uncommon for what has been coined a ‘jukebox musical’.  The story and the script have been criticised for lack of depth and clever humour however they did offer some praise for the performances themselves.

This may be down to the fact that a serious theatre critic at a rock musical could be a recipe for a downbeat review.  It certainly seemed that critics were hoping for a Freddie Mercury biography, but all the fans wanted was a platform to enjoy the songs and appreciate them in a unique and fun environment.

The 2 hour and 40 minute show is inevitably big and very noisy.  31 of Queen’s most well known tracks are fantastically recreated with superb attention to detail and an internationally renowned creative team compliments them beautifully.  Ben Elton and Queen themselves wanted to capture the spirit of the music through a fictional story and that they have done with ease.

It is a classic quest tale and includes all the necessary elements; a messiah figure, a love interest, an evil army and a guide figure, who helps them along their way.

It is set in a dystopian future, on a planet that was once called Earth but now goes by the name of Planet Mall.  As suggested by the name it is a planet where globalisation is complete and where any form of representative Government has been eliminated.  Everyone thinks the same, dresses the same and likes the same things and the Globalsoft corporation has banned any expression of free thought, most notably rock music.  All music is computer-generated, planned and restricted and nothing is risked when it comes to profit.  As with any dictatorship there is a small group of rebels, in this case called the Bohemians, who believe there was a time when music was free and kids could form their own bands.  They wait underground for the lost chords to be replayed and conveniently they call this day The Rhapsody.  According to legend the axe of a mighty, longhaired guitar god lies hidden somewhere on Planet Mall and it’s just waiting for ‘The Dreamer’ to find it.  Cue Galileo Figaro, a rebel and a virtual school dropout who, with the aptly named Scaramouche, joins forces with the Bohemians to fight the oppression.  When the Bohemians are caught by the secret police and Killer Queen, head of Globalsoft, Galileo and his girlfriend run for their lives and luckily bump into Pop who shows them a snippet of a blurry Queen video.  With the quest burning deep within them they head to the only place the axe could be, Wembley Stadium.

The names are sometimes changed for locality and currency so whereas a character in London is Meat, after our clearly heightened knowledge of Meatloaf, elsewhere she is Oz, in honour of Ozzy Osbourne.  The minor names are often altered to keep it interesting or perhaps just for fun.  Recently featured are Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, Beyonce, Marilyn Monroe, Madonna and Bob the Builder.

The script is peppered with 60s and 70s song titles, which is sometimes clever, however mostly the humour is reduced to one-liners and unimaginative puns.  There is very little real story to the performance and at times it does feel as though it is merely a framework for a very skilled cast to cover Queen songs.  It is always hard to fit a number of an artists songs into a musical and especially when dealing with a band such as Queen the story would have to be a little out there to incorporate many of the titles.

A huge credit has to be made to the incredibly talented ten-piece band as they are unfortunately hidden at the back for the majority of the performance.  As the production is primarily all about the music it would have been admirable for them to be allowed to be more visible to the audience.

There are some fantastic lighting tricks and the backdrop images, played on LED screens imported from Hong Kong, are polished and colourful.  The first scene utilises them perfectly as computer generated Ga Ga Students march forward at their graduation to Radio Ga Ga.  The costumes are very well designed and the bland pastels of the Ga Gas are contrasted with the selection of extravagant 70s sci-fi outfits worn by the Bohemians.  The rebels occupy a fantastic replica of a London Underground station and are dressed as instantly recognisable vagabond rock stars, from Adam Ant and Boy George to Marilyn, Madonna and Hendrix.  One of the highlights is watching the Killer Queen, dressed as a dominatrix sing atop her board room table which swings up and out over the audience.

The vocals are superior, the choreography is energetic and although at times it all feels a little too ‘west end’ to deal with the rock element, it is certainly entertaining.  The lack of storyline and the forced one-liners can be overlooked, as can the absurd character names, because essentially the essence of this production is the music.  It is simply a loud and colourful appreciation of the music created by a legendary band, not a critically acclaimed example of high art, but that’s what it set out to be.

At the close of the action, after all is right with the world, a bold question flashes up on the giant screens, ‘Do you want Bohemian Rhapsody?’ and with a theatre full of Queen fans, the predicted response is immense.

View our show pages for more information about We Will Rock You, Dominion Theatre.