A couple days ago, I watched the rock musical "We Will Rock You" (WWRY) Live at the Esplanade.. and boy, what an exhilarating experience!
Really? Me, voluntarily watch rock? *jawdrop*
At first I also didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I actually did, considering I'm not a big fan of the rock music genre. But I gotta tell you, WWRY totally exceeded my expectations - I can even say I enjoyed it as much as "Phantom" which I saw for twice the price last year.
Definitely a must-watch for any rock/QUEEN-fan, and highly recommended for all lovers of musicals.
So, What Is It Really?
Basically WWRY is a full-fledged musical production by Ben Elton et. al. featuring various all-time hits from QUEEN. Here's the official website. More straightforward info on wikipedia.
The musical is seamlessly divided into two acts: The first act establishes the situation, the characters, and brings the story to the height of conflict (oooh, the suspense). The second act dramatizes the external conflict, adds some internal conflict (a touch of drama), resolves them, and ends the story at a high note.
A more comprehensive summary of each act is also available on wikipedia.
The Songs
The bread and butter of the whole deal is the performance of all-time famous hits from QUEEN. All I can say is the music director did a fantastic job with the song choices and made the arrangements very memorable.
Want a 'trial' to put on your iPod? Here are a few to download and listen to:
- The grand opening "Innuendo"
- Introducing Galileo Figaro "I Want to Break Free"
- Touch of melancholy "No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)" --- my personal favorite
- Theme song "We Will Rock You"
- Peak-point "Bohemian Rhapsody" --- the best-ever QUEEN song, IMHO
If you like these, go look for the CD at any HMV or CD shop. Pssst, some more of my top picks can be found here.
The Cast
Never knew 'em before, but certainly know a bit about 'em now.
- MiG Ayesa, the lead actor, is perfect for the role of 'Galileo Figaro', with a rather high-pitched voice and rebel-like profile, fittingly portraying a so-called 'bohemian'. Apparently he recently released his own album, too, think I'll check it out later.
- Annie Krumer as 'Killer Queen' was undoubtedly the best vocal of the cast, and she acted out hilarious mimics.
- Sivan Raphaely played a good 'Scaramouche', with her sarcastic tone and petite frame.
- All the other main cast also had fantastic voices and profiles, and the supporting cast sang and danced, shouted and pranced very enthusiastically.
List of WWRY Musical Casts - past and present - are available on (guess what?) wikipedia.
In Conclusion
I think the universal appeal of WWRY is that it's a 'jukebox musical', not the typical serious 'sit-still-until-your-rear-end-hurts' type of musical. Like a jukebox, you pick a channel, tune into it and just enjoy as it jumps from song to song. Sort of like a sitting in a 70s bar with friendly faces around and a lively jukebox running for 2.5 hours straight. :-)
(1) The story resonates really well with the current 'here & now' of the world, i.e. charts being dominated by a 'certain type' of boybands, typically programmed 'digital music', and the loss of the genuine sense of 'freedom' that, supposedly, used to exist in the 70s.
(2) QUEEN is still undoubtedly one of the most-hailed, true-blue classic rock-bands, whose music surpasses time and generation. The song choices are superb favorites; even a casual QUEEN-liker would be able to appreciate.
(3) Wonderful blending of story-telling & musical-production. The dance choreography, actions on stage, and song lyrics not only blend together flawlessly but complement one another.
(4) Amazing cast of performers & musicians. I can't imagine how they keep their voice and endurance, performing every single day for a full month (twice on weekends) since March 28 til Apr 28. I guess having a passion for music/dance helps :-)
(5) All in all, top-class production. I'd gladly watch it again anytime should they come back to perform in the future.
Endnotes a.k.a. off-stage comments
Unfortunately my friends and I booked our tix just a day before so we only got top-most floor, top-most row seats. It had its advantages (full birds-eye view of the stage, giving a movie-like atmosphere) but for a 4-eyed person like me, it took a bit of squinting and binocular-sharing to catch the cast's expressions. Didn't mind much though - it was still fully enjoyable.
Compiled references:
- WWRY Musical's Official Website
- WWRY Musical on Wikipedia
- WWRY Musical's lead singer MiG Ayesa
- Book it on the Esplanade Website
Tuning-out for now,
-tmsh-
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