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| Samantha Marceddo (Oz) - Dave Smith (Brittany) |
Directed by Kelda McManus – Musical Direction by Andrea Clifford-Jones
Choreographed by Nikole Neal – Set designed by Chris Neal and Phil Goodwin
Costume Design by Anna Senior – Sound Design by Chris Neal
Lighting Design by Phil Goodwin - Presented by Peewee Productions
AIS Arena,
Canberra – 7- 10th November 2018.
WIN
Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, 16,17th November 2018
Performance on 8th November reviewed by
Bill Stephens
Canberra is currently in the grip of “Queen” Fever,
almost as virulent as the “Abba” epidemic which infected the city in January
when the 2018 Australian revival tour of Mamma
Mia premiered here. With Bohemian
Rhapsody playing at every cinema in town, Ben Elton’s wonderfully silly
excuse to exploit the Queen repertoire, We
Will Rock You, has been given a spectacular pro-am arena
production by Peewee Productions, which does full justice to both the show and the music which
inspired it.
With a towering multi-dimensional set, hung it seems,
with every intelligent light in existence, with huge LED screens displaying video content from the original UK production
in dazzling high definition , and sound that you feel as much as you hear, this
production threatens to blow the roof off the cavernous AIS arena.
Three professional guest artists, Toby Francis (Kinky Boots, High Fidelity), Queenie Van
de Zandt (King Kong, Funny Girl) and
Erin Clare (GFO’s We Will Rock You,
Phantom of the Opera) all former Canberrans, returned to head a cast of
outstanding Canberra performers, for
this production which rivals the best arena productions seen previously in
Canberra.
Director, Kelda McManus has marshalled her huge resources
impressively ensuring that the focus on the storyline is clearly maintained,
and that each witty line of Elton’s script is clearly heard. Her
fastidiousness is rewarded with gales of laughter throughout the performance.
Equally the excellent sound design allows Musical Director, Andrea Clifford-Jones
and her top-notch rock band to achieve a stunning “Queen” sound without
sacrificing clarity for volume.
Set in a future where music is banned on planet earth,
and history is recorded through Johnny Farnham retirements, planet earth is now
run by the corporation, Global Soft, and ruled by Killer Queen (Queenie van de
Zandt) and her henchman, Khashoggie (Max Gambale). Everyone wears the same
fashions, watches the same movies, and thinks the same thoughts. Musical
instruments are banned and company computers generate tunes which everybody
downloads. Hits are scheduled years in advance.
Our hero, Galileo, (Toby Francis) is puzzled by the
long lost pop and rock lyrics he hears in his head and wants to escape this
world. With the help of his cockney-speaking girl-friend, Scaramouche, (Erin
Clare), and encouraged by an old rocker, Buddy (David Cannell), he sets out on
a mission to rediscover rock and roll.
Along the way they meet up with a rebel tribe of
bohemians, all of whom are named after long dead pop and rock stars including
Britney Spears, Katie Perry and Madonna. Britney (Dave Smith) and his
girlfriend Oz (Samantha Marceddo) are the leaders of the Bohemians, who, on
hearing Galileo quote some of his lyrics, decide he could well be the Messiah
who could change their world forever. You don’t need to know any more because this delightfully silly premise, as imagined by Elton, with wicked references to prominent contemporary entertainers as historical artefacts serves as a remarkably entertaining vehicle on which to hang the best of the Queen repertoire, wonderfully performed here by a terrific cast with the vocal chops to do each song justice.
Toby Francis (Scaramouche) is in fine voice and
perfectly teamed with Erin Clare, (Scaramouche), revisiting her acclaimed performance
from the 2016 Ben Elton directed, GFO production which toured nationally. Both
have phenomenal voices perfectly suited to their roles. Queenie van de Zandt
chews up the scenery as Killer Queen with a delicious tongue-in-cheek
performance as she prowls the stage demolishing “Killer Queen”,
“Fat Bottomed Girls” and “Another One Bites the Dust”. She receives great
support from Max Gambale as her henchman, Khashoggi.
Reveling in his role as the kilt-wearing bikie,
Brittany Spears, Dave Smith, and his Bohemian sidekick,
Oz, (Samantha Marceddo) both give scene-stealing performances, as does David Cannell as the old
rocker, Buddy.
Full marks also to the hard-working all-singing,
all-dancing ensemble which copes with the multiple costume changes and Nikole
Neal’s clever, robotic choreography, with impressive aplomb.
Following its Canberra performances, this ambitious production moves
in its entirety to Wollongong for three performances, adding another tick to
its already impressive list of achievements by making it the first Canberra
arena production to tour outside the region.