We Will Rock You Teen

We Will Rock You was a bold choice for Director Scott Welch to put before his young performers, who were given the challenge of having to tell the story of one of the most iconic rock musicians of all time, while finding a convincing way of presenting the music of Queen and the magic of Freddie Mercury.

From the moment they took to the stage, to the wonderful rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody as an encore after the curtain call, the young players, ranging from experienced to first timers, rose, undaunted, to this challenge, every one of them full of energy and enjoyment in their roles.

As soon as the first number began, the audience knew it was in for a treat, as the chorus entered with a superb, powerfully executed rendition of Radio Gaga, setting the scene for the gems that were to follow.The dancers, demonstrating great skill, were all in perfect time, a credit to the excellent choreography of Wendy Couldridge and Macy Pollington. Each number was well designed, making full use of the stage, the dancers moving seamlessly to all parts of it so that the audience’s interest was held with the variety of dance moves the performers carried out, such as in the impressive interpretation of Crazy Little Thing Called Love, to name but one of many inventive routines.

The choreographers had a clever set to work with: minimal, with several platforms allowing for excellent use of these different levels and creating a series of tableaux throughout the story. The scenes were enhanced by the imaginative use of lighting, especially in the Flash scene, which was brilliantly directed.

The costumes were absolutely first class. The Global Soft dancers were stunning in their uniformity, with the Bohemians providing a well designed contrast, all having personalised elements while clearly belonging to the same group of outcasts. There were clever nods to the varying fashions of the period, such as Rose Sloan, the one remaining hippy, clearly enjoying her role as Buddy, and Luca Amico giving a fun, cheeky performance as Brit, one of the quirkier Bohemians. Rosie Hooper, played Oz, with extraordinary vocal range, and Isabelle Beadle provided good contrast to the others in her dark role, and suitably dark costume, as Khashoggi.

Poppy Croucher gave a commanding, strong performance as the Killer Queen, Saphie Meischke was outstanding in both costume and acting as Scaramouche, and the moment that Charlie Green first entered as Galileo, the audience knew that the Director had found his Freddie. Charlie’s stage presence was exceptional, and his singing and acting would have made Mr Mercury proud.

Beki O’Driscoll, the Musical Director, must be congratulated together with the talented cast, for achieving such beautifully delivered songs, with incredible vocal ranges and well sung harmonies. There were times when the tech did not do justice to the performances, with the microphones not always perfectly balanced, but the cast were not phased by this at all, and to their credit they gave every  song their all.

The tech difficulties with the sound did impact on some of the spoken dialogue, which, when the diction was not always as clear as in the singing, meant that some of it was occasionally lost. Unfortunately, this meant that the opening, with the voice over during the projection, was weak, as half of the text being read out was much quieter than the other half. However, this was soon forgotten as the show proper started so well with the first song. The projections throughout, as backdrops to the scenes, were not very clear, but although this was probably not deliberate, it gave the whole setting a distant, other-wordly feel to the story, that actually fitted in quite well.

So was Scott Welch over-ambitious in his choice of show? Absolutely not. He has put together a magnificent production, with some exceptional young performers. Congratulations to you all.

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