The time is future, in a place that was once called Earth.
Globalization is completed!
Everywhere, the kids watch the same movies and wear the same clothes and think the same thoughts. It is a safe and happy environment - Ga Ga world. If you were a rebel. If you wanted to play rock and roll music. On Planet Mall all the musical instruments were banned. The computers generate tunes and everybody downloads them. It's in an age of Girl bands, Boy bands, Girl and Boy bands and a couple of bands with boys and girls which looked like boys anyway. Nothing left to chance - the greatest hits were scheduled years in advanced.
Caught in a landside, no escape from reality
Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see.
The resistance is growing. Underneath the cities, down in the lower depths live the bohemians. The rebels the misfits who believe that somewhere on Planet Mall there are instruments waiting to be found and played. They call the time, The Rhapsody.The Bohemians need a hero to find this axe and draw it from stone. Is the one who calls himself Galileo the man?
He's just a poor boy. From a poor family.
But the Ga Ga cops are also looking for Galileo and if they get him first they will surely drag him before the Killer Queen and consign him to Oblivion across the seven seas of Rhye. Who is Galileo? Where is the Hairy one's lost axe? Where is the place of living rock?
Anyway the wind blows.
We Will Rock You first opened 14th May 2002 at the London Dominion Theatre and it's the longest running show at the London Dominion Theatre and the 9th longest running show in London's West End. On average there are 600,000 thousand tickets sold a year and there's been over 15,000,000 tickets sold worldwide.
The play It's based on the songs that Queen sung.
"hes just a poor boy from a poor family"
- this indicates poverty and wanting more, and this is exactly what my character wants, more. The song is indicating the levels of opportunity given.
Who is Queen?
Queen were a very popular rock band, who are formed of 4 men. John Deacon, Roger Taylor, Brian May and Freddie Mercury. EMI Record and Elektra Records signed the band and in 1973 their debut album 'Queen' was released and hailed as one of the most exciting developments ever in rock music. All four members are equally responsible for their success and getting number of singles.This massive writing strength combined with spectacular lights, the faultless sounds and Freddie's crazy movements, made up Queen on stage and on film. Bohemian Rhapsody was released in 1975 and went straight to number one for 9 weeks. It almost didn't get played, because how unusual it was and the length of it, but Freddie insisted. By this time Freddie's unique talents were becoming very clear, a voice with a remarkable range, and a stage presence that gave Queen it colourful and unpredictable personality.
Through Freddie's ability to project himself and the bands music and image to the four corners of 70,000 seater venues they became known as the prime developers of stadium rock. They also became the key innovators of pop videos as their catalogue of 3 minute clips became more and more adventurous in style, length, size and content.
Their phenomenal success continued around the globe throughout the 80s and highlighted in 1985 by their show-stealing unforgettable performance on stage at Live Aid. While most publicly recognised as the front man to one of the most progressive rock bands of the 70’s, Freddie defied the stereotype. A taste for venturing into new territories – a trait that was to have a marked influence on the direction Queen would take – took Freddie to explore his interests in a wide spectrum of the arts, particularly in the areas of ballet, opera and theatre, even taking a participating role: in October 1977 the sell-out audience of a charity gala at the London Coliseum organised by Royal Ballet Principal dance Wayne Eagling received the surprise of an unannounced appearance by a silver-sequinned leotard-clad Freddie performing an intricate routine choreographed for him by Eagling. In 1987 he made a one-night appearance in Dave Clarke’s Time at the Dominion Theatre, although legend has it Freddie occasionally turned up at the theatre to support friend Clarke’s musical, one night selling ice-creams in the stalls! Freddie would have loved the fact that The Dominion now plays host to the band’s phenomenally successful musical We Will Rock You which has now held the Dominion stage nearly seven years longer than Time’s two year run.
This just indicates how big he was. With his performance and big light. He was such a show man. He carried on until his last few days, as he got AIDS. He really proves that Freddie never gave up and was a fighter until the end. My character can really relate to Freddie, as they both wanted a chance to be different. My character can relate to his personality as Freddie was strong and powerful and never gave up.
Brian May:
Queens leading guitarist and has been with his band to the present day. He played at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert and also toured with the other members of Queen, Roger Taylor, and Paul Rogers. He is well known for his curly hair and playing his guitar with a sixpence coin. He built his own guitar with his father and has used it for his entire career. He also lent his skills to the band in his songwriting and vocal ability. He wrote and partly sung the song, 'Who Wants to Live Forever'.
Roger Taylor:
The bands drummer and final member along with May. He is a multi instrumentalist, quite like Freddie. He can play, bass, guitar, and keyboards. He has released four solo albums over the years. In 1981, there was 'Fun In Space', following 1984s 'Strange Frontier'. After Freddie Mercurys death he made 'Happiness', a very strong album. He most recent album, 'Electric Fire' , was released in 1998.
John Deacon:
The last member to join the band. He auditioned and was liked by all 3 members of the band. He became their bass player and wrote the song 'You're My Best Friend' in dedication to his wife. He was also the only member who didn't contribute to lead vocals. He last appeared on the 17th September 1997, at the Theatre National De Chaillot, in Pairs. The last time the three remaining band members performed together.
More about the story:
It is set into the future, (roughly 300 hundred years) on Earth which is now called I Planet or in old productions or school productions, it's now called Planet Mall. When the musical was produced and opened in 2002 there was a new form of music appearing. Music was changing and government was changing. The story line of we will rock you has a lot to do with being a controlled society. Also the musical takes a pop at auto tuned musicians and song contests. This was around the time pop idol first came to Britain It was on in 2001-2003. Music then changed and it was now about looking and living how society wants you too. Wicked is a similar style of music with the rock edge. It was shown on Broadway in 2003 making the rockier edge to the musical theatre worked a lot more open to exception. We also saw other shows based on rock and pop artists also become a musical the juke box musicals.
JukeBox Musicals:
A jukebox musical is a stage of film musical that uses previously released popular songs as its musical score. Usually the songs have in common a connection with a particular popular musician or group. The songs are put into a dramatic plot, which is often the biographical story of the performer(s) whose music is featured, although in some cases the plot doesn't always revolved around the particular group or artist. For instance Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story, the musical about the life of Buddy Holly which ran in the west end from 1989-2003.Their recent downfall in popularity lead by a success in Mama Mia, built around the music of ABBA. There have been other successful jukebox musicals such as, Movin'Out(2002, based on the tunes of Billy Joel), Jersey Boys(2006, The Four Seasons), Rock of Ages(2009, featuring classic rock from the 1980s) and Our House(2002, based on the songs of Madness).
We Will Rock You mentions Freddie Mercury as a dream and a fantasy and with the lyrics Ben Elton has hinted that is this the real life, is this just fantasy, caught in a landslide no escape from reality. It gives the lyrics a new meaning and opens up the idea of what we see and what we listen to isn't really what has happened to peoples beliefs. The musical really makes you ask your self what is happening.
Ben Elton:
Ben Elton wrote the We Will Rock You script. He is a very common English playwright, author actor, comedian and director. His musical credits include collaborating with Andrew Lloyd Webber on The Beautiful Game(2000), writing the book and lyrics. The Beautiful Game won the London Critics Circle Award for best new musical. Elton went on to write a number of compilation shows featuring popular songs taken from pop/rock artists. The first one was We Will Rock You and despite the critical reaction to it, it was extremely successful in London and went on to win Theatregoers Choice Award for Best New Musical. It has since opened in Australia, Japan, Germany, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, US(Las Vegas),and throughout Asia. Elton most recently worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the sequel to his 1986 blockbuster The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies. As it was so successful Elton made the script available to schools. So it's thanks to Elton really.
Historical Context:
The script represents what music used to be like. It gives us an idea of what of how people live and what has happened to the world due to it being a futuristic setting, as it is set 300 years into the future. What the script offers an actress/actor, is that the references it makes to the music and what life was like. Some of the knowledge of the Bohemians is partially incorrect and that is also key to understanding the play e.g. referring to 'Elvis' as 'pelvis' when studying the rock 'n' roll culture is crucial to remember that you shouldn't specifically apply all of your research to your character. Some of the uncertainty and how eager they are to seek new knowledge and discover is real. Ben Elton chose a futuristic setting for the play because Queen as very dramatic for its time, what with the music nowadays, keeping up with the dramatic fashion. Its now even more so times have changed. CDS are no more. Its all about downloading. Queen is less recognised and talked about nowadays, and has sparked controversy in the world of music. and it hints that these greats should not be forgotten. The song 'no one but you', there is the lyric, 'we'll remember forever'. This indicates that we should never forget. I think this is what Elton wanted to imply with the narrative, that his great should or wont be forgotten in 300 years or so forget cultural pop. He has also implied that modernisation isn't always a good a thing.
My Character:
As my character is actually played by a man in the musical, I have play a little more masculine. We changed it to be a lesbian character. Brit is a powerful fierce character. Society views him as a villain in contrast to the globalsoft cooperation. I looked at Guy Fawkes for instance. He plotted against his own government, by blowing the houses of parliament and was hanged for what he did. Although he was meant to look like a villain, he was in theory trying to break out of a structured regime that he was forced upon. Much like the Bohemians, Brit was forced to rebel because he felt something was wrong with the world around him, so he wanted to make a difference. The Bohemians weren't looking for violence and they are very much peaceful with wanting their goals. I looked at Brit and took this into account and took away some of his pain anger and putting that more to an ambition of his. There is a line in the song, 'I Want It All', which is, 'with the pain and anger, can't see a way out'. In other words if he carries on being angry and vicious he's not going to get anywhere and be able to follow his dreams. So by making Brit a bit less angry at times, it shows he's trying to strip away the old him and try to pursue his dreams. There is another line in the song which is, 'Adventure seeker'. This shows Brit is seeking for an adventure, for his dream. Showing he's a bit of an adrenaline junkie, who intends to pursue his dreams. He decided he didn't want to fall in line with the Globalsoft regime, instead he wanted to pursue something new, so he's been running fro Globalsoft.
Its almost like he has his own religion, that him and the Bohemians cannot be taken away from what they believe in. He is devoted to his religion and cannot be steered in any other direction. He is suppose to answer to Big Macca, but when Brit tells him he's found the dreamer, BM says he's not, and Brit still believes Galieo is the dreamer and goes against Macca's words. This makes him above his fellow Bohemians, and he's the one in charge and that everyone should follow him. He reminds of a strong leader, who wants it all. Who wants to be worshipped and loved for bringing back the dreamer. All of the Bohemians look up to him with hope and they are inspired by him.
I made sure that in Scene 10 with all of the Bohemians, that I was in control and they obeyed by my rules. For instance when they tried to touch Galieo and get closer to him, I'd push them away and tell them to get off. I made sure I looked strong and powerful and was always higher than the group.
I looked at strong female characters as well. I looked at Lara Croft for instance. She goes against the stereotypes of a women. She is very powerful and strong, and shows leadership throughout. Which is exactly what my character is like. Also she wears quite masculine clothing. Vest tops, shorts, trousers. This is wear I also thought of costume ideas for my character. She also has her hair back, which is also very masculine. But as I wanted to look at bit feminine, I decided to have my hair, half up half down but wear more masculine clothing.
My Relationship with Meat:
Meat is the only person who fully understand Brit and is very key to him(in our case,'her'). They have a very strong relationship. It isn't a lovely dovey relationship, but a relationship where they understand each other and stick by each other no matter what. I think we first see how good their relationship is in Scene 10, where Galiep says to Brit, 'I wouldn't know where to start' and Brit goes, 'You start with your baby of course'. Where she is referring to Meat. This really shows how long they've been by each others sides and just how close they are. Brit puts Meat before herself, 'I cant do the things I have to do, if all i'm thinking about is you'. When Brit tells Meat to stay, as she doesn't want her to get hurt. This is where you can really see that they have a special close relationship. It also shows that Brit would put his quest on hold, just for Meat.
The costume:
- holes in the trousers to show a rougher side to Brit and poor - linking to the poverty and how Brit wants it all - linking to the song, 'I Want It All'
- hair half up, half down, showing some sides of femininity, but still showing masculinity
- denim waistcoat - showing masculinity, by showing off the arms, by indicating Brit's strong and powerful.
- lacy gloves and red lacy glove, the colour red indicating Brit is dangerous, and fierce, but maybe symbolising her love for Meat.
- the boots show she's travelled and it also adds some status to the character.
