CityLife

We Will Rock You to have Queen fans in rhapsody

THE WWRY GANG: Taylor, Elton and May

THE idea for a musical based on Queen songs had been around for a surprisingly long time before it turned into what we now know as We Will Rock You, says guitarist Brian May.

“We started off in the Nineties, working with the idea that it would be a biographical story of the band, based around Freddie,” he told me during a quick visit to make sure the musical gets off to a flying start next week at the Palace after its record-breaking run at London’s Dominion Theatre.

“That was an idea our manager had and, to be honest, musical theatre wasn’t something any of us had much of an idea about.

"So we sort of embraced it but weren’t that hands-on – at that stage.

"So that went through a few incarnations before we grasped that it just wasn’t going to work. Then somebody had the bright idea of bringing Ben Elton on board.

"We met up and he knew more about us than even we did and that was when things really started rocking.”

That was in 2000, and Manchester University-educated Elton suggested taking the musical down a different path than initially imagined.

His big idea was to creating an original story that would “capture the spirit of much of our music but wouldn’t be based on us as people.

"Roger and I thought that sounded pretty good so we started working closely with Ben, incorporating our songs into that story concept of his, which he’s admitted was partly inspired by that film The Matrix.”

The script was eventually completed midway through 2001 and debuted in London a year later, only to be greeted by spectacularly sniffy reviews.

Nonetheless, the musical has already played globally to in excess of six million people, with the London production alone having been seen by nearly four million people.

It’s played over 2,300 performances, and grossed more than £100m at the box office.

In addition to the West End production, We Will Rock You has been successful in Australia, Japan, Spain, Las Vegas, Russia, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, Austria and throughout Asia.

Hands-on

These days, May and Taylor are very hands-on indeed in their approach.

“There’s nothing that Ben, Roger and I don’t jointly decide on about any new production,” he insists. “We always sit in on auditions and we’ve worked hard to make sure that it’s never become some sort of celebrity casting thing because we all feel that the show is the star.”

What, I wondered, does he think Freddie Mercury would have made of it all?

“Who knows what we would all be doing now if Freddie was still around?” he ponders.

“But he was one of rock’s great entertainers and I’m sure he’d love the fact that people all over the world are coming to the show and loving it.

“It doesn’t take itself too seriously as a show and I think Freddie would like that – and, of course, he’d love the idea of a great big statue of himself!”

It’s not unknown for May or Taylor to actually get up and perform during the show’s finale.

“You go there and watch other people work on the stage other than yourself which is nice because you can see how it works for the audience. But I do get a strange pang sometimes and I want to be up there on stage with them, to be part of the company,” he admits.

“Now and again I do do it, usually on special anniversaries of some sort, and it’s wonderful to feel a part of your own creation.

"Roger does it sometimes too but a bit more rarely because it’s harder to set up a drum-kit, whereas I can just come up in a cloud of smoke in the middle of the stage. 

“It did go wrong the time before last, though,” he laughs, “when I got stuck in the lift up to the stage and found myself doing the Bohemian Rhapsody solo from under the stage, stuck in a dark, smoke-filled box! That wasn’t the greatest experience of my life but once you’ve faced the worst it’s not too bad.”

So should Manchester audiences anticipate an appearance from the pair, perhaps on next Wednesday’s opening night? 

“Well, we’re looking at doing it,” he cautiously allows. “Roger and I are both coming up, we will definitely be here for the opening night so we’ll have to take a view on that then. 

“But I have a slight reticence about doing opening nights because it can pull focus from the company, and it rightfully is their night. So we’ll see.”

We Will Rock You runs at Manchester’s Palace Theatre until Saturday, June 6. For tickets call 0844 847 2275.