The West End transfer of multi-million pound musical The Lord of the Rings looks set to be delayed, after We Will Rock You - the current resident at its venue of choice the Dominion Theatre - announced it was extending its run by five months. It has been widely reported that the show, which is based on JRR Tolkien’s trilogy and received broadly negative reviews when it opened in Toronto, would begin its London run in March 2007 at the Dominion, while producer Kevin Wallace has also said that it could come to the UK as early as January.
It now looks unlikely that it will reach the West End until May of next year at the very earliest, after Queen musical We Will Rock You, which had been due to vacate the venue in October, announced it was postponing its planned regional tour and would remain at the theatre until April 2007.
Producer Phil McIntyre commented: “The fact is, the show has proved such a continuing draw with both the home market and visitors to London, that it became obvious that a move this year would be premature. Besides which, the theatre owners very much wanted us to stay. In the end, they, and the public, made the decision for us.” Buy We Will Rock You Tickets and sell We Will Rock You Tickets here, at YourTicketMarket.com Leeds Festival Tickets Reading Festival Tickets
A cast recording of the original London production was released in November 2002. Not all songs in the show were included in the album, the omitted tracks have been marked* in the above list. In August 2003, the London cast recording was given an Australian edition re-release, containing a bonus track of the original Australian Killer Queen, Annie Crummer, singing a studio version of "Another One Bites the Dust".
In 2004, Kerry Ellis, who was the original Meat in the London production, worked with Brian May to record an instrumental studio version of "No One but You (Only the Good Die Young)". This version is available through the official Queen website and in Ellis' limited-release CD single titled Wicked in Rock.
A Madrid cast recording was released in 2004. The recording includes a bonus second disc containing an extended Spanish-translated studio version of "No-One But You" ("Solo Por Ti") sung by the original Oz, Eva Maria, and video clips of the original Madrid production.
A Cologne cast recording was released in 2005. It is the only We Will Rock You cast recording to contain "Fat Bottomed Girls". Buy We Will Rock You Tickets and Sell We Will Rock You Tickets through YourTicketMarket.com. One stop tickets market to catch your favouite event tickets like We Will Rock You Tickets. We Will Rock You Tickets are Guaranteed, Fast and Secure! V Festival Tickets
As a jukebox musical, the show's music consists entirely of Queen material. The musical numbers of the original London production are as follows.
Act I
Innuendo – Freddie Mercury and ensemble
Radio Ga Ga – Ga Ga Kids
I Want to Break Free – Galileo
I Want to Break Free (reprise) – Scaramouche
Somebody to Love – Scaramouche and Teen Queens
Killer Queen – Killer Queen and Yuppies
Play the Game – Killer Queen and Yuppies
Death On Two Legs* (instrumental)
Under Pressure – Galileo and Scaramouche
A Kind of Magic – Killer Queen, Khashoggi and Yuppies
I Want It All – Brit and Meat
Headlong – Brit, Meat, Galileo and Scaramouche
No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young) – Meat and Bohemians
Crazy Little Thing Called Love* – Brit, Meat, Galileo, Scaramouche and Bohemians
Ogre Battle (instrumental)
Act II
One Vision/Radio Ga Ga (reprise) – Ga Ga Kids
Who Wants to Live Forever – Galileo and Scaramouche
Flash – Bohemians
Seven Seas of Rhye – Khashoggi and Bohemians
Fat Bottomed Girls* – Killer Queen and Sex Yuppies
Don't Stop Me Now – Killer Queen
Another One Bites the Dust – Killer Queen
Hammer to Fall – Galileo and Scaramouche
These Are the Days of Our Lives – Pop and Bohemians
Bicycle Race* – Bohemians
Headlong (reprise)* – Galileo, Scaramouche and Pop
Brighton Rock solo* (instrumental)
Tie Your Mother Down* (instrumental)
We Will Rock You – Galileo and Bohemians
We Are the Champions – Galileo and ensemble
We Will Rock You (fast version) – Ensemble
Bohemian Rhapsody – Entire cast
Later in the London production, the "One Vision" sequence was changed to include Freddie Mercury's recorded vocals for the bridge. Previously, the bridge had been sung by the ensemble.
In the original London production, "Fat-Bottomed Girls" was a short instrumental interlude prior to "Another One Bites the Dust". Subsequent international productions expanded the song into a full song and dance sequence. Due to the positive response, the change was transferred back to the London production.
For the single-act Las Vegas production, "Who Wants to Live Forever" is replaced by "You're My Best Friend".
For the Australasian tour and Canadian production, "Play the Game" is replaced by "Now I'm Here".
For the revamped Canadian production, "One Vision" is removed.
Galileo - The central character of the musical; a dreamer who hears strange words in his head. He is eventually revealed to be a reincarnation of Freddie Mercury. The character's name is a reference to the lyrics in the Queen song "Bohemian Rhapsody".
Scaramouche – A sarcastic, cynical character and Galileo's love interest. In the finale she shows talent playing the electric guitar, and another character declares that she is a reincarnation of Brian May, only this time "he's a babe". The character's name is a reference to the lyrics in the Queen song "Bohemian Rhapsody".
Killer Queen – The villain of the musical, she rules over Planet Mall with an iron fist. The character's name is a reference to the Queen song "Killer Queen".
Brit (alternately Paris, Duff, Vic and J.B.) – Brit, short for Britney Spears, is the main male Bohemian rebel. In other productions, his name is either Paris (short for Paris Hilton), Duff (short for Hilary Duff), Vic (short for Victoria Beckham) or J.B. (short for Jeanette Biedermann).
Meat (alternately Oz) – Meat, short for Meat Loaf, is the main female Bohemian. In some productions, the character is named Oz after Ozzy Osbourne.
Khashoggi – Killer Queen's second-in-command, Khashoggi is head of Globalsoft's police and carries out Killer Queen's dirty work. The character's name is a reference to the Queen song "Khashoggi's Ship".
Pop – A librarian trying to figure out the "exact date the music died", in some productions in love with Scaramouche, believed to be named after the creation of reality television talent shows (the example given varies depending on the production, but includes Popstars, Pop Idol, The X Factor, or the relevant regional variant). Probably named for Iggy Pop.
Other Bohemians – The other Bohemians have constantly changing names following media trends. These are usually music-related, and have included Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Robbie Williams, Beyonce, Madonna, Amy Winehouse, Bob the Builder, Cheeky Fairy, Boy George, Cliff Richard, Spice Girls, Elton John, Jackson Five, Prince, Burton Cummings, John Farnham, Charlotte Church, Crazy Frog, Eddie Cochran, Avril Lavigne, Shania Twain, Lily Allen, Kelly Osbourne and Clay Aiken, Cheeky Girls and recently Michael Jackson. Buy We Will Rock You Tickets and Sell We Will Rock You Tickets through YourTicketMarket.com. One stop tickets market to catch your favouite event tickets like We Will Rock You Tickets. We Will Rock You Tickets are Guaranteed, Fast and Secure! Leeds Festival Tickets Reading Festival Tickets V Festival Tickets at YourTicketMarket.com
May often performs with the London production on special occasions such as anniversaries and Freddie Mercury's birthday.
Hannah Jane Fox, who originated Scaramouche, was the last original principal cast member to remain with the show. She gave her final performance on January 28, 2006, four years after the musical opened at the Dominion Theatre, and the event was celebrated with May appearing on stage to perform the guitar solo during the "Bohemian Rhapsody" encore.
On September 5, 2006, the London show celebrated what would have been Freddie Mercury's 60th Birthday. During the song "Don't Stop Me Now", ordinarily sung by Killer Queen, the band "McFly" (who were at #1 with the song on the singles charts the previous week) emerged onto the stage to sing it instead. Brian May and Roger Taylor joined the encore, performing Taylor's "Say It's Not True" as a duo. Ben Elton also addressed the audience on this special occasion. The following week, tickets to the London show were sold from £19.46, Mercury's birth year.
On May 14, 2007, the London show celebrated its 5th anniversary with a special show featuring both May and Taylor playing in the final section of the show. Writer Ben Elton also made an appearance to present a special plaque to the cast, May and Taylor. During the portion of the show based in Pops bar, the line "But the Pub Landlord has a Bike" was followed by a cameo appearance of British comedian Al Murray, who came up through the stage on a motorcycle.
The London show's 6th anniversary performance was held on May 21, 2008, a week after its actual anniversary due to the unavailability of Brian May. For the first time since the show opened, the Killer Queen character performed the entire song "Don't Stop Me Now", a musical number which is normally interrupted by the Khashoggi character. This unique performance is acknowledged by Killer Queen's dialogue: "No, you didn't let me finish, you never let me finish. For six long years, night after night, week after week, year after year. Well, tonight, I'm going to finish." To which Khashoggi replied: "It's not in the script?" Additionally, May joined Killer Queen and the dancers on stage for the performance. After the encore, Elton made a thank you speech, after which the entire cast performed "The Show Must Go On", accompanied by May on guitar.
The 7th anniversary of the London Show was celebrated on Monday 18 May, 2009. The show contained a special appearance from Brian May and Ben Elton who emerged together in a cloud of smoke during the encore rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody" with May playing guitar. As with the year before, Elton gave a thank you speech and the entire cast performed "The Show Must Go On", accompanied by May on guitar.
On Saturday 12 September 2009 at the early matine performance Brian May again emerged in a cloud of smoke playing the guitar in "Bohemian Rhapsody". What was the occasion for this appearance is not clear. He did the same again on Saturday 14 November 2009 at the matinee. Buy We Will Rock You Tickets and Sell We Will Rock You Tickets through YourTicketMarket.com. One stop tickets market to catch your favouite event tickets like We Will Rock You Tickets. We Will Rock You Tickets are Guaranteed, Fast and Secure! V Festival Tickets at YourTicketMarket.com
International productions of the musical feature changes in the story and song line-up in order to better reach target audiences. All the main characters retain their general personalities across productions, but the names vary depending on the production.
The dialogue contains many references to popular culture, with lyrics from numerous non-Queen songs and albums inserted into the text. These references are constantly changing, and according to writer Elton, this is to keep the show "fresh".Songs that have been referenced include The Beatles' "Help!", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "I Am the Walrus" and "Hello, Goodbye", Little Richard's "Tutti Fruitti" and "Long Tall Sally", the theme from The Wombles, The Goodies' "Funky Gibbon", Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run", David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel" and "Space Oddity", The Wild Ones' "Wild Thing", Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women", Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man", ABBA's "Dancing Queen" and "Fernando", Oasis' "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?", Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady", Spice Girls' "Wannabe", Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", Black Lace's "Agadoo", The Clash's "Complete Control", Teletubbies and "Michael Jackson". Buy We Will Rock You Tickets and Sell We Will Rock You Tickets through YourTicketMarket.com. One stop tickets market to catch your favouite event tickets like We Will Rock You Tickets. We Will Rock You Tickets are Guaranteed, Fast and Secure! V Festival Tickets at YourTicketMarket.com
