REVIEW: We Will Rock You

By NODA September 2023

 

It was an absolute privilege and pleasure to attend Smile Musical Youth Theatre’s production of ‘We Will Rock You’ – not only because it was their debut production but also as the latest society to join our NODA District 8 Family.

As a person of a certain age whose musical education was steeped in Freddie Mercury and Queen, I wondered how the music of the 70s and 80s would resonate with Youth Theatre Members, most of whom, if not all, weren’t even born when the show was conceived, let alone when the music was being lauded around the world? From the very first seconds of this vibrant and exciting production, those thoughts were obliterated from my mind.

Joe Logan’s production launched itself with a breathless pace from beginning to end, punctuated with a never-ending supply of the Queen classics that are the underpinning of a successful jukebox musical.

The scene was set with a full of life rendition of Radio Gaga, led by the Gaga Teachers – played by Caitlin Allsop and Louisa Buckley and accompanied by a boisterous and enthusiastic chorus. This heralded the way for a constant bevy of talent.

Charlie Brand as Galileo Figaro showed exactly the right command of the stage as the central character of the show, showing a maturity well beyond his years in both his characterisation as the dreamer who hears voices as well as what appears to be his effortless vocal ability. He was partnered by Lauren Slater as Scaramouche who captured the sarcastic and cynical side of this amazing performance with complete confidence and panache, moving every scene that she appeared in onto a different level. Their Act 2 rendition of Who Wants to Live Forever moved me to tears with it’s truly believable interpretation.

Adding their touch of normality, if there could be such a thing in a musical set 300 years in the future, were Oz (named after Ozzy Osborne and played by Ruby Blount) Brit (named after Britney Spears and played by Josh Mills) and Buddy (50’s throwback named after Buddy Holly and played by Taylor Simner) offering energy and pathos in equal measure in their support for Galileo.

But the talent didn’t end there! In contrast to all the goodness and hope being spread amongst these endearing selection of Bohemians, we need the anti-heroes and we weren’t left wanting – Kitty McCann’s interpretation of Killer Queen, the ruler of iPlanet, was played with great authority and tremendous vocal ability giving us a must watch character with just the right amount of evil, but the winner in the evil stakes had to be Freddie Perry’s Khashoggi, a thoroughly dislikeable piece of work played superbly and demonstrating the triple threat of enviable acting, singing and dancing talent.

A stellar array of talented supporting cast was also on display, with everyone giving 110% to their role and their part of the whole. Everywhere your attention was drawn, revealed small cameos of enthusiastic performance in evidence.  One that particularly took my attention was Charlie McRobert’s role as the Globalsoft Manager, whose animated facial expressions truly expressed the loathing we had for the baddies!

Despite what I understand there being a few technical scares in the run up to opening night, you could not fault the contribution of the Technical areas.  Some tremendous lighting effects were achieved in not the easiest of performance spaces and the sound quality was superb. Simple settings added to the overall effect and adding to the overall pace of the production.

The popularity of these types of show comes with a double-edged sword hanging over them. In the main, whilst the audience may be aware of or even know most of the songs being performed, they also have the original interpretation fixed in their mind. Any preconceptions about the music as far as Smile Musical Youth Theatre were concerned were impressively blown out of the water, firmly stamping their unique take on the show, guided under the expert tutelage of their Musical Director, Ella Daire. Both the music and Joe Logan’s frighteningly exhaustive choreography as well as his inventive and visionary direction will live in the minds of those that were fortunate enough to witness the production. 

My thanks to everyone at Smile for their warm welcome and hospitality and look forward to their next show, Pinocchio The Pantomime in January 2023.

​