We Will Rock You - U.K. Tour

Tonight's performance at Liverpool Empire cancelled due to technical difficulties.

/

Having spent the first half of the week in self isolation as I recovered from COVID, it was great end the week by finally getting out and about and rock the night away at the Liverpool Empire at tonight's performance which I had originally booked for way back in 2018. WWRY is one of my all time favourite musicals and having seen it both in the WE and on tour over the years and tonights show didn't disappoint. I was meant to be at Monday nights show but due to both COVID and the cancellatioon of that particular performance due to techical difficulties during the show set up, I was able to exchange my original Stalls ticket for a  much cheaper one in the Circle. 

While the set for this current tour isn't a patch on either the glorious Dominion theatre set or some of the subsequent earlier tours, the big video screen certainly got plenty of use in helping to set the different locations used within the show. I was happy to read in earlier posts that Ben Elton returned to direct this tour. The changes he has made to his original book for me were on the whole positive ones. The combining of the Rebel leader and Pop in this tour into one character worked better in  my opinion as I felt that in the original book, both characters really didn't have  alot to do / say so it made more sense to combine them. The biggest positive change for me was in the ending for Act 1. i always felt that in the original WE run, there should of been a song to close Act 1 rather than the Ogre Battle Instrumnetal that was used. Despite losing "Play the Game" in Act 1, using "The Show Must Go On" worked well as an Act 1 closing song and finally geting to have the full rendition of "Don't Stop Me Now" rather than just all  snippet you had originally was very much welcomed. 

Where this show is at its best is with both with the cast and band singing and playing those Queen classics. A fantastic cast and band has been assembled for this tour and all sounded great tonight and certainly got the Empire auditorium rocking by the end of the night. When you have 2000 people singing along to Bohemian Rhapsody that really is a special moment to be part of. Thankfully the audience was well behaved and respected the request at the start of the show to save the singing till the end. 

Seeing this tomorrow in Cardiff. The Wales Millennium Centre website says the runtime is 2 hours 20 minutes, but scrolling through the venues on the ATG site, they give a runtime of 2 hours 45 minutes. Quite a big difference! To those who’ve been, what is the actual approximate length?

I didn't take note of actual timings, but the notice outside the auditorium at Milton Keynes said:
Act 1 - 72 minutes
Interval - 20 minutes
Act 2 - 64 minutes

So 2hr 36min total.

I have just got in from the first act of this in Bristol tonight. I had to leave at the interval in case I murdered the ignorant **** next to me with his constant commentary, unusual odour, whoops at the mention of ‘Ernie the fastest milkman’ and random singing at unusual places. Even the front row of the upper circle of the Hippodrome is quite unforgiving with its narrow, upright bench seating so there was precious little comfort to be had; God knows what its like further back. Throw in the gammon on the right and I wasn’t having fun.

The set, if you can call it that, was a shameful shadow of the grandeur of the Dominion and the first tour. A giant screen, a scaffolding bridge and a couple of papier mache islands with bits of business on them…that’s it. Ben Eltons threadbare non-direction lingers clunkily over the worst bits of exposition, but somehow skips huge chunks of excellent tunes. The voices that I thought would save it didn’t. The only impressive vocal moment (in act one) was the addition of ‘The Show Must Go On’ which thankfully Jenny O Leary sang relatively straight. The rest was well below average. I’d even bought a program (for a pound) such was the hope I went in with. At least it has been a good measure of whether I can stand being mid-row (I can’t), and whether I should revisit stuff I didn’t really like the first time (I won’t again).

Don’t do it!!! I’ve made excuses for it for its whole life, but no more. This latest cash grab is a pale imitation of anything that has gone before. They may as well do it ‘in concert’ there was so little to the staging. Ghastly.

Is this like Bat Out of Hell? Barebones plot and audiences not bothered by anything but the songs? Was deliberating seeing it

I'll avoid it then, the tour's coming to my city in the next few weeks. I'll put that £25 in the holiday fund

I saw this again yesterday afternoon in Stockton, and had another brilliant time. I was pleasantly surprised at the announcement that Joseph Connor was playing Galileo, as I remember him from the Dominion days but hadn't realised he was a cover. He was absolutely amazing!! Acted and sang it brilliantly, and really went for the big notes. I couldn't believe it when he said afterwards that it was his first show, and he only found out about 10am as Ian was away and Damian (I think) who had been on was off sick. He posted some lovely messages on Twitter about how much it meant to him, I was so pleased to have been there. He is definitely up there as one of my favourite Galileos.

I saw this for the first time yesterday in Bromley. 5 [ out of 7] understudies were on. I wish I hadn't bothered.