We Will Rock You, Auckland NZ, 2019

We Will Rock You

20th August – 7th September 2019
Bruce Mason Centre, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Reuben Raj.

You would be hard pressed to find many a soul in New Zealand who doesn’t like a good Queen song, the classics such as ‘I Want to Break Free’, the rock operatics of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and the foot stomping goodness of ‘We Will Rock You’ convincing even the shyest of personalities to have a heartfelt singalong.

So when a rock musical entitled We Will Rock You based on the music of the iconic British band Queen and a book by none other than one of the comic geniuses behind The Young Ones and Blackadder, Ben Elton first hit the Dominion Theatre in 2002, audiences and critics flooded through the doors expecting a triumph; many sadly left wanting thanks to a rather weak narrative.

Despite this, We Will Rock You remained a firm favourite among musical theatre goers, no doubt due to the fantastic Queen tracks that feature heavily throughout, director Emma Carr adding her own personal touch to this latest New Zealand production that features twenty- four of them.

Set three hundred years in the future, earth has been renamed ‘iPlanet’ and is controlled by the draconian Globalsoft Corporation. Inhabitants are force-fed commercial conformity; the Ga Ga kids carbon copies who listen to the same music and wear the same clothes as everyone else. Rock music is unheard of, musical instruments banned and the Killer Queen (played by the beloved Annie Crummer) rules with an iron fist.

But the Bohemians – a rag tag bunch of rebels who believe in freedom and the power of rock n roll, despite knowing little about it – believe that one day the ‘Dreamer’ will come along and set everyone free, the black sheep Galileo who hears music and lyrics in his head the man for the job. Teaming up with a feisty female he re-names Scaramouche and the love-struck duo soon set off to save the world.

It’s a tale as old as time, good vs evil, the tenacity of youth and their desire for freedom of expression one that will often win over many an audience. And while We Will Rock You certainly has its moments, it can’t quite seem to escape the overall feel of being just a little too high school production, the cheesy moments luckily kept to a minimum.

The ensemble cast, who the audience are introduced to very early on in the piece are fantastic, their synchronisation of dance moves during ‘Radio Ga Ga’ absolutely spot on; in fact the choreography which has been handled by Rebekkah Schoonbeek-Berridge along with associate choreographer James Luck throughout the entire production is tremendous, the stage used to it’s fullest extent. Coupled with fabulous costume designs by Tim Goodchild, that range from the Max Headroom look for Commander Khashoggi (Killer Queen’s second in command) right through to a delicious mix of Sid Vicious punk and Grateful Dead hippies, it is an absolute joy every time the ensemble cast takes the stage for another number.

The production moves along at lightning speed, whether this was a case of opening night jitters remains to be seen but easing a little more gently into each of the musical numbers could erase the jolty feeling one gets as the story progresses. The set pieces, designed by Stufish Entertainment Architects of London are stunning, the Hard Rock Café – headquarters of the bohemians – in particular quite spectacular. Where We Will Rock You was let down last night was in the technical arena, the mics for the main cast often seeming to come on one or two beats after the person had already begun to speak or sing. Once or twice would have been forgivable, but when the issue continued into the second half and was then joined by intermittent static during the last big two production numbers it became down right distracting.

The eight-piece live band that were stationed above the stage were phenomenal but were let down by an uneven sound mix. At times overly loud, they often drowned out the leads, who would then overcompensate, resulting in the feeling that you were being yelled at rather than sung to. However, when it came to singing Bridie Dixon as Scaramouche stole the show, her vocals not only on point but her acting and comedic timing as well. Not far behind her was Rebecca Wright as Oz who also impressed in the vocal arena, her partner in crime Brit played by Caleb Muller highly entertaining, however it would have been nice to have had him drop the overly pronounced gruff tone to his voice a little during his musical pieces.

Our protagonist Galileo was played gallantly by William Deane, who time and time again proved he had the chops for the role, the few times he over sung a piece more than likely down to the aforementioned sound mix. His onstage romance with Scaramouche was believable and drew the audience in, their duet of ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ rather breathtaking. Reprising a role she first performed in 2003, Annie Crummer as the Killer Queen, hammed it up to the extreme and while she was obviously having a lot of fun while doing it, her vocals at times seemed to be suffering from a personality disorder as they channelled dramatic octave changes and Tim Curry’s Dr Frank n Furter especially during ‘Another One Bites the Dust’. David Mackie however as Buddy, the elderly hippie that looks out for the bohemians, is the perfect balance, his acting some of the best in the production, his version of ‘These Are the Days of Our Lives’ rather pleasant.

The final big numbers of ‘We Will Rock You’ (featuring an outstanding guitar solo from John Kempt), ‘We Are the Champions’ and of course ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ are the ultimate crowd pleasers; making up for the weak second half storyline, audience and cast joined together in song to tracks that truly do embody the spirit of rock n roll and freedom of expression.

Queen is certainly riding a newfound wave of popularity at the moment, and fans both new and old of their music will no doubt enjoy this colourful if somewhat flawed production.

Were you there at the Bruce Mason Centre for this brilliant Queen musical? Or have you seen We Will Rock You performed live somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!

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