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We Will Rock You tour opens at Palace, March

August 26, 2008

The smash Queen and Ben Elton hit musical We Will Rock You is set to rock the UK with a 43 week regional tour next year opening at the Palace Theatre, Manchester on 20 March 2009 for a twelve week season.

Currently the longest running musical ever staged at the West End’s Dominion Theatre where it is currently playing its seventh year, the musical will rock across the UK whilst continuing to play in London (the Dominion production presently booking until October 2009).

Announcing the tour, Queen’s Brian May said: “We are excited to be able, finally, to send a brand new top class We Will Rock You company out on tour around the UK. We are completely hands on, and will be visiting! The Mother Ship, in the Dominion Theatre, London, will be rockin’ on all the while, keeping the home fires burning, until further notice! “

The show has rocked London’s West End and theatres around the world for the past six years to an audience of well beyond 6 million. With the London production alone having been seen by close on 4 million people, played over 2300 performances, and grossed more than £100 million at the box office, We Will Rock You is well on the way to becoming one of the most successful rock musicals ever.

Says producer Phil McIntyre: “We are bursting with excitement; at last provincial audiences will get a true rock extravaganza. We can’t wait to see the first night reactions throughout the country.

The show brings together a production and design team behind some of the biggest international theatre productions and rock tours.

Production designers Mark Fisher and Willie Williams have created set designs for Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson, and the acclaimed multi-media shows for U2.

Costume Designer Tim Goodchild has already achieved three Olivier Awards for his work in the West End. Choreographer Arlene Phillips has shown her distinctive style in some of the biggest stage musicals of the past two decades, including Starlight Express, Grease and Saturday Night Fever. Bobby Aitken (Grease and Mamma Mia!) is Sound Designer.

And with Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor as music supervisors, and behind the cast “a band without parallel in the theatre, reflecting the true power of the mighty Queen” you’d be right to expect We Will Rock You to rock as fiercely as the best of Queen’s concerts.

“This show is all about legend,” says Ben Elton. “We take the legend of Queen and create our own fantastical story of young kids battling the might corporations who want to suppress their individuality and their love of music. They need a hero who can help them in their struggle, and we have two – the dreamer Galileo and the sassy rock chick Scaramouche. Guess who ends up winning?”

Says Brian May: “The amazing bonus is that Ben’s script subtly works as a metaphor too. People definitely come out of the theatre feeling that in a strange way they now know us, Queen, and our struggle, our journey.”

And Roger Taylor: “Creating the show with Ben was very much a three way thing which was great, because Ben has such a great active mind and has been a great pleasure to work with. He has a great fertile mind that never ever stops churning out ideas. He’s written a fantastic idea for the sequel. I counted 23 more hits he can put in it. Let’s see if people like this one first!”

-Glenn Meads

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Comments

One Response to “We Will Rock You tour opens at Palace, March”

  1. JOHN WILLIAMS on October 24th, 2008 6:27 pm

    We will rock you show (Fantastic London Show) when do you think this show will
    be available either in Blue Ray format or on DVD.
    Think of all the people who cannot afford to visit London to visit the theatre, also
    take into consideration all excellent shows allready available on Blue Ray & DVD’s,
    It would be a fantastic reward to all Queen fans and all non-theatre customers.

    Regards : - JOHN WILLIAMS (Queen supporter)

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