WE WILL ROCK YOU young@part

We Will Rock You young@part is a specially adapted version of the award-winning West End ‘juke box’ Musical, featuring the Music and Lyrics of Queen with a linking story and script by Ben Elton. Set in a dystopian future, where individual expression through music and the arts are suppressed by a powerful entity known as the ‘Global Soft Corporation’, our hero Galileo and the resistance group known as ‘The Bohemians’ have to find the legendary guitar to bring music and thus freedom back to the world.

This was our first visit to see Phoenix Youth and to the venue, and the stage in Redmaids High school is a lovely big space to work with and as we arrived the atmosphere was set with plenty of haze, graffitied flats and multiple musical instruments. The open set consisted of 3 levels of rostra across the back providing levels. The Lighting team threw everything at this Production, which worked well with the Rock feel and enhancing both the musical's energy and its narrative. The vocal balance with the Backing Tracks worked well overall, there were a couple of blips with the radio microphone cues, but running 22 mics at once is difficult, with all the changes. This didn’t detract from the overall performance.

The Costume and Make up was all in keeping, with some great Bohemian costumes and the more uniform Global soft whites.

 

In reviewing the Principal performances:

Galileo (Cameron Phillips) You captured the rebellious dreamer very well, with some lovely vocals.

Scaramouche (Ruby Webb) You really displayed some strong vocal skills, I particularly enjoyed “Somebody to Love”.

Killer Queen (Lillie MacIsaac) You captured the essence of a classic villain, suitably unpleasant.

Khashoggi (Jacob Bray) A suitably sinister performance, you really got the comedy moments out of the role.

Oz (Fran Green) A strong and confident performance, the whole production energy lifted with your entrance. You also demonstrated some lovely vocals and great moves.

Brit (Will Elderton) A strong and engaging performance I can definitely see your dance training coming through.

Buddy (Nick Hyndman) You really made the most of this character’s comedy moments.

 

The ensemble worked really hard throughout this production, playing multiple roles with enthusiasm. I enjoyed hearing some individual solos in No One But You and the start of Bohemian Rhapsody. The Choreography was pitched at a suitable level for everyone involved. I liked the “robotic” regulated style in the Global soft scenes in particular.

In Summary, well done for a successful performance, it was lovely to meet you for the first time and thank you for your hospitality. You should all be very proud of your achievements.

PLEASE NOTE:

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what he sees at the performance in question.  The reviewer may have received information in advance of the performance, and it is inevitable that his assessment will be effected by that knowledge.

The N.O.D.A. Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular the performance viewed.  It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be objective as far as the techniques used during the performance observed.  Any criticisms expressed may not have been valid at other performances, and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur Theatre.

It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

 

 

 

 

 

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